About my current job
From 2012 to 2019 I was Director of the Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Kings College, London. My current position involves leading a research group (the ReSpect Lab) investigating cognitive strengths and weaknesses in autism spectrum conditions.
How did my education influence my career path?
My career is the direct result of the thoughtfulness of various EP tutors/Profs!
Ruth Campell (a very glamorous visiting fellow at Corpus) suggested I apply for an internship as a research assistant with Neil O'Connor and Ate Hermelin (the founding grandfather and grandmother of cognitive research on autism). As a result I spent a summer traveling the UK to test the memory skills of autistic mnemonists and had my first experience of meeting and working with autistic children and adults.
Peter Bryant (a well known and much loved lecturer on developmental psychology), with whom I was to do a PhD on maths development, had read an essay I'd written on autism and kindly suggested I go and meet Uta Frith at the MRC Cognitive Development Unit (CDU) in London. I didn't realise this was an interview to do a PhD with her, but within minutes I did realise I was far more interested in autism than anything else, and that - however daunting the intellectual prowess of the CDU - I would to the best PhD I could under her supervision! So my 30 year career in autism research is directly due to the wonderful support of EP tutors!
Do you have a lesson or advice that you'd give to current students/researchers at EP?
Enjoy your final year research project and don't be afraid to contact academics at Oxford and beyond! As an "old" academic, I would like undergrads to know that most established researchers/academics/scientists are happy to be contacted by someone, however junior, who is interested in their field and has ideas they'd like to discuss. Do make sure you read at least one of the academics recent papers, but don't hesitate to send them an email. Sometimes that will be the first step in a happy chain of chance and serendipity that could change your life!
