Dr. Sergio D. Iñiguez

Sergio D. Iñiguez

Professor Iñiguez's research program evaluates the developmental neurobiology of stress-induced illnesses, such as anxiety and depression, using simple non-human murine models. To do this, his preclinical laboratory adopts a multidisciplinary approach (behavioral, molecular, and pharmacological) to examine how exposure to social stress and/or psychotropic agents (i.e., fluoxetine, ketamine) influence responses to drugs of abuse, as well as memory-related performance, in a developmental and sex-specific manner.

UTEP Faculty Profile

Representative Publications:

Themann A, Rodriguez M, Calvo DE, Vargas P, Iñiguez SD. (2025). Prozac exposure during adolescence increases pain sensitivity in adulthood. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 186:200-204. PMID:40250326.
Rodriguez M, Themann A, Garcia-Carachure I, Lira O, Robison AJ, Cushing BS, Iñiguez SD. (2024). Chronic social defeat stress in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster): A preclinical model for the study of depression-like phenotypes. Journal of Affective Disorders, 351:833-842. PMID: 38341153.
Flores-Ramirez FJ, Themann A, Sierra-Fonseca JA, Garcia-Carachure I, Castillo SA, Rodriguez M, Lira O, Preciado-Piña J, Warren BL, Robison AJ, Iñiguez SD. (2021). Adolescent fluoxetine treatment mediates a persistent anxiety-like outcome in female C57BL/6 mice that is ameliorated by fluoxetine re-exposure in adulthood. Scientific Reports, 11(1):7758. PMID:33833356.
Iñiguez SD, Alcantara LF, Warren BL, Riggs LM, Parise EM, Vialou V, Wright KN, Dayrit G, Nieto SJ, Wilkinson MB, Lobo MK, Neve RL, Nestler EJ, Bolaños-Guzmán CA. (2014). Fluoxetine exposure during adolescence alters responses to aversive stimuli in adulthood. Journal of Neuroscience, 34(3), 1007-1021. PMID:24431458.
Iñiguez SD, Warren BL, Bolaños-Guzmán CA. (2010). Short- and long-term functional consequences of fluoxetine exposure during adolescence in male rats. Biological Psychiatry, 67(11):1057-66. PMID:20172503.