Katharine Dunlop

Dr. Katharine Dunlop is a scientist at the Centre for Depression and Suicide Studies, and the Keenan Research Centre Centre for Biomedical Science at St. Michael’s Hospital. Dr. Dunlop received her PhD in Medical Science in 2018 at the University of Toronto, Institute of Medical Science, as a CIHR Vanier Scholar. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience as a CIHR Banting Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine in 2021.

Dr. Dunlop uses cognitive science, human structural and functional neuroimaging, and non-invasive brain stimulation (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation) to investigate the biological underpinnings of inter-individual variability in behaviour and symptomatology, treatment response, and predictors of symptom improvement. Her current research program aims: (1) to develop circuit-based models of symptom-specific antidepressant response, with a focus on glutamatergic modulation, psychosocial stress and reward processing; (2) to investigate the structural, functional and behavioural factors that influence non-invasive brain stimulation-evoked brain activity and plasticity; and (3) to translate this knowledge into clinical practice to aid in diagnosis and treatment selection.

Recent Publications

Dunlop K, Victoria LW, Downar J, Gunning FM, Liston C (2021). Accelerated Brain Aging in Major Depression is Associated with Increased Impulsivity and Depression Severity. Neuropsychopharmacology 46(5): 911-919.

 Dunlop K, Rizvi SJ, Kennedy SH, Hassel S, Strother SC, Harris JK, Zamyadi M, Arnott SR, Davis AD, Mansouri F, Schulze L, Ceniti A, Lam RW, Milev R, Rotzinger S, Foster JA, Frey BN, Parikh SV, Soares CN, Uher R, Turecki G, MacQueen GM, Downar J (2020). Clinical, behavioral and neural correlates of reward processing predict escitalopram response in MDD: A Canadian Biomarker Integration Network in Depression (CAN-BIND) Study. Neuropsychopharmacology 45(8): 1390-1397.

Dunlop K, Sheen J, Schulze L, Fettes P, Mansouri F, Feffer K, Blumberger DM, Daskalakis ZJ, Kennedy SH, Giacobbe P, Woodside B, Downar J (2020). Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment-refractory major depressive disorder: A three-arm, blinded, randomized controlled trial. Brain Stimulation 13(2): 337-40.

Honours and Awards

Jonathan Dostrovsky Award, Collaborative Program in Neuroscience, University of Toronto

Trainee Professional Development Award, Society for Neuroscience

Grants

Academic Scholars Award, Department of Psychiatry

CIHR Vanier Scholarship

CIHR Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship