Victoria Risbrough, PhD - ADAA Board

Victoria Risbrough, PhD
University of California San Diego

Dr. Risbrough holds a dual appointment at the San Diego Veterans Affairs Healthcare Services and the University of California San Diego. At the VA, she is the Co-Director of Clinical Neuroscience for the Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health and a VA Research Career Scientist. At UCSD she is Professor and Vice Chair of Academic Affairs for Psychiatry and Co-Director of Faculty Mentor Training Program for the Health Sciences Office of Faculty Affairs. Her research focuses on identifying mechanisms and treatments of anxiety and depression particularly trauma-related disorders. She leads a dual preclinical/clinical research program focusing on identifying mechanisms of risk and resilience to post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as development of new pharmacological treatments for these disorders. She uses homologous physiological and behavioral measures of trauma response across rodents and humans to develop translational probes of anxiety responding and treatment efficacy. Her preclinical laboratory uses behavioral, pharmacological, genetic and molecular techniques to identify genetic and circuit mechanisms of enduring trauma responses. 

Her clinical work examines mechanisms underlying core disruptions of fear learning and inhibition in trauma-related disorders, as well as development of novel pharmacological treatments targeting these mechanisms. Examples of her clinical work include the Marine Resiliency Study, assessing neurocognitive, biological and psychophysiological markers of risk for PTSD in combat exposed individuals. She is member of the Scientific Council for the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and is Associate Editor of Neurobiology of Stress. Her work is funded by National Institute of Health, Department of Defense, Veteran’s Affairs and foundations including Cohen Veteran’s Biosciences and Brain Behavioral Research Foundation.

Dr. Risbrough has been an ADAA member since 2005, joined the Board in 2024, and previously served a term as co-chair of the Scientific Council.