Javier Rodriguez-Casariego
Associate Professor,
Department of Atmospheric Sciences
cjg174@miami.edu
Dr. Rodriguez-Casariego investigates how previous experiences shape physiological and behavioral resilience in marine organisms. He utilizes marine organisms as models to investigate cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the establishment and maintenance of cellular memory. As Director of the CREST Metabolomics Facility and associated faculty of the Water-omics laboratory at FIU, he integrates multiple omics datasets to dissect how experience translates into persistent changes in cellular function, organismal physiology and behavior. Recently, his work has been focused on characterizing molecular mechanisms involved in intergenerational hypoxia preconditioning (HP) in the nervous system of the sea hare Aplysia californica, a widely used neurophysiological model. Through collaborative ties with the Glassel Family Center for Marine Biomedicine, he aims to translate naturally evolved resilience in this and other marine model systems into mechanistic insights relevant to human health. Leveraging the center’s interdisciplinary platform, he aims to couple cross-species multi-omics with physiological assays to discover conserved biomarkers and targets that can inform early detection and intervention for human diseases.
Keywords: epigenetics, multi-omics, hypoxia preconditioning, phenotypic plasticity, cellular memory, marine organisms, Aplysia californica.
