Maria K. Lehtinen

Dr. Maria K. Lehtinen is Hannah C. Kinney Chair in Pediatric Pathology Research and Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. She directs a research laboratory at Boston Children's Hospital investigating cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biology and brain development. She earned her Ph.D. in Neurobiology from Harvard University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Helsinki and Boston Children's Hospital.

Her laboratory studies the choroid plexus-CSF system's role in brain development, neuroinflammation, and disease. Research areas include: signaling mechanisms in embryonic CSF, age-dependent CSF composition changes, choroid plexus barrier functions, and CSF-based therapeutic approaches.

Dr. Lehtinen's publications focus on molecular mechanisms of brain-CSF interactions, neurodevelopmental disorders, and inflammation resolution. Recent work explores diurnal CSF dynamics, choroid plexus immune functions, and therapeutic applications for hydrocephalus and neuroinflammation.

Honors include the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship and support from NIH, NSF, Ellison/AFAR, and Sigrid Juselius Foundation. The lab develops innovative methodologies for CSF analysis and choroid plexus manipulation.