Mizuki Tojo

Studying axon development and regeneration using the zebrafish pectoral fin in the Walker Lab.

Project investigating mechanisms of synapse formation during normal development and in models of neurodevelopmental disorders (supervised by Dr. Laura Andreae). Technical skills include: - Analysis of mice hippocampal tissue obtained using electron microscopy (EM), via Fiji/ImageJ and subsequent 3D model reconstruction using Blender - Immunohistochemistry on rodent cortical tissue and imaging using confocal microscopy - Analysis of confocal images of mice hippocampi via MATLAB and Imaris - Brain clearing (CLARITY) of rodent brain with endogenous fluorescence - Supervision of undergraduate final year students on research projects exploring synapse formation in the hippocampus Contributed to a manuscript on sexually dimorphic effects of reduced Chd8 expression upon synaptic development.

Project exploring the effect of PINK1/Parkin on mitochondrial morphology and distribution in neuronal populations implicated in Parkinson's Disease. Supervised by Dr. Josef Kittler.

Worked on a funded project investigating the double empathy hypothesis of Autism (supervised by Dr. Sarah White). Designed an online experiment on Gorilla.sc, implementing the eye tracking feature to measure differences in implicit mentalising between autistic and neurotypical individuals.

Assisting behavioural assessments and evaluations of children with Williams Syndrome during clinic sessions run by Dr. Jo Van Herwegen.

Role involved: - Delivering 2 hours of one-to-one Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) sessions per week/twice a week, for a family with a son with ASD (primary school). - Trained to deliver ABA, focused around tasks used to enhance verbal communication, social interaction and gross motor skills.

Led a small research project on the mental wellbeing of the international student population at UCL, identifying the varying barriers to accessing mental health support, between international school graduates and domestic school graduates among the population. This placement was done under the supervision of Dr. Laura Gibbon and Kirsty Nisbet.

Role involved: - Delivering the home programme twice a week, 2 hours each. - Preparing materials for each session and lead the interactions with the individual with an energetic but accepting attitude, following the principles of the program. - Recognising and understanding the characteristics of Autism. - Discussing the sessions with the parent of the individual, creating objectives for the next session, while searching for areas of improvement.

The job involved looking after approximately 10 children (neurotypical children aged 1+ years, children with ASD and ADHD) for 6 hours each day, ensuring children's safety and aiding English learning.

The role involved ensuring each camp ran smoothly, working both as an administrator (responding to business emails, talking to school and business representatives, etc.) and as a staff in the camp (communicating with American and Japanese staff members, looking after the mental health of the campers), directly interacting with Japanese primary to high school students.

Year 1: - Overviews of areas of Psychology - Social Psychology, Memory and Decision Making, Psychology of Individual Differences, Evidence & Enquiry, *Language Development in Children Year 2: - Deeper insight into Neuroscience - Brain & Behaviour, Perception, Language & Cognition - Overview of other areas of Psychology - Developmental Psychology, Health & Clinical Psychology - Module on Qualitative and Mixed Research Methods Year 3: - *Genes & Behaviour - *Topics in Neurobiology (focused on memory) - *Computer Programming (Python) - *Clinical Psychology - *Advanced Multivariate Statistical Methods (using R) - Research Project (on adolescent cognition with Dr Essi Viding) Common across Years 1 + 2 (+ 3 for Seminar): - Module on Psychological Experimentation (lab report writing) - Module on Statistics (〜intermediate statistics, used Minitab / SPSS extensively) - Seminar (critical thinking, writing, presentation, and public speaking) *Chosen based on academic interests