Bio

Mariajose (MJ) earned her bachelor's degree from the “Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile”, where she studied Wnt ligands in the context of Alzheimer's disease. She then moved to the U.S. to work as a Research Assistant in Paul Greengard’s laboratory at The Rockefeller University. A few years later, she pursued her Ph.D. at The Graduate center of the City University of New York under the mentorship of Dr. Maria Figueiredo-Pereira, focusing on tau cleavege and proteasome impairments.

She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Burke Neurological Institute, where she investigated mechanisms of functional recovery following spinal cord injury. Dr. Metcalfe then continued her spinal cord injury research at the University of California Irvine, in Dr. Oswald Steward’s lab, where she developed innovative AAV-based strategies to promote neuronal regeneration. During this time, she pioneered a bioluminescence imaging platform to track gene expression in real time, advancing the precision of gene therapy approaches for spinal cord injury.

In 2024, Dr. Metcalfe joined the Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. Her research program focuses on developing temporally controlled gene therapies to enhance axonal regeneration while minimizing late-onset complications. Her work has been recognized with funding from the NIH (R01), and the Allen Institute as a Next Generation Leader.

Dr. Metcalfe is passionate about scientific mentorship, collaboration, and advancing diversity in neuroscience. Through her research, she aims to bridge basic science discoveries with translational applications that can one day improve outcomes for individuals with spinal cord injuries.