Amanda H. Mahnke, Ph.D.

Education and Training

• Tulane University, PhD, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, PhD, 2014
• Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Postdoctoral Fellow/Associate Research Scientist,
• Women’s Health in Neuroscience Scholar, Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics

Research Interests

• Stem cells, aging, teratology, neurodevelopment
• How prenatal environment shapes health across the lifespan
• During in utero life, environmental factors can shape health across the lifespan. Transgenerational studies, such as the Dutch Famine Study, have shown that maternal lived experiences during pregnancy can increase the risk for later life health conditions in the offspring. For individuals with neurodevelopmental delay due to in utero exposures, such as alcohol, our understanding of these long-term health consequences is limited, as healthcare and research have historically been focused on childhood. Our lab investigates how exposures increase risk for secondary conditions later in life, and how altered stem cell programming contributes to this risk.
• microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that act within cells to inhibit protein formation, but can also be released into blood circulation and reflect changes in cellular state. We have previously shown that miRNAs in blood plasma can be biomarkers not only of prenatal exposures but also, critically, of outcomes including neurodevelopmental delay. Our lab is also interested in how miRNAs in infancy may directly or indirectly shape neurodevelopment.
• I serve as a board member for the Texas Research Society on Alcoholism.