Dr. Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva is a Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. Their work focuses on understanding human thought, using a combination of functional neuroimaging (fMRI), behavioral testing, and theoretical work. They have served as the Interim Director of the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies.

Research interests span the full spectrum of thought processes: from spontaneous thought, including phenomena such as mind-wandering and daydreaming; to goal-directed thought, including deliberate reasoning and problem-solving; to creative thought, which combines deliberate and spontaneous modes of thought in a dynamic and interactive fashion. Dr. Christoff Hadjiilieva also does work on introspection, meta-cognition, boredom, meditation, dreams, and different forms of self-experience. Their research relates all these mental phenomena to their neural correlates, by constructing neuroscientific models grounded in current scientific understanding of the dynamic interactions between large-scale brain systems, including the default, salience, and frontoparietal control networks.

Dr. Christoff’s secondary research areas are Behavioural Neuroscience, Clinical, Health and Social/Personality.

For a full list of publications, visit the lab website.

• Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies – Distinguished Scholar in Residence (2017)
• Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (2006)
• Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies – Early Career Scholar (2005)