People
Photo credit: Sam Hardwick (Hay Festival)
Gemma Modinos
Principal Investigator
Gemma studied a BSc in Psychology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, followed by an MSc in Applied Neurosciences at the University of Barcelona (Spain). She then moved to the Netherlands to do a PhD in Neuroscience (Cum Laude, highest distinction) at the University of Groningen. As a post-doc, Gemma moved to the UK to continue her academic career at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London.
In 2013, Gemma received a NARSAD Young Investigator Award to examine the relationship between functional MRI activation during emotional processing and glutamate levels in healthy people with high schizotypy. In 2016, she was awarded a King’s Prize Fellowship to facilitate her transition to an independent research career, and shortly after received a Wellcome Trust & The Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellowship, allowing her to start her own lab at the IoPPN (see Research).
She is currently Professor of Neuroscience & Mental Health in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the IoPPN, and a Group Leader at the MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders.
Gemma was 2020-22 Chair of the Young Academy of Europe, and the first female to win a SIRS Rising Star award (2019). She also received the 2020 British Association of Psychopharmacology Senior Non-Clinical Award and the 2023 SIRS Research Excellence Award. In 2024 she has been elected Member of Academia Europaea (Physiology & Neuroscience Section).
Nick Livingston
Post-doctoral Research Associate
BSc Medical Neuroscience, University of Sussex (UK), 2017
MSc Neuroimaging, IoPPN, King's College London, 2019
Submitted - PhD Neuroscience (MRC DTP), IoPPN, King's College London, pending viva
Samuel Knight
Mental Health Research UK John Grace QC PhD Student
BSc Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), 2010
BSc Hons Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), 2011
MSc Neuroscience in Neuroimaging, King’s College London, 2019
Abigail Gee
King’s PhD Programme in Mental Health Research for Health Professionals (Wellcome Trust)
MSc Neuroimaging for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Manchester, 2017
MB ChB Medicine, University of Manchester, 2018
MRCPsych, UK, 2022
Maria-Mihaela Avram
NIHR Maudsley BRC PhD student
BSc Neuroscience, The University of Edinburgh, 2022
MSc Psychiatric Research, King's College London, 2023
Nikita Julius
NIHR Maudsley BRC PhD Student
BSc Natural Sciences (Biology and Mathematics), Durham University, 2020
MSc Translational Neuroscience, Imperial College London, 2021
Olivia Marsh
MSc Psychiatric Research Student
BSc Psychology, University of Reading, 2023
Chelsea Florea
MSc Psychiatric Research Student
BASc Arts and Sciences with Year Abroad: Health and Environment Pathway, University College London, 2024
Eva Smith
MSc Psychiatric Research Student
BSc Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics, 2024
Lab Alumni
Zerrin Atakan | 2017-24 Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer
Daniela Magalhães | 2024 Visiting clinical researcher
Megan Edwards | 2024 MRC-Sackler PhD student (first-year rotation)
Amanda Kiemes | 2018-23 PhD student
Amelia Brown | 2023 MRC-Sackler PhD student (first-year rotation)
Paulina Lukow | 2018-22 NIHR Maudsley BRC PhD student (now a post-doc at UCL)
Leyla Abbasova | 2022 MRC-Sackler PhD student (first-year rotation)
Yongming Wang | 2020-21 AMS Newton International Postdoctoral Fellow
Larisa Dinu | 2019 Former Research Assistant
Sara Ratti | 2019 MRC-Sackler PhD student (first-year rotation)
María Pérez González | 2019 ERASMUS+ Trainee
Ridhika Poojara | 2017 Former Research Assistant
Former MSc Students
Lesley Bayly-Bureau | 2023-24 MSc Early Intervention in Psychosis, IoPPN, KCL
Fiona Stone | 2023-24 MSc Psychiatric Research, IoPPN, KCL
Rebecca Lednor | 2023-24 MSci Neuroscience, IoPPN, KCL
Anisha Ramjuttun and Julia Marcinkowska | 2022-23 MSc Psychiatric Research, IoPPN, KCL
Kirsty Harris and Ellie Davey-Sims | 2021-22 MSc Psychiatric Research, IoPPN, KCL
Leda Kennedy | 2020-21 MSc Psychiatric Research, IoPPN, KCL
Lin, Tzy-Chyun | 2020-21 MSc Early Intervention, IoPPN, KCL
Joanna Boyle and Carly Bennallick | 2019-20 MSc Psychiatric Research, IoPPN, KCL
Larisa Dinu | 2018-19 MSc Psychiatric Research, IoPPN, KCL
Emma Bannister, Marwa Hamdan and Ava Mason | 2017-18 MSc Psychiatric Research, IoPPN, KCL
Alba Peris and Maria Waltmann | 2017-18 MSc Neuroscience, IoPPN, KCL
Anna McLaughlin, Kurtis Stewart and Yun He | 2016-17 MSc Psychiatric Research, IoPPN, KCL
Artist-in-Residence (King’s Artists 2019/21)
Collaborators
Anthony A. Grace Lab
Department of Neuroscience
University of Pittsburgh, USA
Beatriz Rico Lab
Department of Developmental Neurobiology
King’s College London
Cobra Lab, Douglas Brain Imaging Centre
Montreal, Canada