Doctoral Student Day 2024

9:00 - 9:15      Opening 
                       Open Science Project - dr. Vittorio Iacovella, CIMeC
9:15 - 10:45    Internal talks:
                       “Synaptic-related developmental dysconnectivity in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome", Silvia Gini, 38th cycle
                       “Interoceptive grounding of Social and Emotion concepts: an rTMS study", Martina Mancano, 37th cycle 
                       " Investigating valproic acid’s effects on the development of the dopaminergic system in a chick model of Autism Spectrum Disorder", Alice Adiletta, 36th cycle

10:45 - 12:15    Morning Poster session
12:15 - 13:30    Lunch (not included)
13:30 - 15:00    Afternoon Poster session

15:00 - 17:00    External talks:
                         “Tackling the imposter syndrome in academia”, Alexandra Simond, PhD
                          "Mind Your Rights: Brain Science and the Right to Science", Laura Convertino, MD, President of Science for Democracy
17:00                 Awards & Closing 

Alexandra Simond
Alexandra Simond holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from McGill University. She is a TEDx speaker and a science communicator who is passionate about empowering women in their academic and scientific careers. Currently, she works as a senior medical writer at Kataka Medical Communication, an agency based in Montreal that aims to revolutionize the landscape of medical education.

• Title of the speech: Tackling the imposter syndrome in academia 
• Short description: The talk will introduce the imposter syndrome, the different imposter beliefs related to academia, some internal and external contributors to feeling like an imposter, and tactics to help mitigate these feelings.

Laura Convertino
Laura Convertino is a medical doctor, NIHR (National Institute for Health and care Research) Academic Clinical Fellow in General Psychiatry at King’s College London (Maudsley), and a researcher (PhD candidate at University College London UCL) in cognitive and computational neuroscience, with a full PhD scholarship awarded by the Leverhulme Trust.  She studied Medicine and Surgery at the University of Pavia, as well as  Biological Sciences at IUSS (Institute of Advanced University Education) Pavia. She is particularly committed to issues related to access to the benefits of science and scientific knowledge, human rights, end of life choices and abortion rights, to promoting freedom of research and the right to science across disciplines, geographic and social divides.

• Title of speech: Mind Your Rights: Brain Science and the Right to Science
• Short description: In this talk, I will introduce the basic principles of the human right to science. I will then focus on the field of brain science to provide practical examples of how the right to science impacts the work of scientists in the field, the process of scientific discovery, and the public access to the progress of science. Finally, I will briefly show how brain scientists can contribute to the promotion and enjoyment of the right to science in their work as researchers, and potentially as professional advocates.