Dr. Phoebe Thomson

Dr Thomson a postdoctoral researcher in the Rakesh Lab, King’s College London. Dr. Thomson investigates associations between longitudinal neural, cognitive and emotional development in clinical and non-clinical groups. Her research aims to identify the neurobiological mechanisms explaining differences in long-term outcomes for youth. She also examines early environmental or genetic risk factors for conditions such as ADHD and autism.

Dr Thomson completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Applied Mathematics at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She then conducted her PhD in Pediatrics focused on a longitudinal neuroimaging study working across the University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, the largest child health research institute in Australia. Her study investigated the brain’s structural and functional changes as children with a diagnosis of ADHD aged, and whether different trajectories of brain development were associated with variations in academic, cognitive and mental health outcomes. For this work, she received several awards and grants, including the Jacobs Foundation Science of Learning Award. Phoebe was then awarded a scholarship to conduct postdoctoral research at the Autism Center, Child Mind Institute, New York. There, she contributed to much needed studies of longitudinal brain development in toddlers with autism, and neural and genetic markers associated with clinical symptoms in a transdiagnostic sample of children with autism and ADHD. Phoebe is excited to continue her research at King’s College London, investigating the long-term brain changes that support improvements in mental health and cognition across development in the context of disadvantage or adversity.