Hormones are chemical messengers that send signals to organs and tissues, having widespread effects on both the body and the brain. I am particularly interested in studying the impact that sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone have on the brain.
As part of my PhD, I use large-scale population cohorts, neuroimaging techniques, and genetic assessments to link sex hormone actions to mental disorders across the lifespan. While sex differences are observed in a number of mental health and neurodegenerative diseases, the underlying mechanisms for these sex differences are unknown.
Overall, I hope that my research will help bridge this knowledge gap and contribute to increased representation of sex differences, and specifically the study of females, in scientific research.
