Dr. Hinojosa’s research focuses on understanding the neurobiological and developmental relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD), especially within vulnerable populations, including women and racial/ethnic minority groups.

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Three primary research themes in Dr. Hinojosa’s laboratory include:

• 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.

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Dr. Hinojosa’s 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.