Welcome

I’m Armaan Fallahi, an MD–PhD student at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children, where I work in the Josselyn & Frankland labs. I’m a CIHR Vanier Scholar and a Junior Fellow of Massey College.

My research asks a deceptively simple question: how do the earliest experiences of life become wired into the memory circuits of the brain — and how can that wiring go wrong? Using mouse genetics, imaging, and behaviour, I study how early-life adversity reshapes engrams — the small ensembles of neurons that physically hold a memory — in the amygdala and the circuits it talks to.

I came to neuroscience through medicine, and I keep one foot in each. Alongside the bench, I write and advocate on the physician’s role in society, edit medical journals, and mentor the next generation of clinician-scientists.

What I study

• Memory engrams — how ensembles of neurons are allocated to, and compete for, a memory
• Early-life adversity — how stress in development rewires threat learning and generalization
• Amygdala circuits — the inhibitory (PV, SST, VIP) and long-range projections that shape fear
• From cells to behaviour — bridging molecular, systems, and computational neuroscience

Beyond the bench

I care about medicine as a public good. I’ve served as VP External Affairs of the University of Toronto Medical Society, as Editor-in-Chief of the University of Toronto Medical Journal, and as a national youth advisor on cannabis and mental health. I write on advocacy and the humanities in medicine, and I mentor trainees navigating the MD–PhD path.

Get in touch

Interested in the work, a collaboration, or mentorship? Explore my publications and CV, or reach me at armaan.fallahi@mail.utoronto.ca.