Sarah Khalife investigates the neurobiology of depression in the brain and it's link to inflammation
My journey with the "brain" started in high school when I picked up a book, written by the extraordinary "Temple Grandin", that explored the neurobiology of autism using diffusion and functional MRI. Since then, I knew I wanted a career that revolves around understanding the body's structure and function. For undergrad, I trained as a radiographer and learned alot about different imaging modalities, the body and it's diseases. However, I soon discovered my interests laid more in researching the brain and its complexity and that's why I reached out to several mentors after graduating and worked as a research assistant for a few years before applying for my PhD. Currently, my research employs medical imaging to uncover the mechanisms behind depression, aiming to develop new biomarkers for the disease. By shedding light on these mechanisms, I hope that my research can help improve disease screening, tracking, and medication responses, ultimately enhancing patient outcomes.
Key Publications
Khalife, S., Francis, S. T., Schluppeck, D., Sánchez-Panchuelo, R. M., & Besle, J. (2022). Fast Event-Related Mapping of Population Fingertip Tuning Properties in Human Sensorimotor Cortex at 7T. eNeuro, 9(5), ENEURO.0069-22.2022. https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0069-22.2022