Emily Boorman

Pathway 1+3

Cohort 2016

1+3 Student

I graduated from the University of Westminster with a BSc in cognitive neuroscience in 2016. During my studies, I opted to undertake an additional year on placement where I worked at King’s College London as a researcher on a project to understand the biological underpinnings of depression and chronic fatigue syndrome. This experience further fuelled my ambition to pursue and contribute to academic research in the field of neuroscience.

Enrolling on the MRC DTP 1+3 programme has given me the opportunity to explore a broad selection of projects. This has both enabled me to pinpoint my specific interests and confidently select a PhD project most suited to these, as well as extend laboratory techniques. Whilst much can be learnt from the experiences gained during each project, the wide variety of workshops available offers a great supplement by enhancing knowledge on novel techniques and providing important guidance on aspects such as statistical analysis, writing and critiquing.

Rotation projects:

1. Functional characterisation of a novel cytoplasmic RNA binding protein mutated in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
2. Psychopathology in the offspring of mothers with adverse pregnancy: understanding the role of oxidative stress
3. Epigenetics factors predicting brain state and disease risk

Previous Publications:

Boorman, E., Zajkowska, Z., Ahmed, R., Pariante, C., and Zunszain, P. (2015) Crosstalk between endocannabinoid and immune systems: a potential dysregulation in depression?. Psychopharmacology 233, 1591-1604

Boorman, E., Romano, G., Russell, A., Mondelli, V., and Pariante, C. (2015) Are Mood and Anxiety Disorders Inflammatory Diseases?. Psychiatric Annals 45, 240-248

Current achievements:

Presented at the British Association of Psychopharmacology conference (2015) with “An association between childhood trauma and cortisol levels in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Boorman E, Nikkheslat N, Russell A, Hepgul N, Borsini A, Zajkowska Z, Baumeister D, Zunszain PA, Mondelli V, Forton D, Agarwal K, Chalder T, Pariante CM)”

Won the British Association of Psychopharmacology undergraduate poster presentation award (2015)