Georgia E. Hodes
Pronouns: she/her
Associate Professor
Box 980567, Richmond, VA 23298-0567
Department of Adult Health and Nursing Systems
Education
- Ph.D. (Systems and Behavioral Neuroscience, Psychology), Rutgers University
- B.A. (Drama/Dance), Bard College
Research/Scholarship Interests
Georgia Hodes’ research aims to identify biological indicators of mental health disorders in order to improve diagnosis and treatment through precision medicine approaches. Her work focuses on understanding how neuroimmune signaling, glial biology and neural circuit function interact to shape vulnerability and resilience to stress-related psychiatric disorders across the lifespan.
Her main research expertise and interests include:
- Biological markers for psychiatric disease diagnosis and treatment response
- Neuroimmune mechanisms underlying depression and stress susceptibility
- Sex differences in stress-related psychiatric and substance use disorders
- The role of peripheral immune signals in brain function and behavior
- Epigenetic regulation of stress
- Microglial regulation of synaptic plasticity and behavior
- Translational biomarker discovery for precision psychiatry
Hodes’ research has contributed to understanding how stress alters communication between the immune system and the brain to drive behavioral and neural changes associated with psychiatric illness. Her work has identified sex-specific neuroimmune mechanisms regulating stress susceptibility and resilience. Ultimately, her research aims to bridge preclinical neuroscience with translational biomarker discovery to support personalized approaches to mental health diagnosis and treatment.
Select Publications
- Perinatal citalopram exposure alters the gut composition and microbial metabolic profiles of Sprague-Dawley rat dams and female offspring but not male offspring. Kropp DR, Glover ME, Samanta R, Unroe KA, Clinton SM, Hodes GE. Biol Sex Differ. 2025 Dec 3;17(1):2. doi: 10.1186/s13293-025-00794-5. PMID: 41340151
- Sex as a biological variable in stress related mood disorder research. Hodes GE, Kropp DR. Nature Mental Health, 2023 1, Jul. 10, 453-61. Doi: 10.1038/s44220-023-00083-3.
- Longitudinal associations between dimensions of maltreatment and internalizing symptoms in late adolescence: The role of inflammation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lindenmuth M, Hodes GE, Herd T, Casas B, Kim-Spoon J. Brain Behav Immun Health. 2023 Dec 21;35:100719. doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2023.100719. eCollection 2024 Feb. PMID: 38261884
- Sex and region-specific effects of variable stress on microglia morphology. Tsyglakova M, Huskey AM, Hurst EH, Telep NM, Wilding MC, Babington ME, Rainville JR, Hodes GE. Brain Behav Immun Health. 2021 Nov 6;18:100378. doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2021.100378. eCollection 2021 Dec. PMID: 34820640
- Individual differences in the peripheral immune system promote resilience versus susceptibility to social stress. Hodes GE, Pfau ML, Leboeuf M, Golden SA, Christoffel DJ, Bregman D, Rebusi N, Heshmati M, Aleyasin H, Warren BL, Lebonté B, Horn S, Lapidus KA, Stelzhammer V, Wong EH, Bahn S, Krishnan V, Bolaños-Guzman CA, Murrough JW, Merad M, Russo SJ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Nov 11;111(45):16136-41. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1415191111. Epub 2014 Oct 20. PMID: 25331895