Improving the Understanding and Treatment of Anxiety and Trauma-Related Disorders

Luis Rosas-Vidal, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Division of General Psychiatry. A physician-scientist, his clinical interest focuses on the treatment of severe affective and psychotic disorders within the inpatient psychiatric unit. On the research side, his laboratory uses cutting-edge, circuit-based techniques in combination with genetic and pharmacological approaches to characterize circuits regulating defensive responses related to fear and anxiety and how circuit function is modified by opioids.  

What are your research interests?  

My research interests broadly focus on understanding how the psychiatric symptoms of excessive fear and anxiety are mediated at the neural circuit level. I’m interested in how these neural circuits are influenced by various neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, and how these interactions affect behavioral outcomes. 

What is the ultimate goal of your research? 

 The goal of our research is to understand how defensive behaviors and emotions are regulated to ultimately improve understanding of anxiety and trauma-related disorders and how these disorders are diagnosed and treated. 

How did you become interested in this area of research? 

When I was in medical school, Dr. Gregory Quirk, a leader in the field of fear extinction learning and prefrontal cortex regulation of fear, joined our medical school. I volunteered to work in his laboratory and I was immediately captivated. After completing medical school, I formally joined his laboratory to train under him and complete a PhD.  

What types of collaborations are you engaged in across campus (and beyond)? 

I have ongoing collaborations within our department’s Stephen M. Stahl Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience with Reesha Patel, PhD, Hao Li, PhD, and Sachin Patel, MD, PhD,. 

Where have you recently published papers? 

I have published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Neurobiology of Stress and Psychopharmacology.  

Who inspires you? Or, who are your mentors? 

I am inspired by my family, my patients, my colleagues and people who try to do the right thing. My mentors are Drs. Gregory Quirk and Sachin Patel.