Katharine Dunlop

PhD

Scientist, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science

Research Programs

Biography

Dr. Katharine Dunlop is a scientist at the Centre for Depression and Suicide Studies, and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. 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

  1. Demchenko, I, Al-Shamali, HF, Rueda, A, Tailor, I, Janssen-Aguilar, R, Schweizer, TA et al.. Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Neuronavigation for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Mood Disorders: Technical Foundation, Advances, and Emerging Tools. Hum Brain Mapp. 2025;46 (17):e70424. doi: 10.1002/hbm.70424. PubMed PMID:41310980 PubMed Central PMC12660162.
  2. Gregory, E, Siddiqi, SH, Fox, MD, Blumberger, DM, Downar, J, Daskalakis, ZJ et al.. Proximity to an SGC-DLPFC Individualized Functional Target and outcomes in large rTMS clinical trials for Treatment-Resistant Depression. bioRxiv. 2025; :. doi: 10.1101/2025.07.09.662866. PubMed PMID:40791486 PubMed Central PMC12338530.
  3. Fan, XR, He, Y, Wang, YS, Li, L, Lifespan Brain Chart Consortium (LBCC), China Autism Brain Imaging Consortium (CABIC) et al.. Profiling brain morphology for autism spectrum disorder with two cross-culture large-scale consortia. Commun Biol. 2025;8 (1):1157. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-08573-z. PubMed PMID:40764808 PubMed Central PMC12325702.
  4. Rowe, J, Nogovitsyn, N, Mazurka, R, Squires, SD, Hassel, S, Poppenk, J et al.. Latent Profile Analysis of Childhood Maltreatment and Neural Markers in Depression. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8 (8):e2525147. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.25147. PubMed PMID:40758349 PubMed Central PMC12322798.
  5. Janssen-Aguilar, R, Al Hassan, M, Al-Shamali, HF, Menzies, P, Dunlop, K, Jha, M et al.. Predictors of response and remission in treatment-resistant depression: Outcomes and trajectories of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Brain Stimul. 2025;18 (4):1187-1189. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2025.06.008. PubMed PMID:40523609 .
  6. Smith, SA, Dunlop, K. When, How, and Where: Combining Psychotherapy and Neuromodulation for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Biol Psychiatry. 2025;97 (7):661-663. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2025.01.018. PubMed PMID:40086895 .
  7. Prompiengchai, S, Dunlop, K. Breakthroughs and challenges for generating brain network-based biomarkers of treatment response in depression. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2024;50 (1):230-245. doi: 10.1038/s41386-024-01907-1. PubMed PMID:38951585 PubMed Central PMC11525717.
  8. Ho, NCW, Bethlehem, RAI, Seidlitz, J, Nogovitsyn, N, Metzak, P, Ballester, PL et al.. Atypical Brain Aging and Its Association With Working Memory Performance in Major Depressive Disorder. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2024;9 (8):786-799. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.04.008. PubMed PMID:38679324 .
  9. Nogovitsyn, N, Ballester, P, Lasby, M, Dunlop, K, Ceniti, AK, Squires, S et al.. An empirical analysis of structural neuroimaging profiles in a staging model of depression. J Affect Disord. 2024;351 :631-640. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.246. PubMed PMID:38290583 .
  10. Dunlop, K, Grosenick, L, Downar, J, Vila-Rodriguez, F, Gunning, FM, Daskalakis, ZJ et al.. Dimensional and Categorical Solutions to Parsing Depression Heterogeneity in a Large Single-Site Sample. Biol Psychiatry. 2024;96 (6):422-434. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.01.012. PubMed PMID:38280408 PubMed Central PMC12253958.
Search PubMed