Viola Caretti, MD, PhD

Biography

Viola Caretti, MD, PhD, is a child neurologist and physician-scientist studying neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and its long-term effects on the developing brain. Her research asks how an injury occurring at birth continues to influence brain development and recovery over time, and whether this creates opportunities to intervene beyond the first hours of life. Her laboratory focuses particularly on neuroinflammation, the immune response, and the gut-brain axis after neonatal brain injury.

Dr. Caretti began her research career during her PhD in Amsterdam, where she studied pediatric brain tumors and developed new approaches to improve drug delivery to the brain. She subsequently joined the Monje Laboratory at Stanford University, studying the interactions between neurons and pediatric brain tumors. These experiences shaped her interest in how the developing nervous system responds to disease and injury.

During her child neurology training at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, her research focus shifted toward neonatal brain injury. Caring for children with HIE also raised a question that continues to drive her work: after the narrow window for therapeutic hypothermia has passed, are there other opportunities to change a child’s neurological trajectory?

Dr. Caretti is now an assistant professor at UTHealth Houston, where she leads a translational research program combining experimental models of HIE with studies of infants and children in the hospital and clinic. Her laboratory investigates how immune responses and the gut microbiome influence injury and recovery after HIE, with the long-term goal of identifying new therapeutic approaches that take advantage of the plasticity of the developing brain.

Alongside her research, Dr. Caretti practices as a child neurologist and is committed to training and mentoring students, residents, and young scientists. Her clinical work continues to inform the questions her laboratory asks and keeps the focus of the research on improving the lives of children affected by neonatal brain injury.