King’s College London celebrates 10th edition of IoPPN Research Festival
This was the first in person festival since 2019 and the most well-attended ever, leading to a full house with a buzzing atmosphere. The afternoon started with introductions by Professor Sir Simon Wessely, Interim Dean of the IoPPN and Professor Shitij Kapur, President & Principal of King’s College London. This was followed by more than 20 five-minute talks and keynote talks by three world-class experts in their fields:
Professor Oscar Marín, ‘Cortical interneurons in health and disease’
Professor Janet Treasure, ‘Eating disorders: a paradigm of a psychosomatic illness’
Professor Sir Robin Murray, ‘Half a century to emerge from the fog of schizophrenia’
The festival showcased the variety of the work done at the IoPPN, including neuroscience, artificial intelligence (AI), epidemiology, machine learning to predict allocation of employement, cannabis research to virtual reality communication interventions. We also heard from a Head of School Operations and the Associate Director of Fundraising on how to support academics and clinicians to secure philanthropic gifts.
The event also featured staff and student poster presentations throughout the afternoon and the winners of the Early Career Research Awards and the Open Research Awards were announced.
This event was our 10th celebration of our researchers and associated staff at the Institute. The whole afternoon really was fabulous, and every speaker delivered an excellent presentation. I was consistently impressed at the clarity and detail packed into each 5-minute slot enabling us all to see the breadth of research and research skills present in our Institute. Thankfully, it is all recorded so many more people can see the talks. These include some of our prize winners, showcasing our three-minute thesis finalists and winners of our Open Research Awards demonstrating how those earlier in their careers are contributing to, and shaping how we do our research. All of this was topped and tailed with tremendous keynotes. I can’t wait for the next one!
Professor Mitul Mehta, Professor of Neuroimaging & Psychopharmacology and Chair of the Research & Innovation Committee (RIC), King’s IoPPN.
Top Left (left to right): Keynote speakers, Professor Oscar Marín, Professor Janet Treasure and Professor Sir Robin Murray
Top Right (left to right): RIC organisers – Dr Paolo De Luca, Annicka Ancliff, Professor Mitul Mehta
Bottom (left to right): Professor Mitul Mehta, Professor Shitij Kapur, Dr Paolo De Luca, Professor Sir Simon Wessely, Professor Chiara Nosarti, Professor Matthew Hotopf, Professor Katya Rubia, Professor Janet Treasure.
Top Left (left to right): Keynote speakers, Professor Oscar Marín, Professor Janet Treasure and Professor Sir Robin Murray Top Right (left to right): RIC organisers – Dr Paolo De Luca, Annicka Ancliff, Professor Mitul Mehta Bottom (left to right): Professor Mitul Mehta, Professor Shitij Kapur, Dr Paolo De Luca, Professor Sir Simon Wessely, Professor Chiara Nosarti, Professor Matthew Hotopf, Professor Katya Rubia, Professor Janet Treasure.
Run by the Research and Innovation Committee at the IoPPN, the IoPPN Research Festival is an annual event showcasing the innovative and exciting research taking place at the IoPPN.
RF final audience
The closing remarks were given by the incoming Dean of the IoPPN, Professor Matthew Hotopf CBE who said:
The afternoon was a wonderful demonstration of our rich diversity of expertise. We saw work aimed at understanding genetic and cellular mechanisms as well as psychological and social processes. We need this rich mix in order to tackle the enormous challenge mental health and neurological problems pose and this interdisciplinarity is genuinely at the heart of our ethos.
Professor Matthew Hotopf CBE, Incoming Dean of the IoPPN