Romina Mizrahi
Professor
MD, PhD
Clinical Pharmacology; Neuropharmacology; Psychopharmacology
Imaging Brain Chemistry in Psychosis and Patients at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis
Dr Mizrahi obtained her M.D. degree from the University of Buenos Aires in 1998 and her Ph.D. in 2007 from the University of Toronto.
Dr. Mizrahi seeks to understand early molecular changes in the brain of youth with psychosis and addictions with the hope to identify novel targets for prevention, intervention and treatment. Dr. Mizrahi has received numerous funds from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institute of Mental Health, and numerous foundations including the Brain and Behaviour Research foundation since she became an independent investigator in 2007. Dr. Mizrahi’s hopes to advance our understanding of how the brain functions in-vivo, in particular to understand the contribution of stress and drug use in youth.
Areas of Research
Dr. Mizrahi’s uses molecular imaging techniques such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to study the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, the clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis and addiction, in particular cannabis use.
Dr. Mizrahi’s major contributions involve first in-vivo human studies evaluating dopamine response to stress in CHR, first episode psychosis (FEP) and cannabis users. Dr. Mizrahi performed the first in-vivo human and patient PET studies of [11C]-(+)-PHNO, [18F]-FEPPA, [11C]-CURB, and [11C]-NOP to image dopamine, neuroinflammation, endocannabinoid and nociceptin expression, respectively in psychosis and cannabis use. Dr. Mizrahi’s publications (>125) are published in top tier journals like JAMA psychiatry, Brain, Molecular Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, NPP, etc. Dr. Mizrahi supports interdisciplinary, national and international collaborations to jointly advance science. Dr. Mizrahi’s commitment to promote mental health is represented by significant participation in the media (newspapers, interviews, radio, TV, etc), including being a Witness at the Canadian House of Commons standing committee on health related to marijuana use in youth, a research priority worldwide given recent Cannabis legalization across the world.
Lab webpage