Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience
Parade of
stars Celebrating staff and student research
13.30 – 16.30 Wednesday 26 April 2017
Programme
Welcome to Parade of Stars 2017, our showcase of exciting and innovative research, celebrating academic success across the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN).
Event programme
This year we have revitalised the format to include five minute talks from researchers at all levels from student to professor, the professional services that support our work, and a selection of 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) finalists from the IoPPN. Thanks to additional funding from the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), we will be celebrating the achievements of eight rather than four postdoctoral researchers who have received Independent Researcher Awards. This will be an occasion for networking and to inspire collaboration. You will have the opportunity not only to listen to colleagues’ work but also to speak with presenters during the coffee break and the reception after the event, as well as with colleagues across the IoPPN. The Parade of Stars is a celebration of the excellence, inclusivity and cooperation that makes the IoPPN such a wonderful institution for working and studying. We hope you will all enjoy the afternoon.
Professor Patrick Leman Interim Dean of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience 2
Parade of Stars 2017
Professor Carmine Pariante and Professor Thalia Eley Chairs of the Research & Innovation Committee
All talks and presentations will take place in the IoPPN Wolfson Lecture Theatre (IoPPN Main Building, Denmark Hill Campus).
13.30
Professors Patrick Leman, Welcome Thalia Eley and Carmine Pariante
13.40
Professor Patrick Leman
Presentation of Independent Researcher Awards
13.50
Dr Clarissa Edwards
The life of a research development manager
13.55
Leon Fonville
Persistence of psychotic experiences is associated with disturbances in fronto-occipital brain structures
14.00
Dr Gail Gilchrist
Advancing theory and treatment approaches for males in treatment for substance use who perpetrate intimate partner violence (Programme ADVANCE)
14.05
Dr Deepak Srivastava
From the dynamic synapse to synaptopathies
14.10
Dr Jorge Palacios
Depression and anxiety in heart disease: some symptoms are more equal than others
14.15
Dr Gráinne McAlonan
The brain in autism across ages: what are the earliest signs; and can we shift brain biology?
14.20
Dr Alex Ing
The neuronal correlates of psychopathology in adolescence
14.25
Professor Diana Rose
User-led research: pushing the boundaries
14.30
Professor Ricardo Araya
How to prosper as a poor and abandoned relative: global mental health
14.35
Dr Simone Reinders
The aetiology and neurobiology of dissociative identity disorder
14.40
Coffee break, Seminar Room 1
14.50
Martin Farley
Achieving more with less – sustainable science
14.55
Dr Sandrine Thuret
Generation of new nerve cells in the adult brain: implication for mental health
15.00
Dr Kris De Meyer
Right between your ears, or the science of how we become entrenched in our views
15.05
Dr Sara Hitchman
Research with impact: standardised packaging of tobacco products
15.10
Dr Timothy Nicholson
Was Freud wrong about hysteria: How psychogenic are psychogenic (functional) neurological disorders?
15.15
Camilla Larsen
Olfactory sensory processing in drosophila
15.20
Marija Petrinovic
Modelling autism in mice: lost or found in translation?
15.25
Professor Graham Thornicroft
Can we stop stigma?
15.30
Dr Jane (Pei-Chen) Chang
Omega-3: unleash the potential in youth with ADHD
15.35
Dr Susan Duty
Boosting FGF20 levels in the brain to fight the loss of dopamine-containing cells in Parkinson’s disease
15.40
Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke Neuroplasticity and psychopathology: A blade that cuts both ways?
15.45
Dr Stan Papoulia
What do we do when we do patient and public involvement? Capturing the dynamics of collaboration through ethnographic methods
15.50
Dr Andrea Danese
The hidden wounds of childhood trauma
15.55
Professor Patrick Leman
Closing speech and thanks
16.00
Wine reception, Seminar Room 1 Parade of Stars 2017
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Presentation of the
Independent Researcher Awards 2016-2017 October 2016 Independent Research Award Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience
Independent Researcher Award NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre
Dr Marie-Laure Volvert Department of Developmental Neurobiology
Dr Brendon Stubbs Department of Health Services & Population Research
Dr Gemma Knowles Department of Health Services & Population Research
Dr Mar Rus-Calafell Department of Health Services & Population Research
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Independent Research Award Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience
Independent Researcher Award NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre
Dr Benjamin Kottler Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience
Dr Emma Molyneaux Department of Health Services & Population Research
Dr Selina Nath Department of Health Services & Population Research
Dr Faith Matcham Department of Psychological Medicine
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Dr Clarissa Edwards Research Development Manager IoPPN Research Strategy & Development Team
The life of a research development manager
Synopsis
Biography
The research development manager (RDM) role sits within Research Management and Innovation Division under the Research Strategy & Development team. These are fairly new roles which have developed over the last few years to support the increasingly collaborative nature of research.
Clarissa is the research development manager at the IoPPN and also manages the Denmark Hill Pre-Award Research Grants and Contracts team. Prior to arriving at King’s last June, she was a strategic research facilitator within University College London’s School of Life and Medical Sciences and the office of Vice Provost (Research). There she supported academics with research grant applications, and provided coordination, management and support for the strategic development of cross-disciplinary research and training activities. Prior to this she spent three years as a science portfolio adviser in the Wellcome Trust’s neuroscience and mental health team, working to promote its neuroscience portfolio, engaging with scientists and identifying opportunities for strategic funding. Clarissa has also worked as a strategy and policy officer at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) promoting the use of mathematical modelling in bioscience. She has a PhD in neuroscience from King’s, which focused on experience-dependent synaptic plasticity and she continues to have a very geeky love of electrophysiology and neural circuits.
There is a team of RDMs across King’s and Clarissa Edwards is the RDM at the IoPPN. She has a role in strengthening King’s relationships with funding bodies, providing advice and support to academic staff, and contributing to research strategy development and monitoring research performance. Clarissa will talk about the life of an RDM and how she can help you navigate through the research funding landscape.
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Leon Fonville PhD student Department of Psychosis Studies
Dr Gail Gilchrist Senior Lecturer Department of Addictions
Persistence of psychotic experiences is associated with disturbances in fronto-occipital brain structures
Advancing theory and treatment approaches for males in treatment for substance use who perpetrate intimate partner violence (Programme ADVANCE)
Synopsis The expression of the positive symptoms seen in psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia (hallucinations, delusions, and thought interferences) has been proposed to lie along a continuum with psychotic disorders representing an extreme variant. Psychotic experiences (PEs) represent an expression of these symptoms at levels below the traditional threshold of clinical significance and are far more prevalent in the general population. PEs present a risk factor for developing a psychotic disorder that further increases with persistence of symptoms and little is known about the impact of PEs on the brain. In this talk, Leon will discuss neuroanatomical disturbances in the brain in relation to the presence and persistence of PEs and if disturbances are comparable to schizophrenia.
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Biography
Synopsis
Biography
Leon has recently submitted his PhD thesis in psychosis studies under the supervision of Professors Anthony David and Derek Jones. His PhD looked at neuroimaging data acquired on a large sample of young adults who have, or have had, psychotic experiences at ages 18 and 20 from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort. Prior to starting a PhD, Leon completed an MSc in neuroimaging at King’s College London and worked as a research assistant on an imaging study on anorexia nervosa.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is any incident/ pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between ex/current-partners. In England, IPV is a leading contributor to the burden of disease, impacting negatively on victims’ mental and physical health. Current evidence suggests there is a need to re-conceptualise patterns of IPV, and approaches to address these among people who use substances. Delivering IPV interventions in substance use treatment rather than criminal justice settings could increase their reach and improve outcomes.
Gail Gilchrist is a senior lecturer at the National Addiction Centre. She has worked in addiction research since 1995 in the UK, Australia and Spain. Gail is a mixed methods researcher who has undertaken research on substance use and its relationship with psychiatric disorders, intimate partner violence and blood borne viruses. More recently, she has been developing and testing psychosocial interventions for substance users experiencing depression, intimate partner violence or who are at risk of hepatitis C, with partners from the UK, Europe and the US. She is the principal investigator on an NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research ‘Advancing theory and treatment approaches for males in substance misuse treatment who perpetrate intimate partner violence (Programme ADVANCE)’ that brings key stakeholders together from both the domestic violence and substance use sectors to develop an evidence based intervention to address both substance use and intimate partner violence.
ADVANCE is a 60-month multi-methods programme of research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) with five consecutive work streams that will generate evidence to develop and test an intervention to reduce IPV by men attending substance use treatment and improve outcomes for their ex/current-partners as a result. This talk will present an overview of the need for this research programme and outline the work streams involved.
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Dr Deepak Srivastava Senior Lecturer, Head of Neuronal Circuitry & Neurodevelopmental Disorders Group and Director of the Wohl Cellular Imaging Centre, Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience
Dr Jorge Palacios PhD student and 3 Minute Thesis finalist Department of Psychological Medicine
From the dynamic synapse to synaptopathies
Depression and anxiety in heart disease: some symptoms are more equal than others
Synopsis
Biography
Synopsis
Biography
The Srivastava lab is interested in understanding the molecular mechanism underlying the dynamic regulation of excitatory synapses in response to extrinsic and intrinsic signals. Moreover, the lab is interested in how these mechanisms are perturbed in a number of neurodevelopmental, psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, and how alteration in excitatory synaptic function may contribute to the pathophysiology of disease.
Deepak graduated from Cardiff University and obtained a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge. After this, he moved to Chicago, USA, where he carried out his postdoctoral training with Professor Peter Penzes in the Department of Physiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.
Depression and anxiety are strongly linked to coronary heart disease (CHD), and whilst there are still many pieces left to fit into the pathophysiological puzzle surrounding the association, the fact remains that this comorbidity is detrimental to patients’ outcomes. Most of the literature centres on studying this relationship following an acute hospitalisation, and how this impacts mortality and further cardiac events. However, focusing on mortality is an ambitious goal, and it undercuts the importance of living for long periods with the increased disability and lower quality of life that this comorbidity brings. The chronic, fluctuating, intertwining relationship between mental distress and established CHD merits more discussion.
Jorge has (just) recently submitted his PhD thesis in psychological medicine, under the supervision of Professor Matthew Hotopf. His PhD work is on depression and anxiety symptomatology in coronary heart disease. In 2016, Jorge was a finalist in the King’s 3 Minute Thesis competition, and he has won awards in PhD showcase events within the IoPPN.
In this talk, Deepak will highlight some recent work from his group that aims to understand the dynamic relationship between synaptic proteins and synaptic structure, using cutting edge-live cell and super-resolution microscopes. In addition, he will discuss a surprising role for the psychosis susceptibility gene, ZNF804A, in the remodelling of excitatory synapse structure in response to synaptic activity.
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In 2012, Deepak moved to the Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience where he set up his own research group, known as the Neuronal Circuitry and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Group (NCND). The Srivastava lab employs a multi-disciplinary approach, including molecular and biochemical techniques, as well as advanced and cutting edge cellular imaging techniques. Deepak is currently a senior lecturer and is also the Academic Director of the Wohl Cellular Imaging Centre, which offers state of the art imaging technologies for the research community.
Using advanced statistical modelling, this talk will summarise the results of my PhD work, which aims to shed light into an area where the worlds of mental and physical health collide.
Jorge has also worked in the Centre for Affective Disorders, led by Professor Allan Young, undertaking further academic and research activities. He is currently continuing work on his main research interest: the comorbidity between mental and physical health conditions. Prior to his PhD, Jorge obtained his medical degree in Mexico City, and won a scholarship to undertake an MSc in Psychiatric Research, which he passed with distinction in 2012.
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Dr Gráinne McAlonan Reader (Clinical) Department of Forensic & Neurodevelopmental Sciences
Dr Alex Ing Postdoctoral Research Worker MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre
The brain in autism across ages: what are the earliest signs; and can we shift brain biology?
The neuronal correlates of psychopathology in adolescence
Synopsis
Biography
Synopsis
Biography
Gráinne will present some preliminary findings from the first MRI studies of the neonatal and infant brain in children at familial risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). She will then examine whether brain biology in adults with ASD can be shifted pharmacologically.
Gráinne McAlonan is a clinical reader in the Department of Forensic & Neurodevelopmental Sciences and the Sackler Centre for Translational Neurodevelopment. Her research focus is on psychiatric disorders of neurodevelopment. She uses MRI as a translational tool to link brain and behaviour in people with conditions such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia; and to ‘back-’ (and ‘forward-’) translate to the rodent model.
Psychiatric illnesses are currently defined on the basis of symptoms rather than biology. In the current investigation, Alex will present an approach for finding direct relations between subject responses to a wide ranging psychiatric questionnaire, and neuroimaging measures of brain structure and function, without the need for pre-defined illness categories.
Alex Ing is currently a postdoc in Professor Gunter Schumann’s group at the MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre. He has an undergraduate degree in Physics and a PhD in Neuroscience. His current work revolves around the use of multivariate methods to uncover complex relations between psychiatric symptomatology and neuroimaging measures of brain structure and function.
Grainne’s research agenda is informed by the adults with neurodevelopmental disorders she sees in the National Autism and ADHD Service for Adults in Behavioural and Developmental Psychiatry Clinical Academic Group of King’s Health Partners.
Alex’s team found that neuroimaging correlates of depressive/anxiety symptoms discovered in this general population sample were associated with depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder illness classifications in independent clinical samples. In contrast, neuroimaging correlates of impulsive/inattentive symptoms were associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia, but not bipolar disorder or depression. These results go some way towards providing a biological explanation for the between-disorder comorbidity observed between psychiatric illnesses at the population level.
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Professor Diana Rose Professor of User-Led Research, Department of Health Services & Population Research and co-director of the Service User Research Enterprise (SURE)
Professor Ricardo Araya Clinical Professor in Global Mental Health and Director of the Centre for Global Mental Health, Department of Health Services & Population Research
User-led research: pushing the boundaries
How to prosper as a poor and abandoned relative: global mental health
Synopsis
Biography
Synopsis
Biography
Diana will cover four ‘moments’ in user-led research that she has encountered over the last 25 years or so. The first, is the beginnings of user-led research in the mid-90s and earlier. The second is the ascendance of the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) model and the third is responses to that. The fourth takes those responses forward and suggests that health, and especially mental health, are more than a medical matter and what the implications of this for research and knowledge production are.
Diana Rose is a social scientist and has been a mental health service user all her adult life. After researching in the sociology of language and then teaching social psychology, anthropology and women’s studies, her first academic career was ended by the intolerability of her distress – both to her and her employer. For ten years she lived in the community, using or refusing mental health services, but also becoming involved in the user/ survivor movement and finally working in a small organisation for disabled people. Much to her surprise, she was offered a position in a national non-governmental organisation (NGO) where her stigmatised identity was an asset rather than a liability.
It has been estimated that approximately 20% of adults in low-middle-income-country (LMIC) experience a mental health or substance use disorder each year. Psychiatric disorders are the leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide and among the five top causes of the global burden of disease.
Professor Araya is the Director of the Centre for Global Mental Health at the IoPPN. He held senior posts at the Ministry of Health (Primary Care) in Chile in the nineties. A randomised controlled trial undertaken by his team and published in Lancet paved the way to the introduction of the first National Depression Treatment Programme in Primary Care in Chile. This model of care has been adapted and replicated in several countries (India, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Colombia, Brazil, Lebanon).
In 2001 she moved to the IoPPN and is now the world’s first Professor of User-Led Research. She is currently researching the history, impacts and current configurations of user-led research internationally. Diana is also the co-director of the Service User Research Enterprise (SURE) which investigates the roles, impacts and influences of service user involvement in research both inside and outside the academy. 12
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Contrary to stereotype, mental disorders accounted for nearly as great a proportion of the disability burden in LMIC as in high-income countries. In addition, mental disorders amplify the morbidity and disability associated with other health conditions. Only one out of ten people with a mental disorder receives any treatment in LMICs and in most cases this is inadequate. There is a huge treatment gap that needs to be filled and the evidence-base is lacking. Over the last 15 years Ricardo has embarked on a major initiative to try to redress this situation with some auspicious results.
At present, he is involved in several projects testing technological platforms to support the treatment of mental disorders in low-and-middleincome countries around the world. He has carried out extensive epidemiological research to understand the origins of emotional disorders. Ricardo has served as member of several research panels for over 15 years and has over 250 publications in peer-reviewed journals including Lancet, JAMA, BMJ, American Journal of Psychiatry, British Journal of Psychiatry, and others. Parade of Stars 2017
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Dr Simone Reinders Lecturer Department of Psychosis Studies
Martin Farley Research Efficiency Manager King’s College London
The aetiology and neurobiology of dissociative identity disorder
Achieving more with less – sustainable science
Synopsis
Biography
Synopsis
Biography
Dissociative identity disorder (DID), previously called multiple personality disorder, is a controversial psychiatric disorder characterised by two or more distinct dissociative personality states. Using brain imaging and clinical measures, Simone has sought to address its aetiology. Studying the neurobiological correlates using positron emission tomography (PET) she found state dependent patterns of brain functioning which could not be simulated by controls mimicking the symptoms of DID.
Simone studied Applied Physics and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Groningen (Netherlands), where she also obtained her doctorate in Medical Sciences with the highest Dutch distinction Cum Laude. Her pioneering neuroimaging research in dissociative identity disorder (DID) has been published in high impact peer-reviewed journals and her work has significantly advanced our understanding of brain function and structural brain abnormalities in DID. Soon after joining the IoPPN in 2007, Simone received the most prestigious grant for young investigators in the Netherlands, the VENI grant, only awarded to the top 5% most promising researchers in the Netherlands. Over the years she has become an international leader in the neuroimaging correlates of DID, as recognised by the David Caul Memorial Award (2005) from the International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSTD), and an Honorary ISSTD Fellowship in 2010. Her work has also appeared in the media, and most recently through an expert interview in response to the release of the thriller ‘Split’.
The Sustainable Labs programme at King’s aims to ensure that the outcomes as well as the methods used by scientific research reflects our goal of being in the service of society.
Martin started as a researcher investigating stem cell differentiation. However, he deviated from academia and became the UK’s first sustainable labs post in higher education at the University of Edinburgh. His work surrounding ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers saw him win a Green Gown award as Sustainable Professional of the Year in 2015. Today he works between University College London (UCL) and King’s College London, implementing sustainable laboratory programmes, as well as consulting with a variety of other higher education institutions on how to improve the efficiency and sustainability of their laboratories.
Later, Simone’s research showed strong similarities in neurostructural abnormalities between DID individuals and individuals with a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), revealing a relationship between smaller hippocampal global and subfield volumes and early childhood traumatization. These studies provide neurobiological evidence of a traumarelated nature for DID. Her most recent findings provide a basis for the implementation of a precision medicine framework for trauma-related dissociation, a new and broader direction of Simone’s research. 14
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As biomedical researchers, we are responsible for the majority of the energy consumed and waste produced at King’s, despite only occupying a minority of the floor space. Martin will outline some of the biggest environmental impacts that biomedical research entails and the steps that King’s is taking to make scientific research sustainable. This issue extends beyond the environment, it is about maximising precious research funding for conducting scientific research. Labs that embrace sustainability not only reduce their impacts, they also make significant cost-savings and improve the efficiency of their research.
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Dr Sandrine Thuret Senior Lecturer Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience
Dr Kris De Meyer Postdoctoral Research Worker Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences
Generation of new nerve cells in the adult brain: implication for mental health
Right between your ears, or the science of how we become entrenched in our views
Synopsis
Biography
Synopsis
Biography
The adult mammalian brain can generate new neurons throughout life via the existence of small and sparse populations of neural stem cells dividing and differentiating into neurons.
Sandrine is Head of the Neurogenesis and Mental Health Laboratory, Deputy Head of the Cell and Behaviour Unit in the Basic and Clinical Neuroscience Department and the Gender Equality Champion for the IoPPN.
Discover the neuroscience of post-truth, fake news and ‘truthiness’. How does it feel like to be right? What does belief look like inside our brains? How do our views become entrenched, and why can it feel so hard to have our deep convictions challenged?
Kris De Meyer is a neuroscientist working at the Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences. His interest lies in using neuroscience and psychology insights to help understand and improve what goes on in society.
The hippocampus is one of the rare areas of the adult human brain where neurogenesis persists and Sandrine and her group have shown that hippocampal neurogenesis is implicated in memory formation and mood regulation. Her lab investigates environmental and molecular regulatory mechanisms controlling neural stem cell fate to validate this hippocampal cellular population and neurogenesis as targets for environmental prevention and pharmacological intervention aimed at cognitive decline and mood disorders as well as develop neural stem cell assays as biomarkers of disease prediction and progression.
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Sandrine is a neuroscientist with a background in bioengineering, molecular, cellular, behavioural and ageing biology. She graduated from the University of Heidelberg with a PhD in Neuroscience studying the development of dopaminergic neurons. She then carried out her postdoctoral work at the Salk Institute CA, USA, where her work made significant novel contributions to our understanding of neural stem cell biology in the context of regeneration and neurogenesis.
He co-produced ‘Right Between Your Ears’, a documentary about how we become convinced that our beliefs are right (even when they are not), and how we deal with being wrong.
Her research lab is now exploring environmental and molecular regulatory mechanisms controlling the production of new neurons in the adult brain and how this impacts on mood and memory in health and disease.
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Dr Sara Hitchman Lecturer Department of Addictions
Dr Tim Nicholson Clinical Lecturer Department of Psychosis Studies
Treat me better: how mediation analysis can be used to evaluate and refine treatments
Was Freud wrong about hysteria: how psychogenic are psychogenic (functional) neurological disorders?
Synopsis
Biography
Synopsis
Biography
Dr Hitchman will discuss how she has used research from the International Tobacco Control Project to impact and evaluate tobacco control policy in the UK. She will focus on a policy recently implemented in the UK, standardised packaging of tobacco products.
Sara Hitchman completed her MSc in Applied Psychology, and her PhD in Psychology at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Her research interests include global tobacco control policy, cigarette health warnings, electronic cigarettes, and standardised packaging.
Dr Hitchman will present a report on the standardised packaging of tobacco products that was disseminated to UK Members of Parliament prior to the policy being adopted, and will discuss future plans to evaluate the implementation of standardised packaging in the UK.
Prior to King’s, Sara worked with the International Tobacco Control Project, spent time at the University of California San Francisco as a postdoctoral fellow, and worked with the World Heart Federation and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Functional neurological disorder (FND), also known as conversion disorder (CD) and previously termed hysteria, is a common cause of severe neurological symptoms that has historically been assumed to be psychogenic (caused by a psychological mechanism). Freud & Breuer proposed that the symptoms of hysteria were caused by the ‘conversion’ of psychological stressors into physical symptoms and that the memory of prior traumas could be repressed as consequence. These ideas dominated research and clinical practice over the ensuing 100 years – despite an almost complete absence of supportive empirical data.
Tim is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinician Scientist in the Section of Neuropsychiatry and a consultant neuropsychiatrist at the Maudsley specialising in FND. His PhD tested Freud’s theories of hysteria/FND which, surprisingly, had not been robustly tested before.
Her current research work is funded by Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States, and the European Commission.
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In recent years, research has shown that not all patients have an identifiable and relevant stressor. Tim will review this work and propose that although Freud was wrong about many things the pendulum has perhaps swung too far in that blind acceptance of his theories has been replaced by blind rejection without due consideration or adequate testing of the theories. The truth appears to be, as is so often the case, somewhere in the middle.
He is now investigating the mechanisms of FND, particularly why and how psychological trauma seems to be a risk factor for some individuals, and running trials of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a novel treatment approach to FND causing limb paralysis. His other research interests are in organic causes of psychopathology, particularly those of autoimmune origin.
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Dr Camilla Larsen Lecturer Department of Developmental Neurobiology
Dr Marija Petrinovic Postdoctoral Research Worker Department of Forensic & Neurodevelopmental Sciences
Dementia with Lewy bodies: a common but under-researched and under-diagnosed form of dementia
Modelling autism in mice: lost or found in translation?
Synopsis
Biography
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Biography
Elucidating how the brain encodes sensory input to direct appropriate behavioural responses is one of the major goals of neuroscience. Innate behaviours, which are determined by the hardwiring of the nervous system, produce robust and reliable responses to a given stimulus. Learned behaviours on the other hand are plastic and can be modified. A well-studied example of an innate sensory driven behaviour is chemotaxis, which is the ability of animals to detect the magnitude and direction of odour gradients and direct navigation towards an odour source. Although chemotaxis is an innate behaviour it can be modified by learning. If the behaviour is rewarded then animals will chemotax more efficiently on subsequent trials. A group of neurons have been identified, termed ‘odd neurons’, in the Drosophila brain that are essential for detecting the magnitude and direction of odour gradients during chemotaxis. These neurons also integrate innate and learned olfactory stimuli during chemotaxis. We are now using the odd neurons to identify the neural pathway underlying chemotaxis and to understand how the brain integrates learned and innate stimuli.
Camilla Larsen is a part time lecturer. She obtained her PhD in 2000 from King’s College London and subsequently worked at the National Institute for Medical Research and University of California, Los Angeles (USLA).
With the growing prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is a pressing need to identify the underlying biological mechanisms that would provide a basis for development of new, ASD-specific diagnostic and treatment options and, ultimately, for prevention. Animal models, which allow for direct tests of causality, have a pivotal role in this endeavour, as due to practical and ethical concerns such studies cannot be performed in humans. The use of animals to model human disorders, such as ASD, is based on a premise that basic physiological, metabolic and developmental pathways were conserved over the course of evolution.
Dr Marija Petrinovic obtained her PhD in Neuroscience at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where she studied the assembly and plasticity of neural circuits during development and mechanisms of their repair after injury. She subsequently joined the pharmaceutical company, F Hoffman-La Roche, as a Roche Postdoctoral Fellow where she focused on translational approaches for the development of new medicines for ASD. In 2016, she joined King’s College London as a senior research associate in the Department of Forensic & Neurodevelopmental Sciences and the Sackler Institute for Translational Neurodevelopment.
In this talk, Marija will describe how she has identified biological mechanisms underlying repetitive behaviours, a core symptom of ASD, by using animal models of ASD, translational MRI and pharmacological treatments. These research findings provided a proof-of-concept basis for preparation of a clinical study.
Her research focus is identification of disease mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders, such as ASD, by applying cuttingedge translational research. She believes that understanding the development and organisation of neural circuits, the ways they mediate behaviour, and identifying the changes that lead to behavioural aberrations, is crucial for developing a new generation of therapeutics and for crossing the ‘bench-to-bedside’ divide.
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In 2006 she took a three year break from science and joined King’s College London in 2009 at the Department of Developmental Neurobiology as a Wellcome Trust career re-entry fellow. During her fellowship she became increasingly interested in systems neuroscience and now works on processing of olfactory stimuli in innate and learned behaviour. During her fellowship she was also actively involved in promoting women in science through the Wellcome Trust and is, since becoming a part time lecturer at King’s College, the diversity & inclusion representative for the department.
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Professor Graham Thornicroft Professor of Community Psychiatry, Centre for Global Mental Health Department of Health Services & Population Research
Dr Jane (Pei-Chen) Chang PhD student and 3 Minute Thesis finalist Department of Psychological Medicine
Can we stop stigma?
Omega-3: unleash the potential in youth with ADHD
Synopsis
Biography
Synopsis
Biography
Stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness are common and severe wherever they have been studied. One surprising aspect of this is that many consumers report that they feel discriminated against by health and social care staff, even though these are precisely the staff who are trained and experienced to offer assistance to people with mental illnesses. Furthermore, the ‘inter-personal contact’ hypothesis suggests that those with more contact with people with a diagnosis of mental illness will have more favourable and less stigmatising views.
Graham Thornicroft is Professor of Community Psychiatry at the IoPPN. He is a consultant psychiatrist working in an early intervention community mental health team in South London.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects lives if left untreated. Not only children with ADHD experience problems with education and peer relations, but also adults with ADHD may suffer from difficulty in social relationships and reduced work productivity.
Jane completed her Medical Degree (2005) and her Master of Science Degree (2011) in Clinical Medicine at China Medical University (CMU) in Taichung, Taiwan. She completed her child and adolescent psychiatry training at National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2013.
Although stimulants, such as methylphenidate, and non-stimulants, such as atomoxetine, have been used to improve inattention and impulsivity symptoms, about 20-40% of children with ADHD still have poor treatment responses or suffer from medication side effects.
After spending three years working with children and adolescents with ADHD in CMU Hospital in Taiwan, she moved to London in 2016 and commenced her PhD under the supervision of Professor Carmine Pariante, Dr Valeria Mondelli, and Professor Louise Arseneault. She was the runner-up for the King’S 3 Minute Thesis competition and received British Association for Psychopharmacology Junior Clinical Psychopharmacology Award in 2016.
This illustrated presentation will very briefly review evidence about discrimination and evidence of what is effective (at the local and national levels) to reduce stigma and discrimination and to promote social inclusion.
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His areas of expertise include: mental health needs assessment, the development of new outcome scales, cost-effectiveness evaluation of mental health treatments, stigma and discrimination, the development of communitybased mental health services, and global mental health. He has published 30 books and 461 peerreviewed scientific papers.
Jane’s work has focused on omega-3 fatty acids, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are essential fatty acids (EFA) that have been shown to improve attention and other cognitive functions. Jane’s PhD examines the effects of omega-3 fatty acid on the ADHD clinical symptoms and cognitive function in children with ADHD, as part of an effort to provide another treatment option for children with ADHD.
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Dr Susan Duty Reader in Pharmacology & Neuroscience Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases (CARD)
Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke Professor of Developmental Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Boosting FGF20 levels in the brain to fight the loss of dopamine-containing cells in Parkinson’s disease
Neuroplasticity and psychopathology; a blade that cuts both ways?
Synopsis
Biography
Synopsis
Biography
People with Parkinson’s can access treatments to help overcome their motor symptoms. However, there is still no treatment that tackles the loss of dopamine-containing brain cells which brings about this impaired movement. The loss of cells is progressive so a person’s symptoms continually worsen over time.
Dr Susan Duty is Reader in Pharmacology & Neuroscience within the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Disease. Susan obtained her BSc and PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Manchester. Following completion of postdoctoral positions at the Universities of Sydney and Manchester, she took up a lectureship appointment at King’s College London. Susan is now Deputy Head of Wolfson CARD and Deputy Head of the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics.
Neuroplasticity, the brain’s capacity to reorganise in response to experience, plays a central role in normative learning and development; however, its relevance to psychopathology remains unclear.
Edmund Sonuga-Barke has recently been appointed as Professor of Developmental Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience in the Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. He also has visiting chairs at Ghent University, Aarhus University and the University of Sussex. Edmund is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. His research aims to facilitate the development of new therapies to help improve the lives of children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To this end, he employs basic developmental science approaches to study the pathogenesis of these conditions; their underlying genetic and environmental risks, mediating brain mechanisms and developmental outcomes. He is the Principle Investigator of the English and Romanian Adoptees study. In 2016, he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
FGF20, or fibroblast growth factor 20, is a protein found naturally in the brain, particularly in the substantia nigra (SN), the region affected in Parkinson’s. FGF20 provides support to the dopamine-containing cells. The usual amounts of FGF20 are not enough to preserve dopaminecontaining cells in Parkinson’s. However, as will be described in this talk, when we infuse FGF20 into the brain, the dopamine-containing cells in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease are protected. We now hope to find ways to boost the brains own supply of FGF20 using existing drugs, already approved for safe use in people, to provide much needed protection to the affected cells in Parkinson’s.
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Susan is actively involved in delivery of both the Education and Diversity & Inclusion agendas. Susan’s research interests focus on finding novel therapeutic strategies to improve the treatment of Parkinson’s disease using a range of cellular and whole animal models.
In this short talk, Professor Edmund SonugaBarke will consider whether extraordinary environments can cause extreme neuro-plastic responses of sufficient potency to, either cause disorders in those at otherwise low genetic risk or, be harnessed therapeutically to resolve disorders in high-risk individuals.
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Dr Stan Papoulias Postdoctoral Research Worker Department of Health Services & Population Research
Dr Andrea Danese, MD Clinical Senior Lecturer, MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre and Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
What do we do when we do patient and public involvement? Capturing the dynamics of collaboration through ethnographic methods
The hidden wounds of childhood trauma
Synopsis
Biography
Synopsis
Biography
In the UK, patient and public involvement (PPI) is now a policy requirement for health service development and research. There is considerable investment in understanding the extent to which PPI may contribute to improving research quality. However, there is limited research on how input from service users and the public becomes operationalised as ‘evidence’ capable of shaping the design of health interventions so that they might become localised and usable by specific populations.
Dr Stan Papoulias is Postdoctoral Researcher and Deputy Theme Lead for Patient and Public Involvement for the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) South London.
Childhood trauma is a key risk factor for psychopathology. However, little is known about how exposure to childhood trauma is translated into biological risk for psychopathology. Observational human studies and experimental animal models suggest that childhood exposure to stress can trigger an enduring systemic inflammatory response not unlike the bodily response to physical injury. In turn, these ‘hidden wounds’ of childhood trauma can affect brain development, key behavioural domains (for example, cognition, positive valence systems, and negative valence systems), reactivity to subsequent stressors, and, ultimately, risk for psychopathology. Detecting and healing these hidden wounds may help prevent and treat psychopathology emerging after childhood trauma.
Dr Danese is Head of the Stress & Development Lab and Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychobiology & Psychiatry. He is an investigator on the UK Environmental-Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study and on the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. His research integrates epidemiological, neuroscience, and clinical methods to inform new interventions for individuals who experienced psychological trauma.
This talk will discuss a qualitative study which uses ethnographic methods to track PPI practice in two research projects: one seeking to understand barriers to the uptake of structured education by people with type 1 diabetes; the second seeking to increase physical activity in people with a severe mental illness diagnosis. In so doing, it will argue that ethnographic methods are particularly well suited for this tracking, since they allow us to analyse the organisational contexts in which research studies happen.
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A member of the Service User Research Enterprise, Stan is a long term user of mental health services, who trained and worked as a lecturer in cultural studies for many years before moving to health services research. Stan is currently undertaking a qualitative ethnography of service user and carer involvement in research while also working to embed such involvement in studies affiliated to the CLAHRC South London. In her current research, Stan is working across health fields, but is primarily interested in participatory visual methods to harness service user experience of mental health services and treatments. Stan is keen to investigate how we identify and access such ‘experience’ for research purposes and how collaboration between different disciplines might contribute to this endeavour.
Dr Danese is also an active clinician and works as Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at the National & Specialist CAMHS Trauma & Anxiety Clinic, at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust a top-tier clinical service providing treatment to children with complex histories of trauma and traumarelated psychopathology. He is a member of the Research Advisory Group for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and acts as advisor for several other agencies concerned with the mental health of children and young people. Parade of Stars 2017
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DESIGN: Day 1, www.day1.org.uk Approved by brand@kcl.ac.uk, April 2017
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