Maribel Rios

Maribel Rios is a neuroscientist originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She received a Bachelor of Arts in neuroscience from Boston University, followed by a Doctor of Philosophy in Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology from the Sackler School at Tufts University. Rios continued her studies by attending the Whitehead Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she completed her post-doctoral training in genetics. Following her education, she returned to Tufts where she serves as a professor of neuroscience.

Early life and education Maribel Rios grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico and lived there until she was 18 years old. Rios' lab demonstrated that BDNF is a satiety signal. Rios' lab also discovered the role of estrogen in glucose metabolism that may explain the increased risk for diabetes in post-menopausal women. Rios' lab recently uncovered the potential mechanism behind gabapentin-mediated appetite increase.

Rios currently serves as the director of the Tufts Postbaccalaureate Research Ed Program (PREP), an NIH-funded program geared towards increasing diversity in the biomedical sciences .