Welcome Dr. Pushpal Desarkar

We would like to welcome Dr. Pushpal Desarkar (Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto), to the CPIN Program.

Dr. Desarkar is a scientist and psychiatrist with the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopment Centre at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). He is also the medical head of the adult neurodevelopmental services at CAMH. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and a graduate faculty member at the Institute of Medical Sciences, both at the University of Toronto.

Areas of Research
Dr. Desarkar seeks to address two overarching goals through his research:
1. obtaining new knowledge related to neurophysiological underpinnings in neuropsychiatric disorders, especially autism, across the lifespan, and;
2. developing novel therapeutic interventions for these conditions.

Using innovative brain stimulation techniques, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and the combination of TMS and EEG (TMS-EEG), he is investigating evidence for atypical neuroplasticity and its connection with autism-associated difficulties (e.g. motor function difficulties, sensory sensitivities, executive function difficulties). He is using novel brain stimulation techniques to develop innovative ‘brain mechanism-driven’ treatment options for these autism-associated difficulties to improve outcomes for autistic adults.

He received funding from CIHR, Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation of Canada, Discovery Fund, academic scholar award at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, and AFP Innovation Fund.