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I am a PhD student in Social & Behavioral Sciences at the NYU School of Global Public Health, advised by Dr. Adolfo Cuevas. As a relationship scientist, I study how interpersonal relationships and structural contexts jointly shape health across the life course.
My dissertation focuses on identifying critical windows of exposure to interpersonal violence and their relationships with adverse health outcomes. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), I examine how exposure to violence at different life stages relate to immunological aging and whether neighborhood disadvantage moderates these relationships over time.
Before my PhD, I practiced as a licensed clinical psychologist in Brazil, working in private practice and in community mental health programs. Trained in systems-oriented therapy, I saw firsthand how psychological well-being is intertwined with social conditions. I later completed a master's in clinical psychology at Columbia University, where I developed my interest in multilevel approaches to health.
Overall, my research explores how relational experiences, from intimate partnerships to neighborhood environments, become embedded in stress-responsive biological systems, and what protective factors, such as social integration, may buffer against poor health.
Updates
New publication update: "Neighborhood opportunity and cellular senescence in a national sample of U.S. adults" in Social Science & Medicine
New publication update: "Neighborhood opportunity and cellular senescence in a national sample of U.S. adults" in Social Science & Medicine
I'm happy to share that our paper, "Neighborhood Opportunity and Cellular Senescence in a National Sample of U.S. adults," is now published in Social Science and Medicine. In this study, we find that residing in low-opportunity neighborhoods was associated with elevated expression of CDKN2A, a marker of cellular senescence, with associations primarily driven by social and economic resources deficits. Go check it out!
In the media: "Aging Anxiety and Epigenetic Aging in a National Sample of Adult Women in the United States"
In the media: "Aging Anxiety and Epigenetic Aging in a National Sample of Adult Women in the United States"
Health magazine, The Independent, U.S. News & World Report, ScienceDaily, SELF Magazine, PhillyVoice, and other media outlets have published pieces on our Editor's Choice paper: "Aging Anxiety and Epigenetic Aging in a National Sample of Adult Women in the United States," published in Psychoneuroendocrinology. Go check it out!
Presentation Update: "Intimate Partner Violence and the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA)"
Happy to have had the opportunity to present our work, "Intimate Partner Violence and the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity" at the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine's annual conferece. We found that Severe Physical intimate partner violence was associated with a pattern of transcriptional immune activation that differs from the canonical CTRA profile, with both inflammatory and antiviral genes updaregulated. More to come on this soon, stay tuned!
(some of) The BASE Lab takes Chicago!
(some of) The BASE Lab takes Chicago!
I had the best time in Chicago at the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine's annual conference. It's always rewarding to share and learn from research in spaces that bring together scholars working at the intersection of biological, psychological, and social processes. A big thank you to my amazing team (some of them pictured here) for their ongoing support!
Publications
Rodrigues, M., Bather, J. R., Crump, A. A., Kranz, E. O., Cole, S. W., & Cuevas, A. G. (2026). Neighborhood Opportunity and Cellular Senescence in a National Sample of US Adults. Social Science & Medicine, 119196. PDF
Cuevas, A.G., Kranz, E.O., Rodrigues, M., Binns, A., Martin, G, Herz, N., Crump, A.A., Bather, J.R., & Cole, S.W. (2026) Perceived Discrimination and Immunological Aging: A Systematic Review of Cellular and Molecular Markers. Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine88, no. 2:137-155. PDF
Rodrigues, M., Bather, J. R., & Cuevas, A. G. (2025). Relationship stress and epigenetic age acceleration among older US adults in the Midlife in the United States study. Epigenomics, 17(17), 1249-1257. PDF
Rodrigues, M., Bather, J. R., & Cuevas, A. G. (2025). Aging anxiety and epigenetic aging in a national sample of adult women in the United States. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 107704. PDF
Rodrigues, M., Bather, J. R., & Cuevas, A. G. (2025). Differential associations between relationship stressors and natural killer cell gene expression by race/ethnicity and sex among older US adults. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 106116. PDF
Bather, J. R., Kranz, E. O., Rodrigues, M., Cole, S. W., & Cuevas, A. G. (2025). Discrimination and dendritic cell abundance among older adults in the health and retirement study. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 106087. PDF
Green, N.A., Rodrigues, M., Perez, S.E., Milu, A., Martin, G., Caldas, J.J., Loureiro, S. & Cook, S.H. (2025). Exploring intersectionality in psychoneuroendocrinology research: A systematic review. Psychoneuroendocrinology, p.107536. PDF
Bather, J. R., Rodrigues, M., Jiang, Y., Cole, S. W., & Cuevas, A. G. (2025). Neighborhood disadvantage and elevated CD14 gene expression among middle-aged adults: Findings from the Midlife in the United States study. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 107553. PDF
Wood, E. P., Risner, E. M., Rodrigues, M., & Cook, S. H. (2025). Daily racial discrimination is associated with daily alcohol use among young sexual minority men. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 1-12. PDF
Rodrigues, M., Neaman, A., Ditzer, J., & Talmon, A. (2025). The impact of intimate partner violence on the mental and physical health of sexual and gender minorities: A comprehensive review of quantitative research. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 54(2), 433-447. PDF
Paniagua-Avila, A., Branas, C., Susser, E., Fort, M. P., Shelton, R., Trigueros, L., ... Rodrigues, M., & Kane, J. (2025). Integrated programs for common mental illnesses within primary care and community settings in Latin America: a scoping review of components and implementation strategies. The Lancet Regional Health–Americas, 41. PDF
Rodrigues, M., Risner, E., Rhodes-Bratton, B., Cook, S. H., & Cuevas, A. (2024). Intersectionality matters for Hispanic health: A replication study using the All of Us Research Program. International Journal for Equity in Health, 23(1), 195. PDF
Szkody, E., Spence, A., Özdoğru, A.,... Rodrigues, M., ... & Redd, B. (2024). Social support and help-seeking worldwide. Current Psychology, 43(22), 20165-20181. PDF
Refaeli, L. B., Rodrigues, M., Neaman, A., Bertele, N., Ziv, Y., Talmon, A., & Enav, Y. (2024). Supporting the transition to parenthood: a systematic review of empirical studies on emotional and psychological interventions for first-time parents. Patient Education and Counseling, 120, 108090. PDF
Cook, S. H., Wood, E. P., Rodrigues, M., Jachero Caldas, J., & Delorme, M. (2024). Assessment of a daily diary study including biospecimen collections in a sample of sexual and gender minority young adults: Feasibility and acceptability study. JMIR formative research, 8, e52195. PDF
Spaegele, N., Ditzer, J., Rodrigues, M., & Talmon, A. (2024). The experience of bearing a child: implications on body boundaries and their link to preterm birth. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 24(1), 110. PDF
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