Faculty

Helmet T Karim, PhD

Helmet T Karim, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Bioengineering

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213

Education & Training

PhD
Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, School of Engineering
Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Current Appointments

Co-Director, Carnegie Mellon University-University of Pittsburgh Brain Imaging Data Generation & Education (BRIDGE) Center

Professional Affiliations

Member, Society of Biological Psychiatry
Member, American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry

Selected Honors & Awards

Replication Award, Organization for Human Brain Mapping

Research Interests

Prediction of treatment response, machine learning; Risk assessment in Alzheimer's disease; Novel interventions using TMS
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Son S, Lee D, Roh H, Ly M, Kolobaric A, Aizenstein H, Andreescu C, Jaarevic E, Pascoal T, Ferreira P, Bellaver B, Cho Y, Hong S, Nam Y, Park B, Kim N, Choi J, Cheong J, Kim Y, Shin T, Kang C, Kwon C, Yoon S, Hong C & Karim H. Brain age mediates gut microbiome dysbiosis-related cognition in older adults. Alzheimer's Research & Therapy. 2025 Feb 27;17(1):52.
  2. Kolobaric A, Andreescu C, Gerlach AR, Jaarevic E, Aizenstein H, Pascoal TA, Ferreira PC, Bellaver B, Hong CH, Roh HW, Cho YH. Altered triple network model connectivity is associated with cognitive function and depressive symptoms in older adults. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2025 Mar;21(3):e14493.
  3. Gerlach A, Karim H, Kolobaric A, Boyd B, Kahru K, Krafty R, Ajilore O, Taylor W & Andreescu C. Network homeostasis: Functional brain network alterations and relapse in remitted late-life depression. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2025 May 29:1-9.
  4. Kraynak T, Karim H, Banihashemi L, Krafty R, Butters M, Ajilore O, Taylor W & Andreescu C. Brain and cardiovascular responses to acute stress in remitted and recurrent late-life depression. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2025 Feb 6:1-9.
  5. Gupta T, Karim HT, Jones NP, Ferrarelli F, Nance M, Taylor SF, Rogers D, Pogue AM, Seah TS, Phillips ML, Ryan ND. Continuous theta burst stimulation to dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in young adults with depression: changes in resting frontostriatal functional connectivity relevant to positive mood. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2024 Mar 1;174:104493.

Clinical Interests

Novel clinical interventions; Maximizing clinical efficacy; Anxiety, depression, dementia
Selected Clinical Publications & Products
  1. Abbas S, Ferreira P, Bellaver B, Povala G, Rohden F, Aguzzoli C, Zalzale H, Ferrari-Souza J, Leffa D, Lussier F, Soares C, Bauer-Negrini G, Oliveira-Junior M, Rodrigues M, Saha P, Ruppert E, Medeiros M, Tissot C, Therriault J, Rahmouni N, Servaes S, Benedet A, Ashton N, Tudorascu D, Gautheir S, Karim H, Hong C, Roh H, Zimmer E, Karikari T, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Saeed A, Son S, Rosa-Neto P & Pascoal T. Utility of plasma GFAP as a secondary endpoint for clinical trials in Alzheimers disease. The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease. 2025 Jun 4:100205.
  2. Gerlach A, Karim H, Kahru K, Tudorascu D, Gross J, Butters M & Andreescu C. The desegregation of neural networks during worry induction in late-life an effective connectivity analysis. Biological Psychiatry: CNNI, 2025.
  3. Pearcy L, Karim H, Butters M, Krafty R, Boyd B, Banihashemi L, Szymkowicz S, Landman B, Ajilore O, Taylor W & Andreescu C. White matter hyperintensities and relapse risk in late-life depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2025.
  4. Antezana L, Conner CM, Eldeeb S, Turecki S, Siegel M, Karim HT, Mazefsky CA. Using machine learning to identify features associated with different types of self-injurious behaviors in autistic youth. Psychol Med. 2025 Mar 31;55:e98. doi: 10.1017/S0033291725000637. PMID: 40162513; PMCID: PMC12094640.
  5. Rodrigues M, Oliveira M, Lussier F, Ferreira P, Povala G, Bauer-Negrini G, Felix C, Abbas S, Zalzale H, Soares C, Saha P, Madeiros M, Bloomquist M, Hong C, Roh H, Karim H, Oliviera J, Karikari T, Tudorascu D, Zimmer E, Bellaver B, Son S & Pascoal T. Plasma high-density lipoprotein levels is associated with preserved hippocampal volume in Alzheimers disease individuals without vascular co-pathology. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2025 January;20:e092693.

Education Interests

Research mentorship; Graduate student advising; Postdoctoral mentorship
Selected Education Publications & Products
  1. Diniz E, Santini T, Karim H, Aizenstein H & Ibrahim T. Cross-modality image translation of 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging to 7 Tesla using generative adversarial networks. Human Brain Mapping. 2025 Jun 15;46(9):e70246.
  2. Handoko K, Neppach A, Snyder I, Karim H, Dombrovski A & Pecina M. Expectancy-mood neural dynamics predict mechanisms of short- and long-term antidepressant placebo effects. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (2025).
  3. Karim H, Lee S, Gerlach A, Stinley M, Berta R, Mahbubani R, Tudorascu D, Butters M, Gross J & Andreescu C. Hippocampal subfield volume in older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment: effects of worry and cognitive reappraisal. Neurobiology of Aging. 2024 May 28.
  4. Kraynak T, Karim H, Banihashemi L, Tudorascu D, Butters M, Pascoal T, Lopresti B & Andreescu C. A preliminary investigation of worry, cortical amyloid burden, and stressor-evoked brain and cardiovascular reactivity in older adults. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2024 Dec 15;367:623-31.
  5. Kolobaric A, Andreescu C, Jaarevic E, Hong C, Roh H, Cheong J, Kim Y, Shin T, Kang C, Kwon C, Yoon S, Hong S, Aizenstein H, Karim H & Son S. Gut microbiome predicts cognitive function and depressive symptoms in late life. Molecular Psychiatry. 2024 Apr 25:1-2.