Profile

So, a little bit about me and my research interests: We all differ in interesting ways, and since childhood I’ve been intrigued by the origins of these differences – what factors shape who we become?  Just how important are our genes, parents, siblings, school, teachers, activities and friendships?  This thought was at the back of my mind when I studied for my A levels and eventually went to university. It was during my undergraduate degree that I took a class on genetics and (finally) better understood the importance of genetic influence on human behaviours and psychological traits.  I still had very little idea of what a ‘geneticist’ might do (or how one went about becoming one!), but it helped focus my interest and I eventually went on to complete a PhD in Behavior Genetics at King’s College London.  I joined Birkbeck as a faculty member of the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development in 2010, where my research is focused on understanding the genetic (DNA sequence) contributions to individual differences in educationally relevant outcomes and neurodevelopmental disorders, and how genetic effects are moderated and mediated by the environment.

A robust finding to emerge from twin and family studies is that DNA differences contribute (in part) to variation in cognitive traits and academic outcomes, and rapid progress has been made in identifying specific DNA variants; it is a fast-paced area of research and I have been fortunate enough to be involved in some of these studies.

Despite these exciting advances we are still unsure how DNA sequence variation influences brain development and results in behavioural and cognitive differences between people.  This is partly because genetic effects are context dependant, and so if we want to understand how genes work, we need to start incorporating other levels of biology (i.e., gene function) and non-genetic (i.e., environmental) information as well.   This is not straightforward to do, but understanding the nature of the relationship between genes and non-genetic factors and how they interact as we develop will be critical for translating research.

I get up at …  6am (or 6.30 am, if I am lucky), when I am woken by my children. The next two hours are a whirl of breakfast, loudness, finding lost shoes, cajoling, cuddles and probably some light bribery before I leave the house at 8.15am. I drop the youngest child off at nursery on my way to the train station, and typically arrive at Birkbeck by about 9.30am.

I teach on … the BSc Psychology degree program, where I co-convene and co-teach a large first year ‘Research Methods’ module that provides psychology students with a basic grounding in the principles of experimental design and statistics. Undergraduate students can sometimes be surprised that research methods form a core element of the program, and we work hard to make it accessible and relevant to the students’ current knowledge and career aspirations. I also teach on the final year “Genetics and Psychology” optional module. This is always enjoyable as I get to talk about my own research findings and that of my colleagues, and expose the students to the newest methods and insights from the field of behavior genetics.

I am also responsible for … quite a few things!  Broadly, my job falls into three categories; research, teaching and service.  As part of my research activities I am responsible for running a lab and the admin that comes with it; writing ethics applications; PhD student supervision, training and mentorship; securing funding (writing and revising grant applications); dissemination of my research via conference attendance, giving invited talks, publishing my work in peer reviewed articles and public engagement activities. Behavior genetics is a fast-paced field, and I stay informed about new developments and methods as best I can by reading the literature, speaking to colleagues and collaborators, organizing and attending conferences and (occasionally) training workshops.

When I’m teaching, I will be lecturing (typically on two evenings per week); developing or updating content for modules (slides, worksheets and notes); marking assessed work; writing exam papers; writing model answers; supervising teaching assistants; answering student emails; writing letters of recommendation; designing lab experiments; acting as a personal tutor for undergraduates (roughly 10-15 students); attending exam board and module convener meetings; and being assessed on my teaching.

I also peer review grants and manuscripts; supervise undergraduate (about four per year) and graduate student research projects (about two per year); sit on the academic advisory board and postgraduate research committee, and I am a member of the management committee of the University of London Centre for Educational Neuroscience, which provides a unified research environment for translational neuroscience.

My typical day … doesn’t really exist! One of the best aspects of academic life is that each day is different.

If I am teaching in the evening, typically I will meet with my PhD students (or project students) in the morning where we discuss the past week’s progress, go over new results and edits of conference abstracts and manuscript drafts. Then there is at least an hour of email and admin tasks such as paying invoices, tracking lost lab orders, or hurriedly writing a PhD application, before heading to the gym for an hour of ‘me’ time. I’ll then undo all my hard work by grabbing a hearty lunch from one of the many fantastic food places around Birkbeck, before attending a departmental seminar or journal club. That leaves me with a couple more hours to squeeze in research and research admin before preparing for the evening’s class. Once the class is over (at about 8.30pm), I head back to my office for 30 minutes of emails before catching the tube home. All being well, I’ll get home around 9.30/10pm, check on my (mostly) sleeping family, and do some chores before collapsing into bed.