DrTalitha Ford

Dr Ford is a Research Fellow and Co-Lead of the Brain Systems and
Neurotherapeutics Lab within the Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of
Psychology. Her primary research interests and expertise focus on
characterising the excitatory-inhibitory neurobiology of specific symptoms
associated with neurodevelopmental conditions, particularly autism.

Dr Ford utilises neuroscientific techniques such as magneto/electro-encephalography
(M/EEG), resting/functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy (rs/fMRS), and
resting state/functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs/fMRI) to better
understand brain systems underlying neurodevelopmental conditions, and runs
clinical trials examining the extent to which pharmacological therapeutics can
modulate these brain systems to improve outcomes for people.

Dr Ford completed her Ph.D. in 2017 at Swinburne University of Technology, in
which she investigated the neurobiology of social processing difficulties that
span multiple spectrum conditions, including autism and schizophrenia. She
then took up a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship role at Swinburne's Centre for
Human Psychopharmacology, where she led the neuroimaging arms of several
clinical trials, and ran a clinical trial looking at the combined effects of
prescription benzodiazepines and alcohol on driving and cognition.

In 2019, Dr Ford was awarded a Dean's Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, and
joined the Cognitive Neuroscience Unit to pursue her primary research area,
with a particular focus on brain excitation-inhibition. She has led several
studies utilising neuroscientific techniques, including functional magnetic
resonance imaging and spectroscopy (fMRI, fMRS) and magneto-/electrophysiology
(M/EEG). She is also Chief Investigator on a clinical trial investigating the
effect of cannabidiol on complex behaviours in children on the autism
spectrum.

Dr Ford is passionate about supporting and mentoring students and ECRs both
within and outside the tertiary environment, and has been actively involved in
supervision and mentorship during her PhD and as an ECR. Dr Ford is an
accredited Primary Supervisor for Master and Doctoral students, and has
formally supervised Honours, Masters, and PhD students. She have also engaged
with the national and international research community through my involvement
in the Students of Brain Research (Treasurer, 2015), Australasian Cognitive
Neuroscience Society (ACNS) ECR sub-committee (2016-2019), and ACNS Executive
committee (2019-2025), and Australian Brain Alliance Early-Mid Career
Researcher Brain Science Network Steering Committee (2019-2022).