Summer School
Our annual Summer School in Brain Disorders Research is held at one of the world's leading centres on neuropsychiatric genetics and genomics.
This year's four-day course will take place at the Hadyn Ellis Building and online, run by the team based in the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (MRC CNGG) and the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH) at Cardiff University.
The aim of the summer school is to provide trainees and scientists with a grounding in brain disorders research and to inspire and inform the researchers of tomorrow.
The summer school includes talks on a range of topics in psychiatry, neurology and neuroscience including:
- neuroimaging
- psychiatric epidemiology
- genetics and epigenetics
- high-throughput sequencing
- manipulation of stem cells
- phenotypic assessments
- ethics in genetic research.
The summer school also includes workshops on scientific careers and academic fellowships.
Programme
Our programme for July 2022:
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 12:00 | Registration and lunch |
| 13:00 | Introduction Professor James Walters and Professor George Kirov |
| 13:10 | Principles of high-throughput sequencing: sample preparation, equipment Professor Nigel Williams |
| 13:55 | High-throughput sequencing tour, part 1: lab tours in small groups / coffee (Virtual tour 14:00-14:45) Dr Lesley Bates / Dr Joanne Morgan |
| 16:00 | High-throughput sequencing tour, part 2: Analysis and interpretation of sequencing data Dr Elliott Rees |
| 16:45 | Copy number variations (CNVs) in neurodevelopmental disorders Professor George Kirov |
| 17:30 | Check-in at Senghennydd Hall for those with booked accommodation |
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 08:00 | Breakfast provided at Hadyn Ellis Building |
| 09:00 | Using MRI to understand mental disorders Dr Xavier Caseras/CUBRIC |
| 09:45 | Neuroimaging tour of CUBRIC / coffee (Virtual tour 10:00 - 10:45) Professor Neil Harrison / Xavier Caseras and team |
| 11:45 | Reproductive psychiatry and the effect of gender and sex on mental health Dr Arianna Di Florio |
| 12:30 | Lunch |
| 13:30 | Imaging epilepsy Dr Khalid Hamandi |
| 14:15 | Movement disorder phenotypes and genetics Dr Kathryn Peall |
| 15:00 | Coffee |
| 15:30 | Genetics of epilepsy Dr Rhys Thomas, Newcastle |
| 16:15 | Huntington's disease: translating genetics into therapies Dr Tom Massey |
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 08:00 | Breakfast provided at Hadyn Ellis Building |
| 09:00 | Drug Discovery in Psychiatry Dr Gerry Dawson, CEO of P1vital LTD |
| 09:45 | Emerging technologies (CRISPR-Cas9, single cell sequencing and others) Professor Adrian Harwood |
| 10:30 | Making neurons from stem cells: laboratory tour / coffee (Virtual tour 10:00 – 10:45) Professor Adrian Harwood and team |
| 12:00 | Lunch |
| 13:00 | Neural Stem cells manipulation to repair brain injury Dr Malik Zaben |
| 13:45 | Big Data and GWAS Dr James Walters |
| 14:30 | Coffee |
| 15:00 | Neuroimaging the impact of drugs of abuse Prof Anne Lingford-Hughes, London (Zoom) |
| 15:45 | Parallel Workshop: Research careers in medicine |
| 18:30 | Dinner in town (not for virtual attendees) |
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 08:00 | Breakfast provided at Hadyn Ellis Building |
| 09:00 | A developmental approach to understanding child and adolescent mental health Professor Stephan Collishaw |
| 09:45 | Measuring risk for Alzheimer’s Disease Professor Valentina Escott-Price |
| 10:30 | Workshop: Social and ethical aspects of genetic testing Dr Michael Arribas-Ayllon |
| 11:30 | Coffee |
| 12:00 | Huntington's disease: translating genetics into therapies Dr Tom Massey |
| 12:45 | Major breakthroughs in the genetics of neuropsychiatric disorders and the future of this research in Cardiff Professor Sir Michael Owen |
| 13:30 | Lunch and farewell |
Speakers
The programme is delivered by experts in their respective fields.
- Professor Sir Michael Owen
- Professor James Walters
- Professor Nigel Williams
- Professor Ian Jones
- Dr Will Davies
- Professor Valentina Escott-Price
- Dr Elliot Rees
- Dr Xavier Caseras
- Professor Jeremy Hall
- Professor Lawrence Wilkinson
- Professor Adrian Harwood
- Professor George Kirov
- Professor Anne Lingford-Hughes
- Professor Stephan Collishaw
- Professor Stanley Zammit
- Dr Kathryn Peall
- Dr Malik Zaben
Who can apply
The summer school is aimed at clinical trainees (Foundation/Core/Specialty Training) and non-clinical scientists (MSc, PhD, Post Doc) who are interested in moving into the field of neuropsychiatric genetics and genomics, or those who want an introduction to brain disorders research.
We run a similar programme every year as an introduction to the research taking place at the MRC CNGG. Applications will not be accepted for those who have previously attended.
Our summer school is free to attend. Student accommodation is provided for anyone travelling from outside Cardiff. We cannot help with travel fees.
Please be aware of your local/region's COVID-19 guidelines, as well as the guidance in place if you are travelling through England to Wales.
How to apply
We are now taking applications for the next MRC Summer School in Brain Disorders until 4 June 2022.
To apply, please email your CV/resumé and a cover letter outlining your experience and interest to cnggsummerschool@cardiff.ac.uk.
Contact us
For more information, please contact us:
