Penha Cristina Barradas is an Associate Professor at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), where she has worked since 1993 in the Department of Pharmacology and Psychobiology, Institute of Biology. Her research is centered on developmental neurobiology, with particular emphasis on neuroglial responses to prenatal/perinatal hypoxic-ischemic injury, oligodendroglial differentiation, myelination, neuroinflammation, and the identification of preventive and therapeutic strategies for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Her current research also investigates maternal physical conditioning and pharmacological interventions as potential strategies to prevent or attenuate neurodevelopmental damage following prenatal hypoxia-ischemia.