Cecilia Flores

Dr. Flores is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and an Associate Member of the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University. Dr. Flores studied at the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology at Concordia University and received her Ph.D. in 2000. She did post-doctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and the Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University. Her early research work was concerned with the long-lasting changes in the brain brought about by exposure to stimulant drugs. She focused on changes within the midbrain dopaminergic system with particular emphasis on the role of the neurotrophic factor, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), in these lasting changes. Her current work concerns the role of the neural guidance molecules, the netrins and their receptors, in brain development and in neuroplasticity in the adult brain brought about by exposure to stimulant drugs. In one ongoing project she has shown that netrin-1 receptors, located on dopaminergic neurons, are intimately involved in the adolescent development of the prefrontal cortex. Dr. Flores runs an active research laboratory at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. She holds grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) from the National Institutes of Health, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Les Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQS), and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI). She received the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology Young Investigator Award in 2010. She is actively involved in teaching and administrative work within her Department and University.