Nils is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Psychology, Communication and Human Neuroscience Division at the University of Manchester. He previously held postdoctoral positions at the UCL Institute of Neurology and as a Wellcome Trust and Welsh Government Health Research Fellow at CUBRIC, Cardiff University. His research uses brain network approaches to study how stress, multiple sclerosis, and other neurological conditions affect cognition. He has received awards from the ABN and BNPA, serves on editorial boards including Neurology and Scientific Reports, chaired OHBM Open Science and Communication committees, and has been funded by the BBSRC, MRC, Royal Society, and U.S. Department of Defense.

Katie is currently a final year Cognitive Neuroscience PhD student and the recipient of Graduate Teaching Assistant Studentship award. Her research focuses on the relationship between cerebrovascular health and cognitive function, using MRI metrics and statistical modelling techniques to determine the mechanisms underpinning this relationship. Her work uses large-scale datasets, such as the UK Biobank. Katie has is an active member of the outreach community, having previously held a widening participation fellowship and is the outgoing Career Development & Mentoring Manager for OHBM SP-SIG.

Meg graduated with a first-class honours degree in Psychology in 2020 and a Distinction in MSc Cognitive Neuroscience and Human Neuroimaging 2022, receiving academic awards from both. She is now pursuing a PhD in Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Manchester, exploring longitudinal models of noradrenergic changes linked to early life stress. Meg also works as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and PGR Representative, earning multiple awards, including ‘Outstanding GTA of the Year’ (2024) and the Special Recognition Award (2025).

Jess graduated from the University of Manchester with a first-class degree in Psychology and a Distinction in MSc Neuroimaging for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience. Jess is now a first-year part-time PhD student in Cognitive Neuroscience at the same university, focusing on machine learning approaches to cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis. Additionally, she works as a part-time research assistant at the Cerebral Function Unit, Salford Royal Hospital, supporting the diagnosis of rare dementias and contributing to research on conditions like progressive supranuclear palsy.

Ryan’s PhD research focuses on the relationship between dimensions of early childhood adversity, trajectories of brain development, and the emergence of mental health problems in adolescence. Specifically, the developmental underpinnings of anhedonia - a transdiagnostic symptom characterised by a loss of ability to respond to, learn about, and value rewards. To address these questions, he uses large longitudinal neuroimaging datasets to map trajectories of structural and functional brain development in relation to early adversity and reward-processing deficits.

Heike is a MRC CASE DTP PhD student who is currently investigating systemic inflammation as a driver of white matter microstructural damage. Her research brings together cognitive and computational neuroscience, which builds upon her academic and industry background in neuroimaging. Heike will also build on this further during her industry placement with UK Biobank. She is looking forward to building on her skills in computational modelling and MR physics, and using diffusion imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

After recently completing her integrated masters degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology from the University of Manchester, Izzy has stayed at the institution to begin an MRC-DTP in understanding brain development in neurodevelopmental conditions, such as Neurofibromatosis Type 1. She is looking forward to exploring cutting-edge techniques in computational modelling, neuroimaging, and bioinformatics. Izzy is continuing for her 4th year in her role as Local Group Student Representative for UoM with the British Neuroscience Association.

Yuping works on the NF1 Brain Chart Project, funded by a £2.2 million award from the US Department of Defence, with an international team across Europe, Australia, and the US. Yuping graduated with Distinction in MEng Computer Science & Technology (2022) and completed her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience (2025) at UoM. During her PhD, Yuping studied brain controllability in MS and completed a visiting project with the MindGlide Team at UCL, building transfer learning models with PyTorch and MONAI DynUnet on 23,000 MS scans. Yuping also chaired the Doctoral Academy Graduate Society of the BMH Faculty and worked as an International Student Ambassador and GTA.

Dr Sasha Philbert is an Alzheimer’s Society Postdoctoral Fellow at Manchester with a background in neuroscience. He earned his MSc in Neuroscience (with specialisation in neurodegeneration) from King’s College London and his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Manchester. His research interests centre around sodium and energy metabolism in vascular cognitive impairment, with the aim of improving diagnosis. To achieve this, he employs MRI methods, particularly sodium MRI, and mass spectrometry-based methods to measure molecular biomarkers.

Varun's post-doctoral research (funded by NIHR-BRC) focuses on examining myelin differences underpinning learning and working memory difficulties in children with Neurofibromatosis type-I (NF1), as well as its phenotypic relationship with Autism Spectrum Conditions. To understand the myelin neurobiology in NF1, we use quantitative MRI techniques including Magnetisation Transfer Ratio and T1W/T2W ratio to assess the grey and white matter myelin.

Czime has an undergraduate background in Psychology, where she developed interests in executive function, language, perception, and well-being. She pursued an MSc in Neuroimaging for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience, investigating EEG correlates of motion processing, followed by a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, exploring how structural and functional brain connectivity relates to cognition. She currently works in the SPiN lab, modelling functional connectivity during working memory tasks in neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and controls, and examining links with neurotransmitter mechanisms and non-invasive brain stimulation.

Liz's research explores the impact of stress on the brain and our cognitive abilities. This ranges from assessing the impact of everyday mild to moderate stressful experiences, such as job interviews, on cognitive abilities like memory, to exploring the long-term impact of highly stressful life events (such as bereavement or experiences of abuse) on the grey and white matter structure in the brain.

Her PhD work, carried out between 2017 and 2021, looked at cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) using multimodal MRI. Through a series of research studies and one systematic review, she was able to confirm the importance of brain network changes as a correlate of cognitive impairment in MS, and identify important avenues for further research.

Zhenhong He is an Assistant Professor at Shenzhen University’s School of Psychology and a doctoral supervisor at the Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science. He earned his Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Manchester in 2020. His research spans cognitive and clinical psychology, using fMRI, EEG, TMS, tDCS, eye tracking, and big data to study neuromodulation, emotional regulation, and social cognition. He has published in top journals and holds an h-index of 11.

Vanesa holds an MSc in Biological Sciences and a BSc in Biomedical Sciences. She has gained extensive research experience in biomedical science and neuroscience. Her MSc project explored visual search performance in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, while her BSc project examined how norepinephrine and protocatechuic acid affect nitric oxide production in mouse adipose tissue. Currently, her research focuses on behavioural and neurobiological distinctions between fear, anxiety, and stress, and the interaction between psychosocial and physiological stress

Rose-Marie has recently graduated from an MSc in the Netherlands, with a focus on cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging. She performed her final 6-month internship with the MISC team in Manchester. In this project, Rose-Marie was investigating the widespread effects of white matter lesions in Multiple Sclerosis patients on a broader network level. By using the Disconnectome approach, she analysed the disrupted white matter connections and the distant grey matter regions involved. Rose-Marie hopes this will give us a better understanding of the differences and similarities in cognitive outcomes between patients.

Denisse has a Master’s degree in science, specialising in Neurobiology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She is currently a PhD student in Psychology, specialising in Cognitive Neuroscience at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She has experience analysing electroencephalography signals in the “Arte y Cerebro” project. Additionally, her experience includes magnetic resonance imaging analysis for obsessive-compulsive disorder research. She is the co-author of a book chapter and two journal articles. She is also a contributor to science outreach through the organisation of Brain Awareness Week events.