Unlocking Minds: From Cells to Cinema

Autism and intellectual disability happen because the brain develops differently. But how can we understand why this happens and find treatments? In this talk, I'll explain how we can create human brain cells from a small sample of a patient's skin. In my lab, instead of growing these human brain cells in a plastic dish, we put them into the brains of mice. This helps the cells develop properly, so we can study what goes wrong with the brain cells almost as if they were in the patient's own brain

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are stressful and potentially traumatic events that happen during childhood or adolescence, which can negatively impact mental health. We must find engaging and effective ways to help reduce this negative impact. I will be discussing how I am exploring whether participatory video (group filmmaking) can support the mental health and wellbeing of young people with ACEs. I will explain what participatory video is, the benefits it can have on the mental health and wellbeing of young people with ACEs and how it can help to benefit young people.