Maria Rodgers

Maria Rodgers is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at North Carolina State University, affiliated with the College of Sciences. She leads the Rodgers Lab at the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST), focusing on immunotoxicology and comparative immunology in marine organisms. Her research addresses immune responses in wild sea turtles, PFAS impacts on fish intestinal immunity, and climate-related multistressor effects on marine life.

Her work integrates environmental toxicology with marine biology, exploring how pollutants, climate variables, and co-infections influence immunological processes. She collaborates with the Center for Human Health and the Environment (CHHE) and contributes to interdisciplinary programs in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. Recent studies emphasize transcriptomic responses to oil exposure, microfluidic models of microbiome-immune interactions, and cell culture techniques for aquatic organisms.

Dr. Rodgers’ articles highlight advancements in understanding immune system adaptability under environmental stressors, with methodologies including single-cell RNA sequencing, microfluidic systems, and comparative genomics. Her research bridges laboratory and field studies, informing marine conservation strategies and toxicological risk assessments.

She is part of the Toxicology & Environmental Health Sciences graduate program and mentors students in translational marine immunology. Her lab’s studies on coinfecting parasites and evolutionary cell-type differences reflect a commitment to integrative ecological immunology.