Meet the scientists!

I work in the field of behavioural and psychiatric genetics, with my main research being to understand how genes on the sex chromosomes (the X and Y) might influence brain development and function differently in men and women. To address this question, my work examines a variety of species including mice, rats and humans. Ultimately, I hope that my work will help us understand why men and women are differentially vulnerable to particular mental disorders (for example autism and ADHD are much more common in males than females, whereas unipolar depression is more common in women), and will enable the development of more effective sex-specific therapies for these disorders.

I generally arrive at work about 9am, and have a strong cup of coffee whilst I check my e-mails. I’ll then have meetings with my postdoc and students to discuss their latest results and to try and solve and problems they might be having (or at least to give advice). I’ll also occasionally meet with collaborators who might be able to help me with my work. I’ll then do some writing (generally writing up previous data, applying for money to do some exciting new research, or sorting out licences to perform ongoing studies). At the end of the day, I’ll catch up on any interesting new developments which are relevant to my research by checking publication databases, important journals such as Nature and Science, or by looking on the BBC news website.

Our Centre has recently started a project known as SciScreen, in which films covering various scientific issues are shown at a local cinema. The audience are then invited to discuss the scientific issues raised in the film with an expert panel. This scheme has been remarkably successful to date, but we need money to hire the cinema and for advertising – the money from I’m a Scientist would come in extremely handy!