Jennifer Rabin

Dr. Jennifer Rabin received her PhD in the Clinical Psychology program at York University (with a specialization in neuropsychology). She completed her clinical internship in neuropsychology at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and a 3-year joint clinical/research postdoctoral fellowship at the same institution. In January 2019, Dr. Rabin joined Sunnybrook Research Institute as a Scientist and the Neuropsychology Lead of the Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation (HCN). She is a registered neuropsychologist with the College of Psychologists of Ontario.

Dr. Rabin’s research program focuses on two main themes. As the Neuropsychology Lead in the HCN, her research characterizes the cognitive, behavioural, and psychosocial changes associated with novel neuromodulation strategies. This includes low-intensity focused ultrasound (FUS) to open up the blood-brain barrier in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and high-intensity FUS to treat severe psychiatric and neurological conditions. Another line of her research combines multimodal neuroimaging with sensitive neuropsychological measures to better understand modifiable risk factors that may delay the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Recent Publications

Publications related to Neuromodulation:

1. Rabin, JS, Davidson, B, Giacobbe, P, Hamani, C, Cohn, M, Illes, J, Lipsman, N. Neuromodulation for major depressive disorder: a paradigm shift to capture efficacy and outcomes. (2020). Lancet Psychiatry.

2. Davidson, B, Hamani, C., Rabin, JS, Goubran, M, Meng, Y, Huang, Y, Baskaran, A, Sharma, S, Ozzoude, M, Richter, M, Levitt, A, Giacobbe, P, Hynynen, K, Lipsman, N. Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound capsulotomy for refractory obsessive compulsive disorder and major depressive disorder: clinical and imaging results from two phase I trials. (2020). Molecular Psychiatry.

Publications related to Alzheimer’s Disease:

1. Rabin, JS, Shirzadi, Z, Swardfager, W, MacIntosh, BJ, Schultz, AP, Yang, H-S, Buckley, RF, Gatchel, JR, Kirn, D, Pruzin, JJ, Hedden, T, Lipsman, N, Rentz, DM, Black, SE, Johnson, KA, Sperling, RA, Chhatwal, JP. Beta-amyloid burden predicts prospective decline in body mass index in clinically normal older adults. (2020). Neurobiology of Aging.

2. Rabin, JS*, Klein, H*, Kirn, DR, Schultz, AP, Yang, H-S, Hampton, O, Jiang, S, Buckley, RF, Viswanathan, A, Hedden, T, Pruzin, J, Yau, W-Y, Guzman-Velez, E, Quiroz, YT, Properzi, M, Marshall, GA, Rentz, DM, Johnson, KA, Sperling, RA, & Chhatwal, JP. Associations of physical activity and beta-amyloid with longitudinal cognition and neurodegeneration. JAMA Neurology. 76 (10), 1203-1210. (2019).

​​​​​​​3. Rabin, JS*, Yang, H-S*, Schultz, AP, Hanseeuw, BJ, Marshall, GA, Hedden, T, Kilpatrick, E, Klein, H, Buckley, RF, Properzi, MJ, Rao, V, Kirn, DR, Rentz, DM, Johnson, KA, Sperling, RA, & Chhatwal, JP. Vascular risk and β-amyloid are synergistically associated with cortical tau. Annals of Neurology, 85, 272-279. (2019).

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​4. Rabin, JS, Perea, RD, Buckley, RF, Neal, TE, Buckner, RL, Johnson, KA, Sperling, RA, & Hedden, T. Global white matter diffusion characteristics predict longitudinal cognitive change independently from amyloid status in clinically normal older adults. Cerebral Cortex, 29(3), 1251-1262. (2019).

​​​​​​​5. Rabin, JS, Schultz, AP, Hedden, T, Viswanathan, A, Marshall, GA, Kilpatrick, E, Klein, H, Buckley, RF, Yang, H-S, Properzi, M, Rao, V, Kirn, DR, Papp, KV, Rentz, DM, Johnson, KA, Sperling, RA, & Chhatwal, JP. Interactive associations of vascular risk and β-amyloid burden with cognitive decline in clinically normal elderly individuals: Findings from the Harvard Aging Brain Study. JAMA Neurology, 75(9), 1124-1131. (2018).

Honours & Awards

2019 | Human Amyloid Imaging Young Investigator Award - Human Amyloid Imaging Conference, USA

2019 | Alzheimer’s Association International Conference Travel Fellowship - Alzheimer’s Association, USA

2017 | Governor General’s Gold Medal Award