Sarah Jefferson

Sarah grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She became interested in science early in life, designing overly ambitious science fair projects with her dad that sometimes involved keeping mice in their basement. She attended Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University, where she conducted preclinical thesis research studying mechanisms of myocardial injury in postmenopausal women. After college, she worked as a research technician at the University of Pennsylvania, where she discovered her passion for neuroscience and psychiatry conducting translational research on HPA axis dysregulation in MDD. She returned to Penn State for her MD-PhD training and completed her PhD in neuroscience, studying the effects of GABAergic interneurons on anxiety-and depression-related behaviors in mice. She also engaged in several leadership roles within the MD-PhD program, mentored undergraduate students and worked to create opportunities for students from underrepresented backgrounds to engage with science and medicine. As part of the NRTP, Sarah is conducting preclinical research on antidepressant mechanisms of psychedelics and working with the interventional psychiatry service. In her free time, Sarah enjoys playing with the Yale grad rugby team, rock climbing, curating her cats’ social media page, and visiting local breweries.