Affiliation: California Institute of Technology

Livia Hecke Morais received her PhD in Anatomy and Neuroscience from University College Cork in 2019. Currently she is a postdoctoral researcher in the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in the lab of Dr. Sarkis Mazmanian. Her research is focused on understanding how the relationship between resident microorganisms and the hosts’ nervous system influences behavior, brain health, and disease. Central to this question is the bidirectional communication linking the gut and brain during sensitive periods in which microbial disturbances can influence the initiation and progression of developmental and neurodegenerative disorders