The Research Program at the Psychiatry Department of the University of Puerto Rico was developed to encompass all aspects of scholarly and research activity performed within our department. The program seeks to increase the opportunity for faculty, residents, medical students and other mental health professionals to complete original research projects. Our main areas of research interest are Latino mental health, neurobiology of anxiety disorders, pharmacogenetics and mental health disparities. The program includes the Fear Research Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Gregory J. Quirk and the Human Psychophysiology Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Karen G. Martínez and Dr. Gregory J. Quirk. Additionally, the leading researchers of the department compose the Research Committee. In addition to Dr. Quirk and Dr. Martínez, the committee includes Dr. Lelis L. Nazario (child mental health services and adolescent depression), Dr. Luz Colón de Martí (academic psychiatry, violence in the media), Dr. Gloria González-Tejera (pharmacogenetics, child mental health), Dr. Gloria Suau (child and adolescent mental health, academic psychiatry), Dr. Luis Caraballo (psychosomatics) and Dr. Michel Woodbury (alternative medicine). The program also ensures that medical students, residents and students from other mental health professions can take part in research activities. For medical students, specific elective rotations have been developed under the guidance of Dr. Gloria González-Tejera. For residents, the program has developed a research seminar to ensure the production of at least one original article during residency training and provides the opportunity to complete a research track combined with general psychiatry training.

For more information on our various research activities, please contact:

Karen G. Martínez, MD, MSc
Director, Research Program
karen.martinez4@upr.edu