SALVADOR GUINJOAN

The Guinjoan Laboratory

Our Research Approach

Dr. Guinjoan's research focuses on defining causal relationships between dysfunction in large-scale brain circuits and the symptoms of internalizing disorders, with a particular emphasis on treatment-resistant depression. Recently, his lab has concentrated on characterizing the neurobiological mechanisms underlying rumination—a well-established adverse prognostic factor in various psychiatric conditions, including depression.

To achieve this, the lab employs a novel, noninvasive, and anatomically precise neuromodulation tool: low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU). This safe technique enables the probing of deep brain circuits to elucidate their roles in symptom generation and maintenance.

The long-term objective of this research is to improve the prognosis of depression and related disorders by developing a personalized treatment approach that accounts for interindividual variability in both neuroanatomy and clinical presentation.

CONTACT DR. GUINJOAN

Scientific Background

Dr. Guinjoan earned his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine in 1992 and 1997, respectively. He completed his psychiatry residency training at the Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital/University of Maryland program in 1999, where he also served as chief resident, obtaining board certification in 2000.

Upon returning to Buenos Aires in 1999, Dr. Guinjoan pursued a distinguished career in clinical and academic psychiatry at the University of Buenos Aires and the Fleni Foundation, where he served as Chief of Psychiatry and interim Chief of Cognitive Neurology. He is an International Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and an active member of the American College of Psychiatrists and the Society of Biological Psychiatry.

Dr. Guinjoan’s research has extensively employed psychophysiological methods as well as structural and functional imaging techniques. His work has contributed to the characterization of autonomic nervous system dysfunction as a potential mechanism linking depression to adverse cardiac outcomes, the neurobiological underpinnings of cognitive dysfunction in psychotic disorders, and early markers of Alzheimer’s disease.

He is a collaborator in the ANDES consortium, a multinational initiative investigating the impact of poverty, violence, and social and gender inequality on cognition and brain biology in patients with psychosis. Additionally, he has worked with colleagues at the University of Barcelona to define functional imaging and autonomic signatures of stress regulation in depression compared to borderline personality disorder.

Currently, Dr. Guinjoan’s primary research focuses on the use of low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) to investigate the mechanisms underlying depressive symptom formation. By modulating the activity of large-scale white matter tracts deep within the brain, his work aims to elucidate the role of these circuits in psychiatric disease manifestations.