Developmental Neuroscientist

Dr Megan Klabunde is a developmental neuroscientist and a dually registered child clinical and health psychologist. Her research examines how traumatic stress impacts the brain and the development of interoception - our sense of our internal bodies. She specifically examines how interoception contributes to the development of mental health problems during adolescence.  

In addition to conducting research, Dr Klabunde is also an expert in treating children and young people who have experienced trauma and a variety of other mental health problems. She was a consultant level psychologist within the Stanford University School of Medicine Psychiatry Department where she trained new doctors and treated hundreds of children and young people. Dr Klabunde strongly believes that healthy human relationships are critical for our mental health; a healthy bond between children and emotionally available adults is especially important in the classroom.   

Klabunde, M., Weems, CF., Raman, M. and Carrion, VG., (2017). The moderating effects of sex on insula subdivision structure in youth with posttraumatic stress symptoms. Depression and Anxiety. 34 (1), 51-58 

Weems, CF., Klabunde, M., Russell, JD., Reiss, AL. and Carrión, VG., (2015). Post-traumatic stress and age variation in amygdala volumes among youth exposed to trauma. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 10 (12), 1661-1667 

Klabunde, M., Juszczak, H., Jordan, T., Baker, J., Bruno, J., Carrion, V. and Reiss, A., (2019). Functional neuroanatomy of interoceptive processing in children and adolescents: a pilot study. Scientific Reports. 9 (1), 16184-