McKensie MacGrath

Statement of Purpose

As an undergraduate student at The University of Alabama, I developed a passion for

psychology and neuroscience. When I arrived at college, I was unsure of what I wanted to do or

what I wanted to be. However, that changed after the first day of sophomore year, when I took a

class titled “Biological Basis of Psychological Disorders.” It would not be an exaggeration to

state that I fell in love with everything that I learned in that class, and as evidence, I earned over

a one hundred percent in it. From amyloid build-up in Alzheimer’s Disease and enlarged

ventricles in Schizophrenia to epigenetics, neurotransmitters, and Transcranial Magnetic

Stimulation, I wanted to know everything. After that first class, I changed my major to

psychology and my minor to neuroscience. I can still remember how relieved I felt that I finally

knew what path I wanted to follow. Through the rest of this class and my other psychology and

neuroscience courses, I was able to find my passion: researching biomarkers of psychological

and neurodevelopmental disorders, specifically Autism Spectrum Disorder, Schizophrenia, and

Borderline Personality Disorder, through neuroimaging.

I was fortunate to gain experience in Autism Spectrum Disorder research through being

an Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Cognition, Brain, and Autism Lab under Dr. Rajesh

Kana. I worked on his “Brain and Reading Enhancement in Autism spectrum Disorder”

(BrainREAD) project in which reading comprehension intervention is given to participants with

Autism Spectrum Disorder and typically developing participants and functional Magnetic

Resonance Imaging is done on the participants pre- and post-intervention. Through this position,

I gained valuable experience in what it is like to be a part of a psychology lab (i.e., attending lab

meetings, reading recently published papers of lab members, helping lab members study

questionnaires for certification), enhanced my data entry (Microsoft Excel and SPSS) and
questionnaire scoring skills, and gained familiarity with grant submission steps and many

commonly used questionnaires.

In my senior year of college, I collaborated with Dr. Kana to write and submit a grant

proposal for the Arts & Sciences Support of Undergraduate REsearch (ASSURE) grant at The

University of Alabama. I was awarded this grant and was able to start my own project, which is

currently ongoing. In this project, I am using preexisting structural MRI data to examine the

differences in the gray matter volume and cortical thickness of the theory-of-mind network

between participants with Autism Spectrum Disorder and typically developing participants. This

project has allowed me to become familiar with managing a project, completing data analysis,

and using programs like FreeSurfer. On March 31st, I will be presenting a poster for my research

at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference at The University of Alabama.

After the project is complete, which is expected May 2021, I will push for publication and to

present at other conferences.

I believe that these experiences and my courses have prepared me to undertake graduate-

level classes and research projects. I have a general knowledge of many areas of psychology,

including abnormal, developmental, cognitive, and physiological; and I have broad knowledge in

neuroimaging, experimental treatments of psychological and neurodevelopmental disorders,

biomarkers of these disorders, and functioning of commonly prescribed drugs for these disorders.

I find it enjoyable to keep myself updated on the current literature on these topics and am often

researching new topics of interest. These experiences did give me a passion for conducting

Autism Spectrum Disorder research, but I am also interested in Schizophrenia and Borderline

Personality Disorder research, as well.

 I am primarily interested in researching the etiology of these disorders through

neuroimaging. The biomarker that I am most interested in researching is synaptic pruning at

different developmental stages in these disorders, in a longitudinal studies (which may be

wishful thinking). This seems to be a topic that is missing from the literature, especially with

Borderline Personality Disorder. I understand the difficulties that are associated with undertaking

a project like this, but I am passionate about this topic. I have also developed an interest in the

gut-brain axis functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder, due to the recent research on gut

microbiota diversity and the prevalence and severity of Autism Spectrum Disorder. It is also a

goal of mine to do research on many different types of neuroimaging mechanisms (i.e., MRI,

fMRI, EEG, and DTI) and other experimental methods, like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

and Deep Brain Stimulation.

I am aware that stating that I have an interest in researching three different disorders may

make it seem as though I do not have a full grasp on what I want to do. However, I just do not

feel as though I should limit my research interests at this point. These three disorders each hold a

personal significance to me through friends and family members that are diagnosed with them,

so my interest will be continued whether I am the one conducting the research or not. I also have

not been able to experience conducting Schizophrenia or Borderline Personality Disorder

research firsthand, so I am cautious to narrow my research interests currently.

Since taking the “Biological Basis of Psychological Disorders” class, I have visualized

myself conducting research in this area. I have been very passionate about it for the last two

years and that passion does not seem to be going anywhere. I would like to obtain a position as a

university professor so that I can fulfill my passion and educate the next generation of

neuropsychologists. As a professor, I would want to be a mentor to the students in my labs and

specifically instill in them a dedication to performing good, non-biased, and replicable research,

as I was very lucky to have my mentor, Dr. Kana, instill in me. Due to the replication crisis in

psychology, I have a devotion to conducting this kind of research and think that it is important to

pass that on to the next generation.

I wanted to apply to This University because of several factors. The Department of

Psychology at This University has a prestigious reputation for encouraging new, innovative

research and placing accountability on researchers to conduct valid and replicable research.

Through my undergraduate research, I became familiar with the work of Dr. Doctor, particularly

her work on white matter volume and Autism Spectrum Disorder. As I am interested in

continuing to research biomarkers of Autism Spectrum Disorder, the idea of working with Dr.

Doctor is exciting. The Clinical Neuropsychology program at This University has what I am

looking for in a graduate program, especially with its emphasis on learning neuroimaging

methods. I think that I would be an excellent match with the faculty and staff in The Department

of Psychology at This University and I would consider myself lucky to join it.