Emily B. May
Doctoral Candidate (former fast-track candidate at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)
Academic education
| since 2023 | Doctoral candidate, Max Planck School of Cognition, Leipzig, Germany Lab rotation in the orientation phase & supervision: Julia Sacher |
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| 2023-2025 | Master of Science in Cognitive Neuroscience, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany |
| 2019–2023 | Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, minor in Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin, USA |
Research experiences
| 2025 | Research stay, Neurobiology Research Unit (Dr. Vibe Frøkjær), at Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark |
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| 2023-2025 | Master’s thesis, Sex and Menopause Effects on Brain Perfusion in Individuals with High Vascular Risk” Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin- Dr. Ahmed Khalil |
| 2022–2023 | Research internship, Department of Psychology (Dr. Annie Duchesne), University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada |
| 2021–2023 | Research Internship, Department of Neurology (Dr. Leorah Freeman), University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, USA |
| 2020–2022 | Research internship, Department of Integrative Biology (Dr. Steven Phelps), University of Texas at Austin, USA |
Teaching
| 2021–2022 | Teaching assistant, Department of Neuroscience, Neural Systems I, University of Texas at Austin, USA |
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| 2020–2022 | Undergraduate teaching assistant, then head of undergraduate teaching assistant, Originality in the Arts and Sciences, research grant proposal course, University of Texas at Austin, USA |
Scientific awards and scholarships
| 2026 | Women’s Health Research Cluster Trainee Travel Award |
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| 2025 | “My Brain, My Body, My Choices”- The (De)tabooing of Science and Research Workshop funding, co-writing |
| 2024 | Top Poster Presenter Awards. Womenmind Conference, Toronto, Canada |
| 2023 | Best Oral Presentation Balancing the Brain: Sex, Gender, and Neuroscience Conference, Toronto, Canada |
| 2023 | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP, declined) |
| 2023 | UT Austin Conference Travel Scholarship to present at Balancing the Brain Conference in Toronto, ON, Canada |
| 2023 | Edwin M. Jones Scholarship research funding |
| 2022 | UT Austin College of Natural Science Summer Experience Scholarship for research internship at UNBC |
| Junior Fellows Scholarship research funding | |
| 2021 | Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Sciences (TIDES) Advanced Summer Research Fellowship for research internship at UT Austin |
| 2020 | Undergraduate Research Fellowship research funding |
Publications, poster presentations and talks
May, E, Mizen, S., Hoffmann, K., Ruehr, L., Klausing, H., Seemann, J., Dressler, G., Adiraju, B., Sacher, J. Taboos in women’s and gender-diverse brain and mental health: a citizen science and participatory Group Concept Mapping mixed-methods study bridging lived experience, research, and clinical priorities. (in prep)
Pirlich, L., Hoffman, L., May, E., Ruehr, L., Stojanovska, V., Bartley, J., Aktas, B., Stumvoll, M., Zenclussen, A. C., Tönjes, A., & Sacher, J. Cognitive neuroendocrinology perspective on brain health and disease risk in polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). (submitted)
May, E., Comasco, E., Tiepolt, S., Strauß, M., Kundakovic, M., Hesse, S., Sabri, O., Villringer, A., & Sacher, J. (2026). Timing matters: Leveraging positron emission tomography imaging and hormonal cycles for precision psychiatry in female mental health. Biological Psychiatry, 99(9), 713–727. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2026.01.021
Talk (March 2026) — “Detabooing in women’s and gender-diverse brain health: a citizen science and participatory mixed-methods study bridging lived experience, research, and clinical priorities.” Neuroethics 2026, International Neuroethics Society. Virtual (Lucca, Italy).
Poster Presentation (March 2026)— “Sex Differences and Effect of Menopause on Brain Perfusion and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Patients with High Vascular Risk.” Mind, Brain, Body Symposium. Berlin, Germany. |
Poster Presentation (March 2026)— “De-tabooing Women’s and Gender-Diverse Brain Health: A Participatory Mapping of Lived Experience, Research, and Clinical Priorities.” Mind, Brain, Body Symposium. Berlin, Germany.
Livia Ruehr, Kim Hoffmann, Emily May, Marie Luise Münch, Haiko Schlögl, Julia Sacher (2025). Estrogens and human brain networks: A systematic review of structural and functional neuroimaging studies, Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, Volume 77, 2025, 101174, ISSN 0091-3022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2024.101174.
Poster Presentation (Jan 2025)— “Sex Differences and Effect of Menopause on Brain Perfusion and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Patients with High Vascular Risk.” Leipzig Research Festival for Life Sciences, Leipzig, Germany. |
Poster Presentation (May 2024) — “The Contextualized Usage of Hormonal Contraception Model: Accounting for Context in Brain and Behavior Research.” Organization of Sex Differences Conference, Bergen, Norway.
Poster Presentation (March 2024)— “Sex Differences and Effect of Menopause on Brain Perfusion and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Vascular Risk.” The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Womenmind Conference, Toronto, ON. Awarded one of Top Presenter Awards.
May, E. B., Tandy, S., & Duchesne, A. (2023, March). Many paths to the many pills: Accounting for context through a biosocial framework of hormonal contraceptive selection, usage, and affective outcomes [Talk]. Balancing the Brain: Sex, Gender, and Neuroscience Conference, University of Toronto, Canada.
May, E. B., Charron, O., & Freeman, L. (2023, April). Characterization of multiple sclerosis atrophy using neural network-based brain segmentation tools [Talk]. College of Natural Science Honors Thesis Symposium, University of Texas at Austin, USA.
May, E. B., Tripp, J., & Phelps, S. (2022, April). Developing a novel approach for identifying neurons holding the memory of social bonds [Poster] requested to present by Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science, College of Natural Science Undergraduate Research Forum, University of Texas at Austin, USA.
Workshops and Science Communication
11/03/2026 My Body, My Brain, My Choices Science Communication Hackathon, Toronto, Canada Initiative Lead, Program, Content, and Facilitator Coordinator
02/25/2026 Women’s Health and Well-being: De-tabooing of Menstruation and Menopause.” Women Academics in Construction. Invited speaker (Dr. Tunji-Olayeni, Covenant University, Nigeria), 45-minute online talk.
02/11/2026 “Women’s Health: Embodiment and Taboos”, Women in Science Day, University of Leipzig, Germany
09/17-19/2025 My Body, My Brain, My Choices- The (De)tabooing of Science and Research Workshop, Hannover, Germany, Program and Content Lead, Facilitator Coordinator
Photo: Nikolaus Brade