Rate My Professor Marie Holt

Marie Holt is an Assistant Professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick, a position she assumed in 2023. She earned her PhD in Neuroscience from University College London between 2014 and 2017, an MRes in Biomedical Research from Imperial College London in 2013, and a BSc in Molecular Medicine from the University of Aarhus in 2012. Prior appointments include British Heart Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at University College London from 2021 to 2023, Postdoctoral Researcher at Florida State University from 2017 to 2020, and Research Assistant at University College London from 2013 to 2014.

Holt's research examines brainstem pathways that orchestrate stress responses, with a focus on the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) and preproglucagon (PPG) neurons and their regulation of cardiovascular function, anxiety-like behaviours, food intake, and body weight. Her studies employ transgenic mouse models, chronic stress models, and neuroscience methods such as anatomical dissections, calcium imaging, electrophysiology, in vivo pharmacology, chemogenetics, and optogenetics to uncover links between stress, affective disorders, cardiovascular disease, and eating pathologies. She holds a British Heart Foundation postdoctoral fellowship from 2023 to 2025, transferred from University College London. Notable publications encompass Holt et al. (2025), 'Modulation of stress-related behaviour by preproglucagon neurons and hypothalamic projections to the nucleus of the solitary tract' (Molecular Metabolism); Holt (2022), 'The ins and outs of the caudal nucleus of the solitary tract: an overview of cellular populations and anatomical connections' (Journal of Neuroendocrinology); Holt & Rinaman (2022), 'The role of nucleus of the solitary tract glucagon-like peptide-1 and prolactin-releasing peptide neurons in stress' (British Journal of Pharmacology); Holt et al. (2019), 'Synaptic inputs to the mouse dorsal vagal complex and its resident preproglucagon neurons' (The Journal of Neuroscience); and Holt et al. (2018), 'Preproglucagon neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract are the main source of brain GLP-1, mediate stress-induced hypophagia, and limit unusually large intakes of food' (Diabetes). Holt contributes as DTP Academic Training Lead for Life Sciences in the MRC Doctoral Training Partnership and supervises PhD students through the MIBTP programme.