Introduction

Graziano Pinna, PhD, main research focus is on PTSD Research and Education. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UIC. He earned her undergraduate degree and a Laurea of Doctor at University of Cagliari (Italy). He obtained a PhD in Neuroendocrinology at the Free University of Berlin (Berlin, Germany) before being appointed as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, UIC.

Dr. Pinna’s basic research focused on understanding the role of neurosteroids in the pathophysiology of mood disorders and the dysfunction neurocircuitry involved with mood instability, including the basolateral amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus. His research expands to clinical trials to study the efficacy of new treatment for mood disorders in collaboration with several psychiatrists and clinical psychologists at UIC, Boston University, Johns Hopkins, University of Virginia, Harvard University, and Cornell University. His work has contributed to the neurobiological underpinnings that contribute to PTSD risk and stress resilience. This line of research includes a special emphasis on sex differences in the neurobiology of PTSD and the role played by neurosteroids and endocannabinoids in the treatment of PTSD and other mood disorders. His lab is currently part of 3 NIH funded research grants, including a RO1 grant that will study the efficacy of IV allopregnanolone in the pathophysiology of PTSD. He received grants from several grant foundations, including NIH, DOD, and VA. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, reviews, and chapters. He is a deputy editor in Stress&Health (Wiley), and a member of the editorial board of Neuropharmacology, Progress in Neurpsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, Molecules, among others.