Courtney Gallen, Ph.D.

Courtney Gallen, Ph.D., became a program director with CDBB in 2024. She manages the branch’s Technology and Digital Media Research Program.

Before joining NICHD, Dr. Gallen was director of the Education Division at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Neuroscape Center. Her research investigated the real-world relevance of cognitive abilities in a broad population of youth, as well as how digital interventions can be used to target and improve functioning in children and adolescents. Her research used sophisticated cognitive assessment technologies, digital interventions, and neuroimaging tools to answer these questions.

Dr. Gallen earned a B.S. in biology from Pennsylvania State University. She then conducted research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Neuroimaging Research Branch through the NIH postbaccalaureate student Intramural Research and Training Award program. She received a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California Berkeley, and completed her postdoctoral training at UCSF Neuroscape before becoming its Education Division director.