Sarah Kark, Ph.D.

Lab Research Projects

I contribute to the following research areas in the Translational Neuroscience Laboratory.

Individual Research Projects

As a post-doctoral fellow in the lab, I am asking new questions about how the most significant events of our lives are enhanced in memory, but with an additional focus on how dysfunction in memory-related circuits might contribute to symptoms of clinical depression, such as anhedonia (the diminished capacity to experience pleasure). My current work also leverages computational machine-learning approaches to answer new questions about resting brain state dynamics associated with depression, child loss grief, and early life adversity.

I investigate how the most significant events of our lives are seared into our memories and how the neural circuitry that makes this possible is altered in distressed individuals. I investigate these questions using various techniques (task and resting fMRI, brain stimulation, psychophysiological measures, and artificial intelligence). In my PhD, I investigated the differences in how the brain forms and retrieves negative memories differently from positive memories. As a post-doc, I am conducting new investigations into the neuromodulation of memory and changes to the brain circuitry that underly transdiagnostic symptoms in psychopathology. I am also leveraging data-driven machine-learning approaches to quantify brain state dynamics to discover their links with memory and emotional functioning.

Funding:

2020-2023  Hewitt Foundation for Biomedical Research

2017-2019   Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral National Research Service Award (NIMH F31)

2014-2017   National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF-GRFP)

 

Awards:

2020                Roger W. Russell Award in the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

2019                Cognitive Neuroscience Society Graduate Student Poster Award

2017                APA Dissertation Research Award

2017                Boston College Engelhard Pingree Fellowship

2015                Graduate Women in Science Alpha Omega Travel Award

2014                Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research

2014                Massachusetts Neuropsychological Society Nelson Butters Award

2014                The Suzannah Bliss Tieman Poster Award

2010                The Skavenski Award for Excellence in Neuroscience

Outside of the lab, I love to spend time with my wife Laurie, our cats Nala and Bowtie, and our friends and family. As a now Californian, I love coastal hikes, running and walking on the beach, paddle boarding and kayaking, cycling, and really any activity that involves sunscreen. Indoors, I enjoy making big spreads of vegetarian and pescatarian fare for friends and baking bread, like tangy sourdoughs and super soft Japanese milk bread. I love to try new things, from gong meditation circles to off-beat art exhibits or film-screenings. A relatively new favorite activity is seeing my nephew on Facetime. I also enjoy donning big headphones and learning French online to better communicate with the French side of our family.