Her research focuses on brain development, sensory processing and sensitivity and learning in healthy infants and children. Further, she investigates neurodevelopmental disorders risk factors. She particularly wants to understand the prenatal and genetic risk factors leading to neurodevelopmental disorders, and their consequences on brain development, sensory processing and sensitivity and learning capacities. Her investigation methods are non-invasive and enables her to develop early screening methods and treatment efficacy assessments.
Among her current initiatives, she co-leads a multidisciplinary translational research program to mechanistically understand neurodevelopmental disorders. She also leads the first inter-generational genetic-neuropsychology-EEG cohort of children with genetic risk factors, in which more than 400 families are tested using EEG and neuropsychology (Brain Canada, Quebec 1000 projects (Q1K)). Moreover, ongoing contributions include the development of treatment options for neurodevelopmental disorders. Her lab is among the very first to propose EEG as an outcome measure in international and national clinical trials. Her team is driving the EEG investigation of the potential benefits of Metformin in FXS (Azrieli funded). She leads the neuropsychology and EEG investigation aspect of Canada-USA-European clinical trials for children presenting with autism. She is also involved in several national and international initiatives on infant EEG, aiming at creating a normative database to understand EEG signals maturation and to create a clinical tool for infants’ brain signal assessments. Her laboratory “Neuroscience of Early Development lab” is multidisciplinary and includes students and HQP at all levels of training. She is also on board of directors of several initiatives including Kids Brain Health Network and Fragile X Research Foundation of Canada aiming at supporting research and families
Career Summary
“What happens at key moments in a child development when pathologies sometimes occur that harm cerebral, cognitive, and emotional development?” Dr. Sarah Lippé Ph.D, neuropsychologist, Full Professor of Psychology at the University of Montreal and FRQ-S Senior Scientist at Sainte-Justine Hospital, is determined to find answers. As Director of the multidisciplinary Neuroscience of Early Development Lab (NED), she studies the cerebral mechanisms involved in learning processes in infants and children.
Sarah Lippé completed a Master’s degree in neuropsychology and a Ph.D. in clinical and research neuropsychology at the University of Montreal. She was trained as a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience at the Atomic Energy Commission (France) and at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care (Toronto). She is member of several research groups and Network (BRAMS, CerebrUM, GRIP, TACC, KBHN).
More information
Presentations
Lippé S. EEG as a clinical investigation tool for neurodevelopmental disorders. (2023) Boston Children’s Hospital and the Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center
Lippé S. Brain activity markers of intelligence in children: from intellectual disability to giftedness. Organisation Human Brain Mapping. International meeting. Juin 2020
Lippé S. Peut-on prédire le pronostic développemental à l’aide de l’EEG? 11e Journée Scientifique en Neuroscience. Université de Sherbrooke. Key note speaker. 29 septembre 2022
Lippé S and Lalancette E. Neurophysiological markers of neurocognitive impairments in NF1. Children Tumor Foundation Conference. Philadelphia. Juin 2022
Lippé S, Haggerman R, Jacquemont S, Bolduc F. La Metformin pour le SXF. Discussion avec les experts. Association Québécoise et Canadienne du SXF. Canada. Mai 2022
Publications
Deguire F, López-Arango G, Knoth IS, Côté V, Agbogba K, Lippé S. (2022). Developmental course of the repetition effect and change detection responses from infancy through childhood: a longitudinal study. Cerebral Cortex. Epub ahead of print.
Lalancette E, Charlebois-Poirier AR, Agbogba K, Knoth IS, Jones EJH, Mason L, Perreault S, Lippé S (2022) Steady-state visual evoked potentials in children with neurofibromatosis type 1: associations with behavioral rating scales and impact of psychostimulant medication. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders. 14(1):42.
Maria Isabel Carreño-Muñoz, Bidisha Chattopadhyaya, Kristian Agbogba, Valérie Côté, Siyan Wang, Maxime Lévesque, Massimo Avoli, Jacques L. Michaud, Sarah Lippé*, Graziella Di Cristo* (2021) Sensory processing dysregulations as reliable translational biomarkers in SYNGAP1 haploinsufficiency. Brain. 145(2):754-769.
EEG Signal Complexity Is Reduced During Resting-State in Fragile X Syndrome.
Proteau-Lemieux M, Knoth IS, Agbogba K, Côté V, Barlahan Biag HM, Thurman AJ, Martin CO, Bélanger AM, Rosenfelt C, Tassone F, Abbeduto LJ, Jacquemont S, Hagerman R, Bolduc F, Hessl D, Schneider A, Lippé S.Front Psychiatry. 2021 Nov 11;12:716707. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.716707.
Dupont C, Castellanos-Ryan N, Séguin JR, Muckle G, Simard MN, Shapiro GD, Herba CM, Fraser WD, Lippé S. (2018) The Predictive Value of Head Circumference Growth During the First Years of Life on Early Child Traits. Scientific Report. Jun 29;8(1):9828 101.
Thébault-Dagher F, Robles M, Herba CM, St-Pierre J, Brochen C, Muckle G, Lupien SJ, Séguin JR, Fraser WD, Vaillancourt C, Lippé S. Febrile seizure incidence and age at first occurrence are associated with changes in placental normalized gene expression: the '3D' pregnancy cohort study. J Neuroendocrinol. 2021 Sep 20;33(10):e13046.
Sarah Lippé, Andrea Schneider, Craig Erickson. (2021). Electrophysiological studies across ASD.
Eric Hollander, M.D., Randi J. Hagerman, M.D., and Casara J. Ferretti, M.S.Textbook of Autism Spectrum Disorders, Second Edition. : 0-10.