Rate My Professor Tomas Guilarte

Guilarte’s research specializes in brain science and neurotoxicology, particularly the impact of environmental pollutants on neurological and neurodegenerative diseases and mental health. His work employs behavioral, cellular, molecular, and brain imaging approaches, including studies with primary cultures of brain cells. He has elucidated the effects of low-level lead exposure on the central nervous system during brain development, informing strategies to mitigate learning deficits that have been translated to human populations. His laboratory validated and applied the Translocator Protein 18 kDa (TSPO) as a biomarker for brain injury and inflammation, now used clinically in major medical centers worldwide. Guilarte has also advanced understanding of manganese neurotoxicity and associated neurological diseases. His research has received continuous funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for more than 23 years. In 2018, he received the Distinguished Toxicologist Award from the Hispanic Organization of Toxicologists for outstanding achievements, research excellence, and service to the Society of Toxicology. Key publications include “TSPO in diverse CNS pathologies and psychiatric disease: A critical review and a way forward” (Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2019), “Manganese-Induced Parkinsonism Is Not Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease: Environmental and Genetic Evidence” (Toxicological Sciences, 2015), and “Translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO): Molecular sensor of brain injury and repair” (Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2008).