Sandra Schwarz
I am a PhD candidate investigating the antidepressant efficacy of personalised repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), under the supervision of Dr. med. Florian Müller-Dahlhaus and Prof. Dr. Til Ole Bergmann. I use concurrent TMS and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to individually optimise the parameters of a SAINT-based intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) protocol. My methods include functional connectivity analysis of subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) anti-correlation for localisation and coil positioning, and electrical field (e-field) modelling for accurate dosage calculation.
I graduated with a Master of Science in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience specialising in neuropsychology from Maastricht University in the Netherlands. I joined the Brain Stimulation and Cognition Lab to research the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and rTMS in treatment-resistant depression (TRD), supervised by Prof. Dr. Alexander Sack and Prof. Dr. Teresa Schuhmann.
Prior to this, I earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in psychology and a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and psychophysiology from Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia. I also hold Master of International Business and Master of Commerce degrees from the University of Sydney, Australia. I am an active member of the Clinical TMS Society (CTMSS) and the European Society for Brain Stimulation (ESBS).