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Research Interests:

The Georgieff laboratory studies the effects of late fetal and early neonatal iron deficiency on the developing hippocampus in humans and in rodent models. The lab is funded by a grant in its 13th year from NICHD to study this subject at multiple levels including human behavior, human neuroimaging with event related potentials (research in collaboration with Charles Nelson), rodent biochemistry using NMR spectroscopy at 9.4 Tesla, rodent electrophysiology (in collaboration with Michael O’Connor’s lab), cell signaling, and rodent behavior (in collaboration with Jonathan Gewirtz). In addition, the laboratory is developing a genetic knock-out of iron uptake by the hippocampus at this critical point in development. The hypotheses are that iron deficiency in this developmental time period causes changes in hippocampal CA1 dendritic structure and function that accounts for abnormal recognition memory behavior in iron deficient humans and rodents.

Selected Publications:

(For a comprehensive list of recent publications, refer to PubMed, a service provided by the National Library of Medicine.)

Schmidt AT, Waldow KJ, Grove WM, Salinas JA, Georgieff MK. Dissociating the long-term effects of fetal/neonatal iron deficiency on three types of learning in the rat.
Behav Neurosci. 2007 Jun;121(3):475-82.

Rao R, Tkac I, Townsend EL, Ennis K, Gruetter R, Georgieff MK. Perinatal iron deficiency predisposes the developing rat hippocampus to greater injury from mild to moderate hypoxia-ischemia. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2007 Apr;27(4):729-40.

Ward KL, Tkac I, Jing Y, Felt B, Beard J, Connor J, Schallert T, Georgieff MK, Rao R. Gestational and lactational iron deficiency alters the developing striatal metabolome and associated behaviors in young rats. J Nutr. 2007 Apr;137(4):1043-9.

Georgieff MK. Nutrition and the developing brain: nutrient priorities and measurement. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Feb;85(2):614S-620S.

deRegnier RA, Long JD, Georgieff MK, Nelson CA. Using event-related potentials to study perinatal nutrition and brain development in infants of diabetic mothers. Dev Neuropsychol. 2007;31(3):379-96.

Carlson ES, Stead JD, Neal CR, Petryk A, Georgieff MK. Perinatal iron deficiency results in altered developmental expression of genes mediating energy metabolism and neuronal morphogenesis in hippocampus. Hippocampus. 2007;17(8):679-91.

Siddappa AM, Rao R, Long JD, Widness JA, Georgieff MK. The assessment of newborn iron stores at birth: a review of the literature and standards for ferritin concentrations. Neonatology. 2007;92(2):73-82.

Rao R, Georgieff MK. Iron in fetal and neonatal nutrition. Semin Fetal Neonatal Med. 2007 Feb;12(1):54-63.

Lozoff B, Georgieff MK. Iron deficiency and brain development. Semin Pediatr Neurol. 2006 Sep;13(3):158-65.

Raman L, Georgieff MK, Rao R. The role of chronic hypoxia in the development of neurocognitive abnormalities in preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Dev Sci. 2006 Jul;9(4):359-67.

Felt BT, Beard JL, Schallert T, Shao J, Aldridge JW, Connor JR, Georgieff MK, Lozoff B. Persistent neurochemical and behavioral abnormalities in adulthood despite early iron supplementation for perinatal iron deficiency anemia in rats. Behav Brain Res. 2006 Aug 10;171(2):261-70.

Georgieff MK. The effect of maternal diabetes during pregnancy on the neurodevelopment of offspring. Minn Med. 2006 Mar;89(3):44-7.

Beard JL, Felt B, Schallert T, Burhans M, Connor JR, Georgieff MK. Moderate iron deficiency in infancy: biology and behavior in young rats. Behav Brain Res. 2006 Jun 30;170(2):224-32.

Golub MS, Hogrefe CE, Tarantal AF, Germann SL, Beard JL, Georgieff MK, Calatroni A, Lozoff B. Diet-induced iron deficiency anemia and pregnancy outcome in rhesus monkeys. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Mar;83(3):647-56.

Davis EP, Townsend EL, Gunnar MR, Guiang SF, Lussky RC, Cifuentes RF, Georgieff MK. Antenatal betamethasone treatment has a persisting influence on infant HPA axis regulation. J Perinatol. 2006 Mar;26(3):147-53

Current Graduate Students:

Stephanie Bohmer (Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Katya Brunette (Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Former Graduate Students:

Erik Carlson (Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Lyric Jorgenson (Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).