Tess Smith

Interests

Currently a PhD student at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, my research investigates the ways in which adversity influences neurodevelopment, and how the interaction between genetic, neural, environmental, and cognitive mechanisms promote resilience in children facing adversity. My work is supervised by Dr. Duncan Astle, and is funded by the Medical Research Council.

Prior to joining the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, I completed an MPhil in Basic and Translational Neuroscience at the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, where under the supervision of Dr. András Lakatos, I investigated the ability of human cerebral organoids to recapitulate astroglial development during embryogenesis. Following this, I remained at the Lakatos Lab working as an RA, examining novel stem cell models of neonatal TBI.

Research Focus

Equipment

Behavioural analysis

Computational modelling

Confocal microscopy

Fluorescence microscopy

Immunohistochemistry

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Magnetoencephalography

Microscopy

Psychometrics, Structural Equation Modeling