A great start to the new year in the GEL lab! Angelica was invited to give a talk about the ADHD polygenic score at the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. A recording of the talk can be viewed here!

Following a long spell of online-only meetings for most of us, GEL Lab members Angelica and Anna were able to meet near Anna’s hometown in Italy over Christmas. Both sets of families were there, and we’re told that there was only minimal work-related chat!

Some fantastic recent publications by GEL Lab ECRs, Ana Maria, Chloe, and Laura. Ana Maria’s paper shows that some pupil measures are highly heritable in early infancy, although substantially independent in their genetic etiologies, and associated with common genetic variants linked to schizophrenia. Chloe’s paper reports evidence that variation in language development, but not executive function, may be an important early manifestation of the genetic pathways to later educational achievement. Laura’s paper reports a 5-factor model of negative symptoms in the community, and finds associations between specific, though not all negative symptom subdomains and polygenic scores for major depressive disorder and schizophrenia.

GEL Lab Co-Director Emma was interviewed as part of a “coffee with an expert” podcast on the topic of individual differences in education by the Accessible Genetics Consortium. Link of recording to follow soon!

In more exciting news, a GEL Lab PhD studentship is available beginning in October 2022 – please see here for full details.