Yuliya Nikolova, University of Toronto

Research

Aging Biomarkers Mri Substance Use Brain Health Neuroimaging Youth Mental Health

Latest papers

Reduced circulating progenitor cells in older adults with major depression: Evidence of accelerated biological aging.
Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026
Assessment of noninvasive quantification of [18F]SynVesT-1 with simplified reference tissue model 2 in an adolescent and youth cohort
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging · 2026
Breakdown in the temporal and spatial organization of spontaneous brain activity during general anesthesia.
Human brain mapping · 2018

All 3 publications

Latest funding

Trajectories of brain development indicators in mental-health treatment-seeking youth: a neuroimaging-based normative modelling approach
CIHR · 2024 · Principal investigator
$100,000
Novel markers of risk for age-related neurodegeneration, senescence, and cognitive decline in adults with substance use disorders
CIHR · 2024 · Nominated PI
$1,181,924
Discovery and neuroimaging-based characterization of peripheral blood biomarkers for psychosis spectrum symptom trajectories in mental health treatment-seeking youth
CIHR · 2023 · Co-investigator
$810,900

All 8 grants and awards

3 publications.

01

Reduced circulating progenitor cells in older adults with major depression: Evidence of accelerated biological aging.

Vieira EL, El-Ahmad P, Nikolova Y, Rajji T, Diniz BS

Brain, behavior, & immunity - health2026

DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2026.101211 PMID: 41852949

02

Assessment of noninvasive quantification of [18F]SynVesT-1 with simplified reference tissue model 2 in an adolescent and youth cohort

Uribe C, Narciso L, Cho SS, Zilberman M, Cote C, Yu L, Truong J, Dickie E, Nikolova Y, Voineskos A

European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging20261 citations

DOI: 10.1007/s00259-026-07818-1

03

Breakdown in the temporal and spatial organization of spontaneous brain activity during general anesthesia.

Zhang J, Huang Z, Chen Y, Zhang J, Ghinda D, Nikolova Y, Wu J, Xu J, Bai W, Mao Y, Yang Z, Duncan N, Qin P, Wang H, Chen B, Weng X, Northoff G

Human brain mapping2018

DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23984 PMID: 29377435

Trajectories of brain development indicators in mental-health treatment-seeking youth: a neuroimaging-based normative modelling approach

Principal investigatorCIHR2024Pr. Gr. - PA: Human Development Child and Youth Health - Mid Career Support

Principal investigators: Dickie, Erin W; Ameis, Stephanie H; Cleverley, Kristin D; Nikolova, Yuliya S

Keywords: Brain Health; Neuroimaging; Youth Mental Health

$100,000

Novel markers of risk for age-related neurodegeneration, senescence, and cognitive decline in adults with substance use disorders

Nominated PICIHR2024Project Grant

Principal investigators: Nikolova, Yuliya S; Quilty, Lena C; Vieira, Erica L

Keywords: Aging; Biomarkers; Mri; Substance Use

$1,181,924

Discovery and neuroimaging-based characterization of peripheral blood biomarkers for psychosis spectrum symptom trajectories in mental health treatment-seeking youth

Co-investigatorCIHR2023Project Grant

Principal investigators: Felsky, Daniel

Keywords: Blood Biomarkers; Neuroimmune Mechanisms; Psychosis Spectrum Symptoms; Strutural Brain Imaging; Youth Mental Health

$810,900

Identifying genetics and brain imaging-based biomarkers of neuron-type specific vulnerability in late life

Co-investigatorCIHR2023Project Grant

Principal investigators: Tripathy, Shreejoy J

Keywords: Biomarkers; Brain Imaging; Genetics; Late-Life; Neuron Types; Personalized Medicine; Post-Mortem Analyses; Psychiatry; Somatostatin; Transcriptomics

$791,775

In vivo Quantification of Synaptic Density in Youth With High-risk Cannabis and Alcohol Use: A Positron Emission Tomography Study With the Synaptic Vesicle Glycoprotein 2A Radiotracer [F-18]SynVesT-1

Co-investigatorCIHR2022Project Grant

Principal investigators: Boileau, Isabelle; Smart, Kelly

Keywords: Alcohol; Cannabis; Positron Emission Tomography; Synaptic Density; Youth

$1,220,176

The FREM3 gene and its role in shaping brain morphology and function across the lifespan

Principal investigatorNSERC2020Discovery Launch Supplement

Principal investigators: Nikolova, Yuliya

$12,500

The FREM3 gene and its role in shaping brain morphology and function across the lifespan

Principal investigatorNSERC2020Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Nikolova, Yuliya

$120,000

Behavioural and brain network adaptations associated with chronic amygdala hyperactivation

Co-investigatorCIHR2019Project Grant

Principal investigators: Banasr, Mounira

Keywords: Amygdala; Behavior; Chronic Stress; Depression; Mouse; Mri; Pharmacology; Structural Covariance

$420,750

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Co-authors at University of Toronto, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Peter Szatmari

Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Claire de Oliveira

Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Stephanie Ameis

Positron, Emission Tomography (PET Centre)

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Kristin Cleverley

Children, Youth and Families

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Nicole Kozloff

Department of Psychiatry

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Hayley Hamilton

Social & Behavioural Health Sciences Division

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Madison Aitken

Clinical Research

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Wei Wang

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2024

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Aging Dear Professor Nikolova, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Reduced circulating progenitor cells in older adults with major depression: Evidence of accelerated biological aging." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "Trajectories of brain development indicators in mental-health treatment-seeking youth: a neuroimaging-based normative modelling approach" (2024), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]

Yuliya Nikolova

Research

Latest papers

Latest funding

Reduced circulating progenitor cells in older adults with major depression: Evidence of accelerated biological aging.

Assessment of noninvasive quantification of [18F]SynVesT-1 with simplified reference tissue model 2 in an adolescent and youth cohort

Breakdown in the temporal and spatial organization of spontaneous brain activity during general anesthesia.

Trajectories of brain development indicators in mental-health treatment-seeking youth: a neuroimaging-based normative modelling approach

Novel markers of risk for age-related neurodegeneration, senescence, and cognitive decline in adults with substance use disorders

Discovery and neuroimaging-based characterization of peripheral blood biomarkers for psychosis spectrum symptom trajectories in mental health treatment-seeking youth

Identifying genetics and brain imaging-based biomarkers of neuron-type specific vulnerability in late life

In vivo Quantification of Synaptic Density in Youth With High-risk Cannabis and Alcohol Use: A Positron Emission Tomography Study With the Synaptic Vesicle Glycoprotein 2A Radiotracer [F-18]SynVesT-1

The FREM3 gene and its role in shaping brain morphology and function across the lifespan

The FREM3 gene and its role in shaping brain morphology and function across the lifespan

Behavioural and brain network adaptations associated with chronic amygdala hyperactivation

Frequent collaborators

Tristan Glatard

Hsiang-Yuan Lin

Martin Rotenberg

Yona Lunsky

Peter Szatmari

Aristotle Voineskos

Yona Lunsky

George Foussias

Peter Szatmari

Claire de Oliveira

Stephanie Ameis

Georg Northoff

Kristin Cleverley

Neil Vasdev

Isabelle Boileau

Meng-Chuan Lai

Nicole Kozloff

Shreejoy Tripathy

Erin Dickie

Wanda Tempelaar

Hayley Hamilton

Madison Aitken

Alexia Polillo

Wei Wang