Dr. Deb Karhson had grown up always asking questions and diving deeply into anything that interested her. In particular, her brother’s autism made her wonder about atypical brain function and how she could improve his quality of life. Her boundless curiosity about the autistic brain sparked a trajectory of events that led Deb to join Dr. Edward Golob’s lab at Tulane during her Ph.D.. Rather than studying cognitive deficits in those with autism, though, she loved the idea of exploring audition, which is actually enhanced in autistic individuals. As a postdoc, she decided to focus on the endocannabinoid system as a potential intervention for ASD: a hugely unexplored area of research. Now, as Deb looks toward the future, she is thinking about the lab culture she aims to foster and the type of mentor she wants to be as a faculty researcher. In setting up own lab at Stanford to continue unraveling the complexities of the endocannabinoid system in the ASD population, Deb’s lifelong curiosity about the autistic brain is beginning to truly come full circle.

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