EDUCATION/EMPLOYMENT

1990 Ph.D. in Neuroscience, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY (Mentor: R.U. Muller)
1990-1992 Research Instructor, Dept. Anatomy, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
1992-1993 Fulbright Fellow, Dept. Physiology, Univ. of Honduras Med. Sch., Tegucigalpa, Honduras
1993-1997 Postdoctoral Fellow, Ctr for Neural Science, New York University (Mentor: J.E. LeDoux)
1997-2007 Assistant-Associate-Full Professor, Dept. Physiology, Ponce School of Medicine, Puerto Rico
2007- 2021 Professor (w/tenure), Depts. of Psychiatry and Anatomy & Neurobiology, Univ. Puerto Rico School Medicine, San Juan, PR
2021- pres. Supervising Scientist, Philippines National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila

REVIEW ACTIVITIES AND GOVERNMENT SERVICE

1997-99 Fulbright Senior Scholars Reviewer
2001-05 Member, NIH-CSR Study Section ICP-1 (International and Cooperative Projects)
2002-05 Society for Neuroscience (SFN) Membership Committee
2003-06 Minority Neuroscience Fellowship Steering Committee, Society for Neuroscience (SFN)
2003-09 SFN International Affairs Cmte/U.S. National Cmte of Nat. Acad. of Science (Vice-Chair)
2006 NIH-CSR Special Emphasis Panels ZRG1 BBBP-J (Animal Ethology and Learning); ZMH1 ERB-Y (Diversity T32 Training Grants).
2006 Guest Editor, Biological Psychiatry Special Issue on Extinction
2005-07 Section Editor, Neuroscience (Behavioral Neuroscience Section, published by IBRO)
2008 NIH-CSR Special Emphasis Panels ZRG1 BBBP-J (Animal Ethology and Learning); ZRG1 F02A-H (Fellowships: Behavioral Neuroscience).
2008-13 NIH-CSR Study Section Learning & Memory (LAM) (Chair, 2011-2013)
2011 NIMH RDoC Workshop on Negative Valence
2009-13 Chair, US/Canada Regional Committee of International Brain Research Organization
2014-18 NIH-CSR Special Emphasis Panels ZRG1 IFCN-T (02) (Chair), ZMH1ERB-S (01), ZRG1 IFCN-B (90) (Chair), ZRG1 BDCN-W (90), ZRG1 IFCN-B (55), ZRG1-BDCN-W (90).
2009-19 Reviewer, Faculty of 1000 Medicine
2009-20 Chair, SFN Latin American Training Advisory Group
2010-24 Associate Editor: NPJ Science of Learning. Editorial Boards: Neuroscience; Learning & Memory; Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
2023-26 SFN Committee on Committees, Chair of two honorary awards committees.

HONORS

1992 Fulbright Award, U.S. Dept. of State, Council on International Exchange of Scholars (CIES)
1998 FIRST Award, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
1999 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, by President Bill Clinton
2003 Award of Excellence in Teaching and Research, Ponce School of Medicine
2005 Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, Beta Chapter of Puerto Rico
2006 Distinguished Lecturer, NIMH Mood and Anxiety Disorders Lecture Series
2008 Member, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)
2012 Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2014 Thompson-Reuters Highly Cited Researcher (top 1% in Neuroscience & Behavior)
2014 NIH MERIT Award (Method to Extend Research in Time)
2016 Special Recognition Award, Puerto Rico Trust for Science and Technology
2017 Elected Fellow, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)
2019 World Expert Lecture Series, University of the Philippines – Manila
2020 Shockley Minority Mentoring Award, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
2023 Listed in “Best Scientists in the field of Neuroscience”, by Research.com (top 3%)

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Society for Neuroscience (International Affairs Cmte, Membership Cmte, Miledi School Planning Cmte, Latin American Training Advisory Group)
American Physiological Society
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (Fellow)
American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow)
International Brain Research Organization (2009-12, Chair: US/Canada Regional Committee)

TEACHING AND MENTORING

Psychiatry Residents: National Center for Mental Health: (2024-present). Basic and Clinical Neuroscience
Medical Students: UP-Manila: (2025-present). Human Psychosocial Function and Development
Medical Neuroscience Course: PSM, UPR (2000-2021). Lectures on excitable membranes, sensory systems, motor system, limbic system, cognition, and emotion.
Graduate Neuroscience Courses: Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience and Brain Imaging, Special Topics in the Limbic System, Synaptic Pharmacology and Membrane Biophysics, weekly lab meetings, weekly journal clubs.
Mentoring:
Completed: 11 PhDs (M.R. Milad, E. Santini, K. Lebron, I. Vidal-Gonzalez, A. Burgos-Robles; D. Sierra Mercado, C. Bravo-Rivera, J. Rodriguez-Romaguera, L. Rosas-Vidal, K. Quiñones-Laracuente, H. Bravo-Rivera), 5 PsyDs (D. Anglada-Figueroa, B. Cintron, P. Hernandez-Poudevida, L. Olivera Figueroa, M. Castro), 11 Post-Doctoral Fellows (D. Arroyo, J. Franco-Chavez, K. A. Corcoran, G. Garcia, D. Mueller, J. Peters, F. Sotres Quiñones -Bayon, F. Amador, F. H. Do Monte, F. Martinez Rivera, M. Diehl).
Current: 2 PhDs (J. Asis, A. Carampel)

ADMINISTRATION

Institutional Committees in Puerto Rico: Institutional Review Board (IRB), Space Committee, Graduate School Steering Committee, Faculty Search committee, RCMI Internal Advisory committee, Psychiatry Research committee, Young Faculty mentoring committee, Key Activity Director, RCMI Pilot Projects Program.
Outside Puerto Rico: SFN International Affairs committee, IBRO North American Regional committee, IBRO Return Home Fellowship committee, SFN Membership committee, ACNP Advocacy committee, SFN Miledi Training School committee (Chair), SFN Minority Fellowship Steering committee.

RESEARCH GRANTS

2024-27 Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD): (Quirk: Supervising Research Specialist; PI: Cena-Navarro) “The effects of berberine and extinction on addictive behavior and brain transcriptomics in a rodent model of social-methamphetamine addiction”.
2021-24 Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD): 8424, 8425 (Quirk: Supervising Research Specialist; PI: Cena-Navarro) “Novel approaches to treatment of addiction and depression using animal models”
1998-22 NIMH, R37-MH058883-24 (PI: Quirk) “Prefrontal-Amygdala Interactions in Fear Conditioning” (formerly R01-MH058883, MERIT 5-year Extension awarded in 2018).

COLLABORATORS

Suzanne N. Haber, PhD, Dept. of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Univ. Rochester (neuroanatomy)
Benjamin D. Greenberg, MD, PhD, Brown University (fMRI in OCD, PTSD)
Steven Rasmussen, MD, Brown University (clinical research in OCD)
Nanyin Zhang, PhD, Penn State University (fMRI in rodents)
Karen G. Martinez, MD, Dept. of Psychiatry, UPR (human fear conditioning, clinical populations)

CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIA ORGANIZED

Conference: Deep brain stimulation: Mechanisms of action in mood and anxiety disorders, February 11, 2011, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Symposium: Erasing Fear with Extinction. Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting 2010, San Diego, CA
Conference: Deep Brain Stimulation for use in Anxiety Disorders. Feb 25-27, 20101, Melia Resort, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Gordon Conference 2009: The Amygdala in Health and Disease (Co-Organizer with D. Paré),Colby College, ME
Social Issues Roundtable: Global Neuroscience – Neuroethics and the Burden of Nervous System Disorders, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2008
Scientific Panel: “Neural Mechanisms of Extinction: Translating from Rats to Humans”, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Annual Meeting, 2005 (co-organized with Dr. Scott L. Rauch).
International Conference: “Extinction: The Neural Mechanisms of Behavior Change”, the first international conference ever held on the topic of extinction with participants from 18 countries, February 2-6, 2005, Ponce, Puerto Rico.
NIH Workshop: NIMH Workshop on Extinction of Conditioned Fear, June 6, 2003 (co-organized with Dr. Kathleen Anderson, NIMH).
Satellite Workshop: “Neuroscience in Developing Countries”, a yearly workshop organized as a satellite event at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, 1999-2005 (co-organized with Dr. Gladys E. Maestre).