Sierra-Mercado, Demetrio, PhD

Associate Professor
Dr. Demetrio Sierra

Contact Info

  • demetrio.sierra@upr.edu
  • Medical Sciences Campus
    Dr. Guillermo Arbona Irizarry Bldg.
    5th Floor, Office A501A, Lab A544/A538

  • 787-758-2525 x1572 (office), x1521 (lab)

Education

  • B.S.: Biology, Minor in Chemistry (University of Texas at San Antonio)
  • Ph.D.: Biomedical Sciences — Neuroscience (Ponce School of Medicine, Ponce, Puerto Rico)
  • Postdoctoral training: Behavioral neuroscience, neurophysiology, and brain injury (Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA)

Research Interest:

Effects serious cranioencephalic trauma on memory formation and expression

Present Funding:

NIH R21, NIH COBRE, NIH RCMI

Selected Publications:

  • Kostick-Quenet K, Kalwani L, Koenig B, Torgerson L, Sanchez C, Munoz K, Hsu RL, Sierra-Mercado D, Robinson JO, Outram S, Pereira S, McGuire A, Zuk P, Lazaro-Munoz G (2022) Researchers’ Ethical Concerns About Using Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation for Enhancement. Front Hum Neurosci. 2022 Apr 14;16:813922. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.813922. PMID: 35496073; PMCID: PMC9050172.
  • Zuk P, Sanchez CE, Kostick-Quenet K, Muñoz KA, Kalwani L, Lavingia R, Torgerson L, Sierra-Mercado D, Robinson JO, Pereira S, Outram S, Koenig BA, McGuire AL, Lázaro-Muñoz G (2022) Researcher Views on Changes in Personality, Mood, and Behavior in Next-Generation Deep Brain Stimulation. AJOB Neurosci. 2022 Apr 18:1-13. doi: 10.1080/21507740.2022.2048724. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35435795; PMCID: PMC9639000.
  • Outram S, Muñoz KA, Kostick-Quenet K, Sanchez CE, Kalwani L, Lavingia R, Torgerson L, Sierra-Mercado D, Robinson JO, Pereira S, Koenig BA, Starr PA, Gunduz A, Foote KD, Okun MS, Goodman WK, McGuire AL, Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G. Patient, Caregiver, and Decliner Perspectives on Whether to Enroll in Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation Research. Front Neurosci. 2021 Oct 7;15:734182. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.734182. PMID: 34690676; PMCID: PMC8529029.
  • Muñoz KA, Kostick K, Sanchez C, Kalwani L, Torgerson L, Hsu R, Sierra-Mercado D, Robinson JO, Outram S, Koenig BA, Pereira S, McGuire A, Zuk P, Lázaro-Muñoz G (2020) Researcher perspectives on ethical considerations in adaptive deep brain stimulation trials. Front Hum Neurosci Nov 12; 14:578695. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.578695. eCollection 2020.PMID: 33281581
  • Zuk P, Sanchez CE, Kostick K,Torgerson L, Muñoz KA, Hsu R, Kalwani L, Sierra-Mercado D, Robinson JO, Outram S, Koenig BA, Pereira S, McGuire AL, Lázaro-Muñoz G (2020) Researcher perspectives on data sharing in deep brain stimulation. Front Hum Neurosci Dec 17; 14:578687. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.578687. eCollection 2020.PMID: 33424563
  • Lázaro-Muñoz G, Zuk P, Pereira S, Kostick K, Torgerson L, Sierra-Mercado D, Majumder M, Blumenthal-Barby J, Storch EA, Goodman WK, McGuire AL. (2019) Neuroethics at 15: Keep the Kant but Add More Bacon. AJOB Neurosci. 2019 Jul-Sep;10(3):97-100. doi: 10.1080/21507740.2019.1632960. No abstract available. PMID: 31329079
  • Sierra-Mercado D, Zuk P, Beauchamp MS, Sheth SA, Yoshor D, Goodman WK, McGuire AL, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2019) Device Removal Following Brain Implant Research. Neuron. 2019 Sep 4;103(5):759-761. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.08.024. PMID: 31487526
  • Kostick KM, Sierra-Mercado D, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2019) Ethical and Social Considerations for Increasing Use of DTC Neurotechnologies. AJOB Neurosci. 2019 Oct-Dec;10(4):183-185. doi: 10.1080/21507740.2019.1665131. No abstract available. PMID: 31642754
  • Zuk P, Torgerson L, Sierra-Mercado D, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2018) Neuroethics of Neuromodulation: An Update. Curr Opin Biomed Eng. 2018 Dec;8:45-50. doi: 10.1016/j.cobme.2018.10.003. Epub 2018 Oct 26. PMID: 30687802
  •  Sierra-Mercado D, Lázaro-Muñoz G. (2018) Enhance Diversity Among Researchers to Promote Participant Trust in Precision Medicine Research. Am J Bioeth. 2018 Apr;18(4):44-46. PMID: 29621450
  • Gatica RI, Pérez-Valenzuela E, Sierra-Mercado D, Fuentealba JA (2017) The expression of amphetamine sensitization is disociable from anxiety and aversive memory: Effect of an acute injection of amphetamine. Neurosci Lett 638:21-26
  •  Ishizawa Y, Ahmed OJ, Patel SR, Gale JT, Sierra-Mercado D, Brown EN, Eskandar EN (2016) Dynamics of propofol-induced loss of consciousness across primate neocortex, J Neurosci 36(29):7718-7726
  •  Sierra-Mercado D, McAllister LM, Lee CC, Milad MR, Eskandar EN, Whalen MJ (2015) Controlled cortical impact before or after fear conditioning does not affect fear extinction in mice. Brain Res 1606:133-141.
  •  Sierra-Mercado D, Deckersbach T, Arulpragasam AR, Chou T, Rodman AM, Duffy A, McDonald EJ, Eckhardt CA, Corse AK, Kaur N, Eskandar EN, Dougherty DD (2014) Decision making in avoidance-reward conflict: a paradigm for non-human primates and humans Brain Structure & Function. Epub 27-Jun.
  • Sotres-Bayon F, Sierra-Mercado D, Pardilla-Delgado E, Quirk GJ (2012) Gating of fear in prelimbic cortex by hippocampal and amygdala inputs. 76, 804-812.
  • Sierra-Mercado D, Padilla-Coreano N, Quirk GJ (2011) Dissociable roles of prelimbic and infralimbic cortices, ventral hippocampus, and basolateral amygdala in the expression and extinction of conditioned fear. 36(2): 529-38.
  • Sotres-Bayon F, Corcoran KA, Peters J, Sierra-Mercado D (2008) Neural Correlates of Individual Variability in Fear Extinction. Journal of Neuroscience. 28(47):12147-12149.
  • Sierra-Mercado D, Dieguez D Jr, and Barea-Rodriguez EJ (2008) Brief Novelty Exposure Facilitates Dentate Gyrus LTP in Aged Rats. Hippocampus. 18(8):835-43.
  • Devan BD, Sierra-Mercado D, Jimenez M, Bowker JL, Duffy KB, Spangler EL, Ingram DK (2004) Phosphodiesterase inhibition by sildenafil citrate attenuates the learning impairment induced by blockade of cholinergic muscarinic receptors in rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. 79:691-9.
  • Devan BD, Pistell PJ, Daffin LW Jr, Nelson CM, Duffy KB, Bowker JL, Bharati IS, Sierra-Mercado D, Spangler EL, Ingram DK (2007) Sildenafil citrate attenuates a complex maze impairment induced by intracerebroventricular infusion of the NOS inhibitor Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester. European Journal of Pharmacology. 563(1-3):134-40.7.
  • Sierra-Mercado D, Corcoran KA, Lebron-Milad K, Quirk GJ. (2006) Inactivation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex reduces expression of conditioned fear and impairs subsequent recall of extinction. European Journal of Neuroscience. 24:1751-8.8.
  • Devan BD, Bowker JL, Duffy K, Bharati IS, Jimenez M, Sierra-Mercado D, Nelson CM, Spangler EL, Ingram DK (2006) Phosphodiesterase inhibition by sildenafil citrate attenuates a maze learning impairment in rats induced by nitric oxide synthase inhibition. Psychopharmacology. 183:439-45.