Neuroscience redefined: stories of inclusion

Dr Katherine Deane is Associate Professor in the School of Health Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich. She conducts research on the co-created management of long-term conditions and disabilities. This includes the management of anxiety and depression associated with these diagnoses. She has published over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles. Her work informs NHS and WHO guidelines. She is also a wheelchair user with a variety of long-term conditions and has used this expertise to become the University’s Access Ambassador. She has improved the accessibility of UEA’s campus substantially over the last nine years. She has provided access advice to the Houses of Parliament, UKRI, theatres, museums, science centres, train companies, television companies, water and power companies, roadworks equipment manufacturers, and many scientific conferences.

Ilya Smolensky is a postdoc in University of Basel and University of Fribourg in Switzerland. His main interests since he studied in St. Petersburg State University are molecular psychiatry, rodent models of stress and depression, animal behaviour. In 2020 he started my postdoc in Basel focused on comorbidity between depression and obesity, nutritional approaches in psychiatry and sex differences in mental health. He is also member of the ALBA Network working group “Disability & Accessibility”.

Rosanne Ausems, a dedicated neuroscientist, holds a BSc in Biomedical Sciences and an MSc in Neuroscience and Cognition from Utrecht University. Undertaking a challenging PhD at Radboudumc, she collaborated across departments, leading ground-breaking research into therapeutic interventions for Myotonic Dystrophy type 1, the most common muscular dystrophy. Securing a post-doctoral fellowship from the 'Prinses Beatrix Spierfonds' in 2020, meant that Rosanne could continue her research as post-doctoral fellow. In 2022, she transitioned to a Science Officer role at ECNP, where she currently applies her expertise to advance the field of neuroscience.