Grazyna Rojkowska, PhD

Professor Office: TR416 (601) 984-5995 Email

Education

• BS - University of St. Petersburg, Russia, 1978, Biology and Zoology
• MS - University of Warsaw, Poland, 1979, Histology
• PhD - Nencki Institute of Exp. Biology, Poland, 1986, Neuroanatomy
• Postdoctoral Fellow – Yale University School of Medicine, 1989-1994, Neuroanatomy

Research interests

• Neuroanatomy
• Cellular changes associated with psychiatric disorders

Current research

My research focuses on quantitative morphology of prefrontal cortex from human postmortem brain tissue of individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In particular, the relationship between alterations in the specific subpopulation of cortical glial and neuronal cells and serotonin and glutamate neurotransmitter systems is examined by using immunohistochemical and molecular techniques. I am also interested in comparison of changes in the prefrontal cortex from depressed patients to the changes observed in the prefrontal cortex of rats submitted to chronic unpredictable stress, a well-established animal model of depression-like behaviors.

Current funding

• NIH/NIGMS P30 Grant (GM103328)
  Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience. Imaging Core Director, 2013-18 (in no cost extension)
• NIH/NIMH R56 Grant (MH113828)
  Astrocyte Gap Junctions, Myelin Integrity and Depression-Like Behaviors. Co-I, 2017-18 (in no cost extension)
• NIH/NIGMS COBRE Pilot Grant (GM103328)
  Molecular Mechanisms in the Prefrontal Cortex in Impulsivity-Mediated Suicide Risk. Co-I, 2017-18 (in no cost extension)
• NIH/NIMH R01 Grant (MH113230)
  Aging and Emotion Regulation Brain Circuitry in Bipolar Disorder. Collaborator, 2017-22

Select publications

• Rajkowska G, Legutko B, Moulana M, Syed M, Romero DG, Stockmeier CA, Miguel-Hidalgo JJ. (2018) Astrocyte pathology in the ventral prefrontal white matter in depression. Journal of Psychiatric Research 102: 150-158.
• Samara Z, Evers E, Peeters F, Uylings H, Rajkowska G, Ramaekers J, Stiers P. (2018) Orbitomedial prefrontal cortex functional connectivity biomarkers of major depression vulnerability and disease. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging 3: 348-357.
• Rajkowska G, Mahajan G, Legutko B, May WL, Miguel-Hidalgo J, Austin MC, Blakely RD, Steffens DC, Stockmeier C. (2017) Length of axons expressing the serotonin transporter in orbitofrontal cortex is lower with age in depression. Neuroscience 359: 30-39.
• Bazov I, Sarkisyan D, Kononenko O, Watanabe H, Taqi MM, Stalhandske L, Verbeek DS, Mulder J, Rajkowska G, Sheedy D, Kril J, Sun X, Syvanen A-CH, Schumann G, Yakovleva T, Bakalkin G. (2017) Neuronal expression of opioid gene is controlled by dual epigenetic and transcriptional mechanism in human brain. Cerebral Cortex 28: 1-14.  
• Rajkowska G, Clarke G, Mahajan G, Licht C, van de Werd H, Yuan P, Stockmeier C, Manji H, Uylings H. (2016) Differential effect of lithium on cell number in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in adult mice: a stereological study. Bipolar Disorders 18: 41-51.
• Complete list of published work in MyBibliography