Welcome to the latest edition of the Institute’s termly newsletter, which is an update and highlights some of the many excellent activities at the Institute over the past 3 months, some attracting major media attention (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ion/news).
 
This year has been another tremendously successful year for the Institute, as is illustrated by the award of prestigious prizes and recognitions, grants and academic promotions.
 
We were delighted to formally welcome Dame Anne Johnson at our Annual Address this year, which, for the first time, was preceded by an Annual Address Symposium, an afternoon of talks for UCL staff and students on advanced genetic therapeutic approaches. The annual address celebrated our numerous achievements, of both staff and students, with a review of the year by Professor Michael Hanna, our Director of UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, followed by the Annual Address delivered by Dame Anne Johnson. If you missed it you can watch the recording.
 
We continue the planning and building of our new centre of excellence for UCL Neuroscience at 256 Gray’s Inn Road. This will form part of a ‘dual hub’, supporting our existing laboratories and clinical activity at Queen Square.  In November 2021, we commenced propping installation and bulk excavation. In early 2022, we reached the deepest point of the building's excavations at 16 metres below ground; to celebrate this, in May 2022 we buried a time capsule. Following this, we are well underway with steel reinforcement installation and concrete slab pours. These two phases work together by combining steel bars with plain cement concrete to make reinforced concrete. By the end of the year, we will be at 2nd floor level (about 16 metres above ground). We look forward to the Topping out ceremony in May 2023.

We've held a number of meetings on site in September, including Institute Heads of Research Department and Executive Committee meetings, and the IoN Professional Services team meeting in December. To follow the construction progress, please visit the dedicated website. 

We launched a new monthly newsletter for the project, The ION-DRI Dispatch, with regular updates on the work happening behind the scenes.
 
After six years as Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI), Professor Bart De Strooper is stepping down to focus on his research; Bart has done an excellent job leading the formation of DRI and will remain as a Professor and Group Leader at UCL’s UKDRI Research Centre.
 
As in previous years, the Institute pledges to switch off for Christmas! Thank you to everyone who pledged to Switch Off in Christmas 2021 when ION was again joint winner of the pledging competition. Thanks to you, the Switch Off saved 173 tonnes of carbon - that's equivalent to planting 2,883 trees, and saved UCL an impressive £114,374 over the festive period!  Help UCL reach its goal of reducing energy consumption by 40% and for its buildings to become net zero carbon by 2024 by SWITCHING OFF this Christmas and help ION become a pledge winner for the 3rd year running!
 
As this calendar year comes to a close, we invite you all to reflect on the past year, your achievements and many contributions- you should all be very proud. As always, we are extremely grateful for your commitment, hard work and dedication. We hope you take the UCL Christmas closure as an opportunity to have a well-deserved break.
 
Merry Christmas and happy New Year from us to you all. See you in 2023!
 
Michael & Hélène


         

Opinion: It’s just a first step, but this new Alzheimer’s drug could be a huge breakthrough
The new drug lecanemab shows promise to one day treat Alzheimer's disease, but there's still a long way to go before it can be an effective and easily available treatment, writes Professor Jonathan Schott (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) in The Guardian.

Alzheimer’s drug offers hope for patients
Breakthrough results from a clinical trial, based on early research by Professor John Hardy (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology), show that a drug slows cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, paving the way for new treatments.



Feature: The ‘historic’ Alzheimer’s breakthrough that is 30 years in the making
UCL’s Professor Sir John Hardy was the first to identify the role of amyloid in Alzheimer’s disease - now, three decades later, that finding has resulted in a drug that may help patients.

Progress on site at 256 Grays Inn Road.

In early 2022, we reached the deepest point of the building's excavations at 16 metres below ground and by the end of the year, we will be at 2nd floor level (about 16 metres above ground). 

We've held a number of meetings on site in September, including Institute Heads of Research and Executive, the UK DRI HQ team and we held the first in-person faculty leadership meeting since March 2020.
See more pictures



In December 2022, Institute Manager Dr Hélène Crutzen hosted a site visit for her team of departmental administrators, professional services staff team managers and technical support staff. Read more

The ION-DRI Dispatch

We launched a new monthly newsletter for the project, The ION-DRI Dispatch, with regular updates on the work happening behind the scenes.

There’s a huge amount of work going on across our community, including

• new initiatives and technologies piloting a range of high-quality services to create new collaborative, efficient and sustainable ways of working. 
• installing specially-designed non-magnetic steels for the facility’s joint UCL/UCLH MRI suite on the basement floor, which will have the capacity for six MRI scanners for both clinical and research use;
• multiple working groups creating 9 state-of-the-art core technology platforms, providing researchers with the latest technology in areas like single cell analysis, faster and more reliable genomics and transcriptomics, and high-resolution and mesoscale imaging.

Steffy Czieso is lab operations manager at ION. She tells us about how she has been involved in the ION-DRI project so far; the pros and cons of shared spaces and why sustainability should be top of the agenda. Read More

The National Brain Appeal team visited site in October to help them in their campaign to raise £7million towards the new facility.

Chief executive Theresa Dauncey, said: “Looking out over the site from the rooftop really helped us to visualise how the various areas of this wonderful new hospital and research centre will piece together and where the key areas we are fundraising for - the patient research hub, stem-cell facility and MRI scanning suite - will be located.” Read more

UCL Public Art Programme 

Artists and researchers from a range of disciplines and research areas took part in a ‘mixer’ for our knowledge-exchange programme Arbor.

Everyone brought an interesting item related to their work or practice. Items including an orange, a piece of hand-blown glass and even a temporary tattoo provided the stimulus for a lively evening of conversation as the group came together to find shared interests and connections.

Read more

Our site artist Annie Cattrell took part in National Brain Appeal’s fundraiser A Letter in Mind, contributing ‘Everything is Connected’. Over 700 artists created original artworks. 
Read more

Krystle Patel’s residency with the Plun-Favreau lab.

Krystle's residency ‘Closed Circuit Systems’ focuses on demystifying the lab, navigating the distance that exists between scientific research and its public perception.

Congratulations!

We’re pleased to announce the following recent prizes and awards:
 

Congratulations to Kailash Bhatia on receiving the Stanley Fahn Lecture Award at the 2022 MDS Congress.

This award recognizes an outstanding scholar and role-model in the field of Movement Disorders.

Hani Marcus whose Innovation Fund project was awarded 2nd place at this year's  EU Robotics Forum

Professor Selina Wray wins one of ARUK's first Supporter awards for “Outstanding Commitment” 

Dr Cara Croft Worthy highly commended at Women of the Future awards for her work on Racing Dementia



Professor Matthew Walker awarded the Andrew Wilson Award for service to people with Restless Leg Syndrome by RLS-UK

UK Dementia Research Institute Director elected to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine

ION academics recognised in annual global list of influential researchers


UCL academics have been identified in Clarivate’s annual ‘Highly Cited Researchers List’ 2022, which recognises authors of the most influential research papers around the world, including several from ION.

Dr Charlie Arber (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) has been named the winner of Alzheimer’s Society’s first ever research image competition, with a picture of brain cells grown from the skin of people with dementia.

Professor Jonathan Schott elected to the Fellowship of the American Academy of Neurology

Prof Alan Thompson receives the prestigious Sobek Prize for his research achievements in the field of MS. 



Dr Rimona Weil has been awarded a Wellcome Career Development Award to enable a better understanding the underlying processes causing Parkinson’s dementia

Congratulations to our LMIC ICGNMD fellows who each won competitive scholarships to present ICGNMD genetic data at WMS2022 Canada  



Gabriele Lignani honoured with the title of “Ambassador of Genoa in the World” by the Major of Genoa for scientific merit

 

This is a project of public education and engagement about dementia, seeking to combat negative attitudes and nurture positive ones.

For this purpose we will combine principles of co-production, partnering with people living with dementia and the art of storytelling to produce an "Oliver Sacks-style" book of short stories sharing an engaging and deeply human view of what is like to live with three lesser-known forms of dementia: Posterior Cortical Atrophy, Primary Progressive Aphasia and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. 

• Technical - WINNER - Elena Ghiradello, UK DRI at UCL, for her project on implementing a specialist monitoring and care regimen for aged mouse models. 
• Research - Honourable mention - Ayisha Mahmood, Miron Lab, UK DRI at Edinburgh, for establishing a microglial culture system to replace animal studies, and Cliona Farrell, Wiseman Lab, UK DRI at UCL, for putting in place slice culture system to replace animal use when studying Down syndrome.

The Poster Prizes reward excellent poster design, explanation and discussion of results or methodology at Connectome 2022. 

• Research - presentation of a research question with a traditional hypothesis-date-conclusion format . WINNER - Samuel Harris, Busche Lab, UK DRI at UCL: Poster 66: A novel role for APP in neural circuit function.

Grants over £500k

CHDI Foundation Inc

• Professor Sarah Tabrizi (Dept. of Neurodegenerative Disease) awarded £1,867,430 for research into ‘Mechanism of the DNA repair response in Huntington's disease pathogenesis’, starting 1 September 2022 for 24 months.

ESPRC

• Professor Louis Lemieux (Dept of Clinical & Experimental Epilepsy) awarded £512,813 for research into ‘Development of MRI-compatible Graphene-based Probes for Rodent and Human Electrophysiology’ starting 1 December 2022 for 30 months

Lily Foundation

• Dr Rob Pitceathly (Dept. of Neuromuscular Diseases) awarded £644,882 for research into ‘Diagnosis of Mitochondrial Disease’, starting 1 January 2023 for 60 months.

MRC

• Professor Antonella Spinazzola (Dept. of Clinical & Movement Neurosciences) awarded £906,616 for research into ‘Purging mutant mitochondrial DNA: from mechanisms to therapies’ starting 1 September 2022 for 48 months.
• Professor Sonia Gandhi (Dept. of Clinical & Movement Neurosciences) and Professor Christian Lambert (Dept. of Imaging Neuroscience) awarded £1,024,348.85 for research into ‘ Multiscale modelling of progression in Parkinson's disease’ starting 1 August 2022 for 36 months.

NC3RS

• Professor Dimitri Rusakov (Dept. of Clinical & Experimental Epilepsy) awarded £536,959 for research into ‘A 3Rs platform for glial research: From animal to human to in-silico models’ starting 1st October 2022 for 36 months.

• Dr Arman Eshaghi (Dept of Neuroinflammation) awarded £634,700.60 NIHR Advanced Fellowship for research that develops digital tools to personalise treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) starting 1st October 2022 for 5 years

SVCF (Silicon Valley Community Foundation)

• Professor Adrian Isaacs (Dept. of Neurodegenerative Disease) awarded £633,116 for research into ‘Membrane Damage and Repair in Neurodegeneration (CP2-Isaacs)’ starting 1 August 2022 for 48 months.
• Professor Tim Bartels (UK DRI) awarded £579,710 for research on ‘project Neuroimmune Crosstalk along the Gut-Brain Axis in PD (CP2-Bartels) starting 1 August 2022 for 48 months.
• Dr Soyon Hong (UK DRI) awarded £579,710 for research on ‘project Neuroimmune Crosstalk along the Gut-Brain Axis in PD (CP2-Hong) starting 1 August 2022 for 48 months.

UK DRI

• Dr Marc Busche (UK DRI) Professor Ray Dolan (Dept of Imaging Neuroscience), Professor Nick Fox (Dept. of Neurodegenerative Disease) awarded £1,690,295 for research into ‘Neural Replay - A Novel Functional Circuit Biomarker Of Latent Alzheimer’s Disease’. Starting 1 April 2023 for 36 months

Wellcome

• Dr Rimona Weil (Dept. of Neurodegenerative Disease) awarded £4,109,069 for research into ‘Multiscale and multimodal brain network changes causing Parkinson’s dementia’ starting 1 June 2023 for 96 months.

• Miss Cassandra Hugill (Dept of Imaging Neuroscience) awarded £608,043 for research into ‘In2research: Widening the academic pipeline for underrepresented groups’ starting 1 October 2022 for 36 months.

Focus: Education

We are delighted to welcome over 250 PGT students to the institute this academic year. Our new programme MRes Neurosurgery, recruited 7 students and our oldest running MSc in Clinical Neuroscience recruited 100.

Scholarships awarded to the following PGT students:

International Excellence Scholarships

• Eleanor Dare Swanson Scott
• Yi Jie (E’Jane) Li
• Lioba Chiara Sophie Berndt

Queen Square Institute of Neurology BAME Scholarship

• Randy Gyimah
• Rifah Islam
• Odirachukwunma Chinedum Orah

Stroke Academic Excellence Scholarship

• Abdelmugeet Omer Ahmed Hassan

UCLFAA Dementia Scholarship

• Eva Larson

MSc/MRes awards, given to the student with the highest overall grade for the following programmes:

MSc Dementia (Neuroscience) award

•  Toby Curless

Richard Frackowiak Award (MSc Brain and Mind Sciences)

• Lucile Bottein

MRes Translational Neuroscience award

• Ms Hannah Dobbs

Haymon Gorlov (Clinical Neuroscience)

• Martin Esparza Iaizzo

Lyndsay Simon award (MSc/MRes Stroke)

• Osaretin Ebueku

MSc/MRes Neuromuscular Disease award

• Madeline Lombardo

George Du Boulay (MSc Advanced Neuroimaging) award

• Sean Bagary

George Du Boulay (MRes Advanced Neuroimaging) award

• Yuexin Xi

Institute awarded Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2) training grant

We’re delighted to announce this award to UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology which funds four Neurologists from Africa on our Distance Learning Clinical Neurology MSc.

First day of inaugural MRes Neurosurgery - the first such MRes in the UK aimed at developing the next gen of academic neurosurgeons

The IoN recently hosted two successful events for the IoN Research Students. The first event was “Effective Preparation for your Upgrade from MPhil to PhD”. It consisted of talks from Dr Jo Barnes (Associate Professor and Faculty Graduate Tutor) and Suzette Shahmoon (current PhD student).

The second event was “Effective Preparation for your exam (PhD and MDRes)”. This consisted of talks from Prof Jon Schott (Professor of Neurology) and Dr Kamile Minkelyte (a recently graduated PhD Student).

In both talks, the IoN Research Degree Programme Coordinator, Tracy Skinner, also provided an overview of exam regulations and IoN resources.

The recordings and PowerPoint presentations can be found on the IoN Research Students Moodle page. The event was followed by a drinks reception where the Research Students were able to network and socialise with each other.

 “Pathways to a PhD” 

This event showcased the different ways to obtain a PhD and offer tips to those who may want to pursue a PhD, including a panel discussion between several IoN PhD students, lead by a postdoctoral researcher, followed by a Q&A. 

• Recording of the session

In addition, the IoN has been running PhD Supervisor training sessions for all Principal Supervisors. This is to support the initiative for all PhD Supervisors to provide effective supervision, understand their duty of care for PhD Students and know the resources available to support PhD Students and Supervisors.

So far, more than 60 Supervisors have completed the training and we’re expecting 60 more to complete the training in the New Year. The training has received extremely positive feedback with 92% of attendees agreeing that the training session encouraged them to reflect on their approach to supervision and 83% of the attendees would recommend the training to other Supervisors.

Focus: Health, Safety & Lab Operations

Reminder about PEEPs

All IoN departments should ensure staff or students with a disability/impairment can be safely evacuated from our buildings in an emergency and therefore have a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan in place before they attend site. More information and the PEEP form can be found on the UCL fire safety web site

Chemical waste disposal

UCL has recently updated the procedure for the disposal of chemical waste. Detailed information and all relevant documents can be found here  

Safety Training Reminder:

• This a reminder that UCL Fire and Safety Training courses  are mandatory for all staff and both modules should be completed as soon as possible. 
• In addition to this all PIs, managers and supervisors must complete the Safety Risk Management training programme
• A new, online Risk Assessment training has been launched. Colleagues are encouraged to sign up here

Focus:  Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

Interview with Dimitrios Zachos, who is ION Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Project Manager.

Meet the new Faculty Race Equity Lead, Bilal Malik, Department of Neuromuscular Diseases.

UCL Gender Expression Fund

Many people experience feelings of stress and anxiety at the disconnect they feel between their gender identity and appearance. UCL has created the Gender Expression Fund to provide financial assistance for students to purchase items that will make them more comfortable with their gender presentation and, we hope, improve their wellbeing. Grants of up to a maximum of £100 are available for UCL students to buy gender affirming products such as clothing, beauty products or travel for medical or therapy appointments.

Supporting staff and students in reporting transphobic bullying and harassment 
As part of UCL’s ongoing commitment to supporting our staff and students in the LGBTQ+ community, a new webpage has launched within the Report + Support guidance. This addresses any instances of bullying, harassment, or other exclusionary behaviours on the basis of an individual’s identified gender or speculation about their sex and / or gender. On this webpage, you will find information on what is considered bullying and harassment on these grounds, how reports can be made both internally and externally to UCL, information on the Equality Act 2010 and some useful definitions on terminology. 

This page was created to progress work on actions committed to in UCL’s Athena Swan action plan to develop effective training and guidance to support departments in demonstrating trans inclusion and how to prevent and challenge transphobic bullying and harassment. 

Funding available for LGBTQ+ initiatives

To help carry out its aims, the LGBTQ+ Equality Implementation Group (LEIG) has been allocated funding that can be awarded to proposals for LGBTQ+ inclusion activities and local institutional research that will support UCL to understand and support the concerns and priorities of members of the LGBTQ+ community.  Find out more about the scheme and how to apply.
 

UK Disability History Month 2022
This is held annually and aims to highlight the rights of persons with disabilities and their historical and present struggle for human rights and equality. This year's focus is on the theme of Disability, Health and Wellbeing. Find out more about UCL events marking the month, plus podcasts, opportunities to get involved and key resources.

UCL call for interest for B-MEntor: mentoring schemes for staff from BAME backgrounds.

Support for parents and carers at IoN

If you are to go on parental leave or have just returned from parental leave then you might find the following resources generated by our Parents & Carers EDI Action Group, helpful:

Parental policies, practices & resources including IoN Pregnancy and Parental Leave Handbook, IoN Maternity Rooms and Maternity/Paternity Champions. You may access them all  in the Support for Parents and Carers website.

Get involved!

Become a member of IoN EDI Committee.

We are always looking for staff and students who wish to help us shape a work and study environment and culture where everyone can thrive, grow and feel free to be themselves. Please see our webpage for our current vacancies.

Mentoring opportunities at the IoN: we are looking for mentors and mentees!
The Institute of Neurology is currently looking for mentors, as well as mentees, and we are accepting expressions of interest.

Celebrate people of IoN: Call for nominations

We would like to invite you to nominate a student/member of staff/alumni you admire to be celebrated and featured on our EDI website, particularly those that have been enthusiastic about making UCL IoN a more diverse workplace by championing equality for those that are LGBTQI+, have a disability, are from an ethnic minority background or belong to an underrepresented category at IoN. Self-nominations are also appreciated.

We want to recognize the contributions of ALL colleagues (Academics, Researchers, Teaching Staff, Professional Services and Technical Staff), students, and alumni that lead by example of supporting diversity, inclusion, kindness and work ethic, to help make IoN such an inspiring and welcoming workplace. 

If you know someone who you think we should all hear more about, please fill in this form 

Submissions will be anonymous. Nominations are open until Friday 20 January 2023, 5:00pm. 

Stay informed
Please keep an eye on ION EDI website and @UCLIoN_EDI for updates.

Contact EDI Project Manager: Dimitrios Zachos

Leadership Development Programme for Technicians and Research Assistants

We recognise the lack of opportunities for continuous personal and professional development at offer when you are a Research Assistant or a Technician. To address this, we have partnered up with Dr. Magdalena Bak-Maier, Founder and CEO of Make Time Count, to develop a bespoke Leadership Programme to support our Research Assistants and Technicians positioning themselves for success in their future careers. This year we also partnered with the Faculty of Brain Sciences to open the programme to all FBS Institutes and Divisions.

Eligibility: The Leadership Development Programme is open to all:

• Research Assistants (UCL grade 5-6B)
• Technicians (UCL grade 5-6B)
• part-time PhD students with work commitment in technical/research support roles (UCL grade 5-6B)

Structure, Timeline & Registrations/Applications: The programme is comprised of:

10 people will continue to complete the full programme which focuses on 1) Personal leadership, 2) Boosting overall effectiveness, 3) Charting a viable career path. You may apply for the full programme through this form. We recommend that you attend one of the two Career Development Masterclasses before you apply.

Deadlines:

• Registrations for Career Development Masterclasses: Until session capacity is reached (waiting list available)
• Applications for Full Leadership Development Programme: Tuesday 7 February 2023, 5:00pm

Zumba classes in the New Year!

The IoN will be hosting Zumba® classes from January 2023 for all IoN Staff and Students, this will be instructed by Tracy Skinner (IoN Research Degree Programme Coordinator).

• Dates: every Wednesday from 11 January to 22 March 2023
• Time: 5:30pm to 6:15pm (NB. Class on 22 March will start at 6pm instead)
• Location: Elvin Hall (Level 1), Institute of Education, Bedford Way, UCL 
• Cost: Classes are £5 each or a bundle of 10 classes is also available for £40 (payment details shared after sign up)

Class on Wednesday 11 January is free! Book your free space and subsequent classes (UCL credentials required).

FAQs and more information can be found on ION Intranet. View Tracy’s Zumba® website.

All ages, genders, levels and abilities are welcome! Join for a fun way to exercise! Contact t.skinner@ucl.ac.uk for enquiries.

ION yoga: online sessions

ION continue to organise online yoga sessions. Please see IoN Intranet wellbeing pages for further information.

Please keep an eye on IoN Intranet wellbeing pages for updates, as well as the list of resources from UCL Health and Wellbeing Human Resources

If you’re doing something that you’d like to share, we want to hear about it!

• IoN wellbeing Teams is a space to chat with colleagues, take a break and share tips and photographs, including Pets Corner.
• or write to Sandra Porteous s.porteous@ucl.ac.uk or tweet and tag us @UCLIoN

Wellbeing champions at Queen Square

      

Mind's eBooklets

Digital booklets to read and look through, providing information about various wellbeing and mental health concerns. 

New Guidance On Managing Stress
Essential reading for all staff and managers to learn about the support and new process in place if you or a colleague experience worked related stress

UCL Hour’ – For All Meetings
Look after your wellbeing by setting meetings for 50 minutes. Give yourself time to stretch, rest your eyes or walk around.

From today, Monday 26 September, UCL staff will have access to a new support and information service from Spectrum.Life. This service has replaced the previous Care First Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).

Adjustments Passport

The Adjustments Passport has replaced the UCL agreement of Consistent Treatment Document. Learn more about when it's used and who is eligible.

Nearby Nature   
Nature has proven to reduce stress. Reconnect and revive today and share your favourite ‘nearby nature spot’ with the UCL community .

This year's theme was 'make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority'.

Mental health is one of the IoN strategic priorities. To mark the World Mental Health Day (10 October 2022) we wish to thank our network of Mental Health First Aiders, i-act Practitioners and Wellbeing Champions.

Our 27 Mental Health First Aiders are trained to spot the early signs of mental ill-health in others. They are taught to confidently signpost someone to appropriate support, both internal and external, and they are equipped to deal with emergencies too.

Our i-act Practitioners are trained with the skills needed to be proactive in achieving an improvement in their workplace wellbeing.

Our Wellbeing Champions support Wellbeing@UCL by promoting activities in local areas and encouraging colleagues to access relevant health and wellbeing opportunities. They can also offer advice on what is the best route to seek support if you are feeling under duress, anxious or stressed.

To find out more about support available at IoN and UCL, as well as the full list of IoN Mental Health First Aiders, click here.

If you wish to become a member of the IoN EDI Committee and contribute to mental health and wellbeing activities, led by our Culture and Wellbeing EDI group, then please contact Rina Bandopadhyay – Culture and Wellbeing Group Lead (rina.bandopadhyay@ucl.ac.uk) and Dimitris Zachos – EDI Project Manager (d.zachos@ucl.ac.uk).

Anyone can send a quick email to send a special thanks to an IoN Professional Services staff member - there is no right or wrong reason to say thanks, it is quick and easy, and highly motivational. The sender can ask for it to be anonymous also. Send an email, with a short message and name of the addressee(s) to Sandra Porteous s.porteous@ucl.ac.uk before 12 noon on the first Friday of each month.

Focus: Sustainability

Lab Sustainability 

Ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers are important equipment in almost all of our research labs and IoN is currently housing about 140 -80C freezers. These freezers can consume as much energy as 1-2 typical three bedroom houses per year. 

As part of the Institute's ongoing sustainability efforts, the Institute Director has encouraged all departments to review the temperature of their freezers and all -80C freezers should now be set to -70C where possible. Freezer set temperatures will be audited towards the end of the year.

If you would like to participate in IoN’s labs sustainability team please get in touch with s.czieso@ucl.ac.uk  

UCL Energy Saving tips

Heating and cooling
If you have wall controllers for heating/cooling,  help to save energy by switching it off on the wall controller when you leave the room. Please see More information If you experience any issues with the controller, please fill out this form

Keep thermostats at no more than 20 degrees in winter and do not reduce the temperature to lower than 25 degrees in the summer (if air conditioning is available). These temperatures are in line with UCL's Heating and Cooling Policy 

Report issues of energy wastage to estates.energy@ucl.ac.uk

Spam and junk mail

• unsubscribe from emails you don’t need and delete spam emails, 
• unsubscribe from paper-based junk or spam mail, or mail that is no longer read.

Trees planted for orders placed with Eden Caterers

We're pleased to confirm the planting of trees in relation to orders placed with Eden Caterers between July and September 2022.

New four degree vending machines at Queen Square House
Dr Sergey Novoselov talks us through the new four degree vending machine pilot, which is now being rolled out across Queen Square House, cutting down deliveries, reducing our carbon footprint, cutting waste and freeing up space 
Read More

UCL launches 'switch-off team' to reduce energy wastage

Following feedback from staff and students that lights are left on in unoccupied rooms at the end of the day we are trialling a new initiative – the “switch-off team”.

Will you join the UCL community saving energy on campus?

UCL is implementing a range of energy and carbon-saving initiatives, but we need your help to make this a success. Find out how we’re changing the way we work and use our buildings, and how you can make a difference.

• Sustainable UCL’s switch off resources

We're delighted to announce that we are celebrating World Mitochondrial Disease Week 2022 by lighting up the UCL Portico building, as well as launching the new London Mitochondrial Centre website and twitter feed.









Brains in a Dish 15th Oct 2022 - 14th Jan 2023

An innovative interdisciplinary project inspired by Prof Selina Wray's pioneering research. This film gives a glimpse into the development of the project. 

• Lancet Neurology review of the exhibition.

UCL World Stroke Day Forum 2022

In2research programme celebrates the success of participants
The In2research programme, co-founded by In2scienceUK and The Department of Imaging Neuroscience, celebrated 50 talented participants who successfully completed the In2research programme in 2021/22 at a celebration event in London last week

The 2022 Dementia Research Charity Chatathon LIVE took place on Friday 2nd December.
Adam Smith hosted 12+ hours non-stop chat with over 60 researchers and special guests including DRC and UK DRI at UCL researchers.

New Starters and staffing news   

Professor Bart De Strooper steps down as Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute

After six years as Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI), UCL’s Professor Bart De Strooper is stepping down to focus on his research.

Professor Fiona Randall appointed Chief Scientific Officer of UCL Drug Discovery Institute

Experienced global pharma industry leader Professor Fiona Randall has been appointed as Chief Scientific Officer for Alzheimer’s Research UK’s UCL Drug Discovery Institute (UCL DDI).

Great to see Dr Gita Ramdharry featured by NHS England. Gita is a Consultant Allied Health Professional in NHNN and Principal Investigator at QS CNMD

Interview with Dr Suzanna J Noy, Laboratory Manager in the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease and IoN Deputy Lab Operations Manager.

IoN Handbook

Recent Queen Square events
 

Queen Square Inaugural Lectures 2022

• 13th September 2022:  Professor Kirill Volynski Dept. of Clinical & Experimental Epilepsy; Professor Vladimir Litvak, Dept. of Imaging Neuroscience 
• 18 October 2022: Professor Helene Plun-Favreau, Dept of Neurodegenerative Disease; Professor Pietro Fratta, Dept of Neuromuscular Diseases 

given by Professor Carol Brayne, University of Cambridge. 29 September 2022

• Divisions of Neuropathology and Neurophysiology (Profs Sebastian Brandner and Martin Koltzenburg).  
• Divisions of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Neuroradiology & Neurophysics (Profs Mary Reilly, Rob Brownstone & Tarek Yousry). 

ION Annual Address 24th November 2022
This year's Annual Address was given by Professor Dame Anne Johnson, Chair & Vice Dean UCL Institute for Global Health and President of the Academy of Medical Sciences .



ION Annual Address Symposium 24th November 2022

An afternoon of talks for UCL staff and students on advanced therapeutic approaches. 

The Annual Director’s Christmas drinks
Friday 16th December from 4.30 pm, in the Mary Ward House Conference and Exhibition Centre.
Photos to follow! 

Upcoming Queen Square events

Neurology 2023: leading edge neurology for the practising clinician
The course is designed for consultants and trainees at all levels in neurology and other neuroscience specialties, from the UK, Europe and worldwide, and aims to provide a practical update on the hospital management of neurological diseases.

UK Neuromuscular Translational Research Conference: 29-30th March 2023

Attracting in excess of 300 basic scientists and clinical scientists involved in neuromuscular disease research, the event is designed as a scientific meeting to promote and share cutting edge clinical and scientific advances in the neuromuscular field, and to encourage new research and collaborations.

• A consultation with our community – staff, students, alumni, key partners – to develop a strategic plan for the next five years.

People Management Essentials is a bite-sized, blended management development programme focussed on providing practical guidance for UCL people managers in research, teaching, and professional services.

The new information security mandatory training course on the new CybSafe platform launched on 31st October.

Have you used our award winning staff app – Inside UCL?

Inside UCL should be your first choice for carrying out basic tasks such as booking leave, registering sickness absence and updating your personal details.

UCL COVID-19 research and resources

New home monitoring test for symptoms of long Covid

A home test to monitor symptoms of long Covid has been developed by a team including Christopher Mathias, Emeritus Professor at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology.

• Keeping safe on campus
• Living Safely with Infections
• Please see also IoN wellbeing and H&S sections above.