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
- Carreno FR, Frazer A. (2017) Vagal Nerve Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression Neurotherapeutics Jul;14(3):716-727.
- Carreno FR, Collins GT, Frazer A, Lodge JD. (2017)_Selective pharmacological augmentation of hippocampal activity produces a sustained antidepressant-like response without abuse-related or psychotomimetic effects Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. Jun 1;20(6):504-509.
- Carreno FR, Donegan JJ, Boley AM, Shah A, DeGuzman M, Frazer A, Lodge DJ. (2016) Activation of a ventral hippocampus-medial prefrontal cortex pathway is both necessary and sufficient for an antidepressant response to ketamine Mol Psychiatry. Sep;21(9):1298-308.
- Carreno FR, Frazer A. (2016) The allure of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation as a novel therapeutic modality Biol Psychiatry. Feb 15;79(4):260-1.
- Shah AP, Carreno FR, Wu H, Chung YA, Frazer A. (2016) Role of TrkB in the anxiolytic-like and antidepressant-like effects of vagal nerve stimulation: comparison with desipramine Neuroscience May 13; 322:273-86.
- Selected Abstracts
- Carreno FR, Arroyo, L.D., Lodge DJ., Frazer A. Novel mechanisms contributing to the antidepressant-like effect of pharmacological hippocampal activation Program No. 610.27. Neuroscience Meeting Planner – Washington, DC: Society for Neuroscience, 2017. Online.
- Carreno FR, Frazer A, Lodge DJ. Optogenetic inactivation of the ventral hippocampus-medial prefrontal cortex pathway reverses the antidepressant-like effects of ketamine Program No. 410.13. Neuroscience Meeting Planner – Chicago, IL: Society for Neuroscience, 2015. Online
- Carreno, FR., Shah, A., Frazer, A. and Lodge, DJ. Involvement of the ventral hippocampus in the antidepressant-like effect of ketamine in rats ACNP 53rd meeting, Phoenix, AZ., USA, 2014
- Carreno, FR., DeGuzman, M., Shah, A., Lodge, DJ. and Frazer, A. Involvement of the ventral hippocampus in the antidepressant-like effect of ketamine: Behavioral and optogenetic studies Program No. 425.10. Neuroscience Meeting Planner – Washington, DC: Society for Neuroscience, 2014 – Online
- Carreno, FR., Frazer, A. and Lodge D. Involvement of the ventral hippocampus ascending pathway to the medial prefrontal cortex in the antidepressant-like effect of ketamine in rats 21st Annual Department of Pharmacology Graduate Student Symposium, San Antonio, TX., USA, Oct. 2014