Cecilia A. Hinojosa

Assistant Professor

Photo: Cecilia Hinojosa
Email: 
cecilia.a.hinojosa@emory.edu
Curriculum vitae
 

Research Area/s:

Cognition, Brain and Behavior

Research Interests:

  • Co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD)
  • Health disparities in underrepresented populations, including women, Hispanic/Latine, and American Indian/Alaska Natives
  • Neuroimaging, ecological momentary assessment (EMA), and neuromodulation

Profile:

Taking Students? Dr. Hinojosa will be accepting students for Fall 2025 (Clinical Psychology or Cognition, Brain & Behavior area emphasis). Please email Dr. Hinojosa if you are interested in pursuing graduate studies.

I am a clinical neuroscientist and Assistant Professor in the Department. In my laboratory, we have three main research themes:

Research Theme 1: Characterize neural systems that support key components of PTSD+AUD clinical symptoms.

Research Theme 2: Identify the time course in which clinical symptoms of PTSD and AUD appear.

Research Theme 3: Understand hormones’ contribution to developing PTSD+AUD and differential neural alterations contributing to PTSD+AUD in women versus men and uncover the unique risk factors that may make racial/ethnic minorities more susceptible to developing these disorders.

My research utilizes a multi-methods approach, including experimental behavioral paradigms, psychophysiology, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), ecological momentary assessment (EMA), and neuromodulation. The goal of the laboratory is to discover biomarkers for PTSD+AUD that can be used to help guide clinician decision-making to increase treatment response rates in marginalized women. 

 

Selected Publications

  • Hinojosa, C.A., George, G.C, & Ben-Zion, Z. (2024). Hinojosa, C. A., George, G. C., & Ben-Zion, Z. (2024). Neuroimaging of posttraumatic stress disorder in adults and youth: progress over the last decade on three leading questions of the field. Molecular psychiatry, 10.1038/s41380-024-02558-w. Advanced online publication. doi: 10.1038/s41380-024-02558-w

 

  • Hinojosa, C.A., VanElzakker, M.B., Kaur, N., Felicione, J.M., Charney, M.E., Bui, E., Marques, L., Summergrad, P., Rauch, S.L., Simon, N.M., & Shin, L.M. (2023). Pre-treatment amygdala activation and habituation predict symptom change in posttraumatic stress disorder. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 17, 1198244. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1198244

 

  • Hinojosa, C. A., Liew, A., An, X., Stevens, J. S., Basu, A., van Rooij, S. J. H., House, S. L., Beaudoin, F. L., Zeng, D., Neylan, T. C., Clifford, G. D., Jovanovic, T., Linnstaedt, S.D., Germine, L. T., Rauch, S. L., Haran, J. P., Storrow, A. B., Lewandowski, C., Musey, P. I., Hendry, P. L., Sheikh, S., Jones, C. W., Punches, B. E., Kurz, M. C., Swor, R. A., Hudak, L. A., Pascual, J. L., Seamon, M. J., Datner, E. M., Chang, A. M., Pearson, C., Peak, D. A., Merchant, R .C., Domeier, R. M., Rathlev, N. K., Sergot, P., Sanchez, L. D., Bruce, S. E., Miller, M. W., Pietrzak, R. H., Joormann, J., Pizzagalli, D. A., Sheridan, J. F., Harte, S. E., Elliott, J. M., Kessler, R. C., Koenen, K. C., McLean, S. A., Ressler, K. J., & Fani, N. (2023). Associations of alcohol and cannabis use with change in posttraumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms over time in recently trauma-exposed individuals. Psychological Medicine, 1–12. doi: 10.1017/S0033291723001642

 

  • Hinojosa, C.A., VanElzakker, M.B., Hughes, K.C., Offringa, R., Sangermano, L.M., Spaulding, I.G., Staples-Bradley, L.K., Whitman, E.T., Lasko, N.B., Rauch, S.L., Orr, S.P., Pitman, R.K., & Shin, L.M. (2022). Exaggerated amygdala activation to ambiguous facial expressions is a familial vulnerability factor for posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 156, 451-459. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.10.049

 

  • Hinojosa, C.A. (2022). Does hippocampal volume in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder vary by trauma type? Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 30(2), 118-134. doi: 10.1097/HRP. 0000000000000328