Carlos Guardia

Carlos Guardia, Ph.D., is a Stadtman Investigator at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and heads the Placental Cell Biology Group. He holds a secondary appointment in the NIEHS Signal Transduction Laboratory. His research focuses on understanding how environmental stressors affect placental development and pregnancy outcomes through autophagy mechanisms and in vitro placenta modeling.

Guardia earned his Ph.D. in Structural Biology from the University of Buenos Aires in 2014 and completed postdoctoral training in Cell Biology at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under Dr. Juan S. Bonifacino. His expertise spans lysosome dynamics, autophagy pathways, and advanced microscopy techniques.

• Environmental impacts on placental development
• Role of autophagy in placental health
• In vitro placenta modeling
• Connection between autophagy and secretory pathways
• Addressing racial/economic disparities in maternal mortality

His recent publications highlight work in autophagy protein structures (Cell Rep, 2020), lipid mobilization mechanisms (Nat Commun, 2021), and lysosome transport dynamics (Cell Rep, 2016). Research integrates biochemistry, multi-omics, and cryo-electron microscopy to study placental stress responses and lysosome homeostasis.

Scientific Awards

• NIH Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator
• NIH Distinguished Scholar

Guardia's research emphasizes the intersection of environmental health and reproductive biology, with a strong narrative on addressing racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality through molecular mechanisms of placental autophagy.