Mariajose (MJ) Metcalfe is a neuroscientist interested in how growth and plasticity can be unlocked in the adult nervous system—and how those same processes must be governed to achieve functional repair.

MJ earned her bachelor’s degree at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where she first became fascinated by molecular signaling in the injured and diseased brain. She later moved to the U.S. to work as a Research Assistant in Paul Greengard’s laboratory at The Rockefeller University, gaining broad training in neurobiology and experimental rigor. She completed her PhD at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York under the mentorship of Dr. Maria Figueiredo-Pereira, studying how disruptions in protein homeostasis contribute to neurodegeneration.

During her postdoctoral training at the Burke Neurological Institute and later at the University of California, Irvine in Dr. Oswald Steward’s lab, MJ shifted her focus to spinal cord injury and recovery. There, she helped develop AAV-based strategies to promote neural growth and pioneered bioluminescence imaging approaches to track gene expression in real time—enabling precise control over when and where growth programs are activated.

In 2024, MJ joined the Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. Her lab studies how temporally controlled gene-based interventions shape axonal growth, circuit remodeling, and long-term functional outcomes after neurotrauma. Her work is supported by the NIH (R01) and has been recognized by the Allen Institute through the Next Generation Leaders program.

Beyond the science, MJ is deeply committed to mentorship, collaboration, and building an inclusive training environment. She views the lab as both a discovery engine and a learning community, with the goal of preparing the next generation of neuroscientists to ask bold questions and translate fundamental insights into meaningful impact.