Flavia is interested in evolutionary biology, with a focus in sociogenomics. To understand the genetic basis of complex social behavior, she compares genomic and neurobiological data with behavioral phenotypes, and also examines the roles that environmental constraints and ancestry play in shaping behavioral phenotypes and genomes. For her PhD, Flavia researched the genomic footprints of local adaptations in a cooperative breeding neotropical jay, which led her to her current work wherein she uses this social and clever jay to understand the genetic basis of cooperative breeding in birds.

Flavia's research is funded by a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship through the Harvard-Mexico Research Fellows Program. This program is generously supported by the National Council of Science and Technology of the United Mexican States (CONACYT), and by the Fundación México en Harvard (FMH).