Rodrigo Grassi-Oliveira is Associate Professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine - Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit at Aarhus University.

He has a background in early life stress (ELS) studies as well as an established expertise in developmental cognitive neuroscience and stress neurobiology. His work is driven by a strong interest in understanding how early life environment interacts with our (epi)genetic structure. 

Part of his research efforts is dedicated to comprehend people who have had atypical experiences during childhood/adolescence, such as exposure to drugs, neglectful or abusive relationships, or traumatic experiences.  

He is very interested to understand the neurobiological pathways associated with how ELS derail the course of brain development, promote immune, neuroendocrine and molecular long-lasting modifications and increase the risk for mental disorders, including addiction, later in life.

His research has a strong interdisciplinary and translational values, from animal studies to human neuroimaging.

Taken together, it is clear that all his efforts have been done to understand if psychoneuroimmunology pathways related to brain plasticity and brain development can be harnessed to reverse the deleterious effects of early life adversities before they reach clinical significance.