Dr. Fernandes is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Director of Metabolomics at OUHSC, College of Medicine. With a particular focus on metallomic and metabolomic strategies, she uses diverse cellular and molecular integrated approaches to identify key adverse and beneficial molecular pathways that associate pre- and postnatal environmental exposures with offspring neurodevelopmental and metabolic disease susceptibility.
Education:
- MS - Biochemistry, University of Mumbai, India
- PhD - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
- Postdoctoral Fellowship - Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
Research Interests:
The Fernandes lab focuses on determining molecular mechanisms of in utero origins of neurodevelopmental diseases through exposure science, using in vitro culture models, murine models, human samples and systems biology approaches. Neuronal injuries during the critical window of development can result in debilitating psychological and cognitive outcomes that may not be evident until many years later and therefore early diagnosis is key. A current focus in the Fernandes lab is to study the effect of pre-natal exposure of redox active metal and metalloid contaminants obtained from food, supplements, parenteral nutrition and water to identify metal-metal interactions, neuronal signaling mediators and diagnostic biomarkers that could be developed for predictive therapeutic interventions. Ultimately, Dr. Fernandes’s work aims to utilize high-resolution, high-throughput technologies to improve our understanding of the basis for differential disease susceptibility through early life nutritional and toxic metal exposures in our youngest patient population.
Select Honors & Accomplishments:
- 2016, 2019 - Young Investigator Award, 24th and 26th Annual Meeting Society for Redox Biology and Medicine, San Francisco, California and Las Vegas, NV
- 2016, 2017, 2018 - Pulmonary Fellow Research Award, Annual Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Research Symposium, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
- 2018 - Early Stage Investigator Award, NIEHS/EPA Children’s Environmental Health Research Centers Annual Meeting, Durham, NC
- 2018 - Outstanding Oral Presentation, 11th Annual Research Day, Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
- 2017 - Postdoctoral Travel Award, Mechanisms Specialty Section, 56th Annual Meeting Society of Toxicology, Baltimore, MD
- 2013, 2014 - Graduate College Award for Scientific Achievement, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Centre, Oklahoma City, OK
- 2013 - Travel Award, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK
- 2012 - Graduate Student Travel Grant, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Centre, Oklahoma City, OK
- 2012 - College of Medicine Deans Award for Outstanding Research, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Centre, Oklahoma City, OK
Select Publications:
- Fernandes J, Chandler JD, Liu KH, Uppal K, Hao L, Hu X, Go YM, Jones DP. Metabolomic Responses to Manganese Dose in SH-SY5Y Human Neuroblastoma Cells. Toxicol Sci. 169(1):84-94, 2019. PMID: 30715528; PMCID: PMC6484887.
- Fernandes J, Hu X, Ryan Smith M, Go YM, Jones DP. Selenium at the redox interface of the genome, metabolome and exposome. Free Radic Biol Med. 127:215-227, 2018. PMID: 29883789; PMCID: PMC6168380
- Fernandes J, Hao L, Bijli KM, Chandler JD, Orr M, Hu X, Jones DP, Go YM. From the Cover: Manganese Stimulates Mitochondrial H2O2 Production in SH-SY5Y Human Neuroblastoma Cells Over Physiologic as well as Toxicologic Range. Toxicol Sci. 155(1):213-223, 2017. PMID: 27701121; PMCID: PMC5216654.
- Corwin E, Dunlop AL, Fernandes J, Li S, Pearce B, Jones DP. Metabolites and metabolic pathways associated with glucocorticoid resistance in pregnant African-American women. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1-2(2020):100001, 2020.
MyNCBI Publications