Christopher Benjamin

Christopher Benjamin is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at Yale University School of Medicine, with additional appointments as Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Psychology, and Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. He is a clinical neuropsychologist who serves as a member of Yale's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and sees adults with various neurological disorders. While maintaining his adjunct position at Yale, he joined Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) in 2024 where he oversees the clinical language fMRI service and sees epilepsy patients through the public health system.

Dr. Benjamin completed his PhD training in neuropsychology at the University of Melbourne, Australia, followed by research fellowship training at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and a clinical fellowship at the Semel Institute, University of California Los Angeles where he served as epilepsy fellow and Chief Fellow in neuropsychology.

His research focuses on improving surgical planning for epilepsy and brain tumors, with particular emphasis on the validity of cognitive testing for identifying seizure focus and surgical outcomes, the validity of fMRI methods for predicting language change after surgery, and the comparison of fMRI with intracranial language mapping techniques. His work bridges clinical neuropsychology with advanced neuroimaging to enhance presurgical assessment and improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Benjamin's research has resulted in numerous publications focused on language mapping, epilepsy surgery, and functional MRI applications in clinical settings. His work demonstrates a consistent trajectory toward standardizing and validating neuroimaging techniques for surgical planning, with increasing emphasis on cross-cultural applications and technological innovations like wearable monitoring devices for epilepsy.

• Clinical Research Training Scholarship (2018) from American Academy of Neurology
• Sweblius Foundation Award (2017) from Swebilius Foundation
• KL2 Junior Scholar's Award (2016) from Yale Center for Clinical Investigation / NIH
• Clinical Research Award (2013) from National Academy of Neuropsychology

Dr. Benjamin leads the Benjamin Lab, which focuses on neuropsychological assessment and clinical language fMRI. He consults privately to programs on setting up or refining their clinical fMRI services and provides clinical neuropsychological assessment services through both the public health system at Vancouver General Hospital and private practice at Sparrow Neuropsychology. His work demonstrates a strong commitment to translating research findings into clinical practice to improve patient care in epilepsy and related neurological conditions.