Flavia Carreno PhD

Flavia Carreno is a Assistant Professor at the UT Health San Antonio. She received her PhD in Cellular and Tissue Biology from the University of Sao Paulo. Her 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, exploiting the discrete localization of the alpha5-subunit of the GABAA receptor to modulate preferentially hippocampal activity. She has 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, studying the mechanisms by which pharmacological augmentation of hippocampal activity produces sustained antidepressant-like effects.