Dr Katherine Ellis, in collaboration with Prof Raja Mukherjee (Clinical lead of the National FASD clinic) and Dr Jo Moss (Co-lead of the Cerebra Network for Neurodevelopmental Disorders), organised the fetal alcohol syndrome research meeting and workshop. Hosted at University of Surrey in January 2023, this research meeting served as a networking event to establish collaboration between clinicians, practitioners, and researchers.
PhD Student Researcher David Ruttenberg recently contributed to the UK Parliament’s Office of Science and Technology (POST) by helping to author a POSTnote entitled Invisible Disabilities in Education and Employment. This work provide an overview of invisible disability in the UK and outlines types of invisible differences and relevant legislation and policy. It also discusses the experiences of adults with invisible disabilities, and strategies aimed at increasing access and inclusion for adults with invisible disabilities, focusing on employment, and higher and further education. David drew from his research, and in particular, his focus group and questionnaire data that were part of his Patient and Public Information studies.
The Fragile X Society hosted an in-person conference at the Midlands Art Centre (Birmingham) for families and carers of people with FXS. They invited researchers from England and Scotland to talk about previous and current work with people with fragile X syndrome and their families.
Kat organised a research workshop with Prof Gaia Scerif hosted at St. Catherine’s College (University of Oxford) bringing together UK researchers interested in fragile X syndrome to share expertise, discuss current work and form future collaborations. There were a range of interesting sessions, including a talk by Prof Jonathan Herring on the law and practice of gaining consent from people with learning disabilities, quick fire updates on current research from UCL, University of Oxford, University of Surrey, University of Warwick and University of Edinburgh. We were also lucky enough to have a brilliant session with two young people who told us all about what it is like to have fragile X syndrome. Some family members and carers of those with fragile X syndrome joined us online and shared their ideas on how families and researchers can collaborate to shape future research.
The Institute of Healthcare Engineering (IHE) exists to improve lives through technology. From 3D-printing prosthetics limbs to developing AI that can spot cancer, our scientists are focused on making a real-world impact.
On 12 and 17 May, a fast-paced lunch presentation occurred with scientists taking no more than 5 minutes to present their research (without PowerPoint screens!), with a bit of silliness delivered by comedian/scientist Dr Steve Cross.
Our own David Ruttenberg presented his SensorAble Project, detailing how individuals with autistic diagnoses contend with sensory, attention and mental health (e.g., anxiety and fatigue) issues at school, work , and in social scenarios.
The DevDivLab is pleased to welcome Lina Erilli and Lucie Vigreux as our newest interns. We’re also very pleased to welcome Imogen Krell as a research assistant. All lab members are sad to say goodbye to Hannah Partington and Beth Jones, but wish them well in their new posts. Hannah is starting work as an assistant psychologist and Beth has left to pursue a PhD with Dr. Jo Moss, our collaborator at University of Surrey. Congratulations to Hannah and Beth!
Ishita spent a day at St Edmund’s College’s Careers Day event, giving a talk to sixth-form students and chatting with secondary students about psychology-related careers and careers in research in general. Students were very interested in about the A-level requirements to get on to an undergraduate Psychology programme and their prospects after an undergrad in Psychology, and had many questions about what a researcher actually does!
A huge thanks to the teachers and students for organising the event and inviting the Ishita.
A huge THANKYOU to Davide Bono – Ceci’s operator trainer! He is such a considerate and helpful person to work with, and Ceci went through an informative, thoughtful and joyful operator training with him!
Ceci is now a qualified MRI scanner operator – ‘the Queen of Avanto’ (Davide, 2021)! She will continue the data collection for her last PhD project on Avanto 1.5T scanner with Ozzie, Claire, YG and Lucie.
(Ceci & Davide by Yuxi Xiong – a talented participant in this project!)
Congratulations to David Ruttenberg for having been appointed a Fellow of the The Royal Society of the Arts (RSA), which is granted to individuals judged to have made outstanding achievements to social progress and development. Founded in 1754 by William Shipley as the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, it was granted a Royal Charter in 1847 and the right to use the term “Royal” in its name by King Edward VII in 1908. The RSA acronym is used more frequently than the full legal name (The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce). David has already attended several workshops where he conveyed his passion for studying interventions for autistic individuals.
