On Tuesday the 1st March The Patrick Wild Centre together with the Salvesen Mindroom Centre, will be hosting Guest Speaker Professor Susan Gathercole, Director of the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at Cambridge University. The symposium is a chance to bring together scientists with an interest in human development from across the University to hear about cutting edge research in the field. Speakers are drawn from medicine, psychology and education and will be talking about preterm birth, fragile X syndrome and visual impairment among other topics.
Keynote Speaker: Professor Susan Gathercole. 
Professor Susan Gathercole is the author of more than 120 journal articles in developmental cognitive psychology and neuroscience, and has written or edited eight important books on memory, language and learning. Her interests are in the cognitive processes of memory, attention, language, and learning. Much of her research focuses on children with developmental disorders in these areas of cognition, and investigates both: i) the nature of the underlying cognitive deficits, and; ii) how these deficits can be ameliorated with either cognitive or educational interventions. Professor Gathercole’s findings have demonstrated the link between working memory deficits in children and poor academic outcomes and she has contributed to recent research showing that working memory deficits can be ameliorated with computerised, adaptive working memory training. In 2014 she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. Professor Gathercole’s talk is titled –“A dimensional approach to children with problems in attention, learning and memory”
Speakers:
Dr James Boardman is the Director of the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory. The goal of his research is to develop and evaluate protective strategies for fetuses and premature babies who are at risk of brain injury and poor neurodevelopmental outcome. Dr Boardman’s talk is titled –“The effect of preterm birth on the developing brain”
Dr Sonya Campbell is a Research Fellow in clinical psychology who works with children and teenagers with learning difficulties and Autistic Spectrum Disorders. She also runs the Scottish Fragile X Registry. Dr Campbell’s talk is titled –“Can computerised working memory interventions be feasible and effective for individuals with fragile X syndrome”
Dr John Ravenscoft is Head of the Institute for Education, Teaching & Leadership and a research associate for the Visual Impairment Scotland, Scottish Sensory Centre. His interests include: visual impairment; inclusion; childhood and disability studies; the nature of representation; casual mechanisms of cognitive growth. Dr Ravenscroft’s talk is titled –“The value of knowing your cohort – children with visual impairment and linkages to outcomes”
Bonnie Auyeung is a Chancellor’s Fellow whose work is focused around two central themes: 1) the role of prenatal factors on psychological and neural postnatal development and 2) the potential for specific hormones to relieve the symptoms of Autism Spectrum Conditions. Dr Auyeung’s talk is titled – “Prenatal and postnatal hormone effects in early childhood and in Autism Spectrum Disorders”
For Timings and Location click here to see the full Programme
