13/02/2026
What an action-packed week we’ve had. Best of all, we hosted another fantastic EN-PM!
Reflecting on international day of women and girls in science, there is so much to celebrate, but we highlighted the continuing lack of representation of women in senior roles and the need to address it.
ECR flash talks gave us taster of new research, covering synapse loss, glial engulfment, mitochondrial dynamics, tau and reprogramming astrocytes - with thanks to , .horan, Danilo Negro and Katrine Gaasdal-Bech. Public engagement and outreach are core parts of communicating our research. In a comprehensive showcase to get colleagues inspired, , Barbora Skarabela, Cathy Abbott, Sharon Abrahams, Dom Cairns-Gibson, and Sinead Rhodes, gave us insight into a great range of approaches. From being a good neighbour, holding a workshop in a school around the corner; organising an online global conference, catering for multiple languages and user needs; developing tools to assist diagnosis and improving patient care that can, with the right dissemination, be adopted across the world; and establishing a community interest company to upscale engagement and have a positive impact on the lives of people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to resources they need. Ultimately, the rewards are extensive, often developing synergistic relationships and influencing the evolution of research.
And last but not least, we were delighted to host Omer Dr Omer Bayraktar, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, who delivered a thought-provoking key note: ‘Mapping the rules of human brain disorders with multi-omics: lessons from autism and glioblastoma.’
