Flavia Carreño

Assistant Professor/Research

Ph.D., Cellular and Tissue Biology
University of São Paulo
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Email: carrenof@uthscsa.edu
Lab Association: Alan Frazer, Ph.D.
Research Interests
 

• Vagal nerve stimulation • antidepressants
• treatment resistant depression             • neurotrophins
• TrkB receptor

Research Activities
 
My current research focuses on alternative therapies for treatment resistant depression. Based on our recently published data showing that the sustained antidepressant-like response to ketamine is dependent on the activation of the ventral hippocampus, we propose a more translationally relevant approach by selectively targeting the hippocampus pharmacologically. In particular, we are exploiting the discrete localization of the alpha5-subunit of the GABAA receptor to modulate preferentially hippocampal activity. We have also published that such an approach produces an antidepressant-like response without the psychotomimetic effects and abuse related properties associated with the use of ketamine. Currently we are studying the mechanisms by which pharmacological augmentation of hippocampal activity produces sustained antidepressant-like effects.
 
Accomplishments, Awards and Honors 

  • Chair’s Award for Excellence – Research – Dec 2014
  • William Thomas Booth Memorial Travel Award – UTHSCSA – Sept 2014

 
Appointments, Boards, Committees and Memberships 

  • Reviewer for Journals – Biological Psychiatry – 2018-Present
  • Poster Judge – APSA Meeting (2018), BBC Meeting (2016), Pharmacology Graduate Student Symposium (2015), Passport Retreat (2015)
  • Chemical Safety Committee Member – UT Health San Antonio – 2017-Present
  • START-UP Recruitment Team – St. Mary’s University – 2017
  • Member of Center for Biomedical Neuroscience (CBN) – 2016-Present
  • Reviewer for Journals – Brain Stimulation – 2015-Present
  • Reviewer for Journals – International Journal of Neural Systems – 2015-Present
  • Reviewer for Journals – Neuropharmacology – 2015-Present
  • Grant Reviewer (ad hoc) – William & Ella Owens Medical Research Foundation – 2015
  • Brain Bowl Judge – UT Health San Antonio – 2015
  • Reviewer for Journals – PLOS ONE – 2014-Present
  • Reviewer for Journals – Neural Regeneration Research – 2014-Present
  • Natalia High School Science Night – Registration Booth Organizer – San Antonio, TX – 2014
  • Reviewer for Journals – Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy – 2012-Present
  • Organizing committee for R25 students Journal Club – Department of Pharmacology, UT Health San Antonio, TX – Dec 2011-Present
  • Member of American Physiological Society (APS) – 2009-Present
  • Member of the Cardiovascular Research Institute (CRI) – 2009-Present
  • Member of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) – 2005-Present

 
Certifications and Training 
Genome Sequencing Facility, UT Health San Antonio – Workshop attendee: RNA-seq (4 hours) – 2015
Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, UT Health San Antonio – Course attendee: Entering Mentorship (8 hours) – 2014
 
Grants, Funding and Research Support 
Center for Biomedical Neuroscience (CBN) pilot project grant – (Role: PI); 01/01/2015-12/31/2017: $50,000.00. – Title: Brain circuits underlying the antidepressant-like and abuse-related effects of ketamine
 
Lectures and Presentations
Ketamine and Beyond: Novel Treatments for Major Depressive Disorder – Pharmaceutical Sciences School seminar, UFRGS – Porto Alegre RS, Brazil – 2016
BDNF Receptor Signaling is Differentially Altered by Novel Antidepressants – ASPET Symposium speaker at Experimental Biology 2016, San Diego, CA
Brain circuits underlying the antidepressant response to ketamine: preclinical studies – Department of Pharmacology Seminar – UT Health San Antonio – 2015
Current Approaches and Technologies to Study Antidepressant Drugs in the Laboratory – UT Health San Antonio Voelcker Biosciences Teacher Academy 5th Annual Spring Conference – San Antonio, TX – 2014
How we study antidepressant drugs in the laboratory – UT Health San Antonio Health Professions Fair & Science Expo – 2013
Life as a scientist – Special presentation to R25 students/Round table – UT Health San Antonio – 2013
  
Selected Publications