Institute of Child Health

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Research

The Unit is engaged in several research areas:

• Development of cognitive memory after early vs late medial temporal lobe pathology
• Speech and language function after unilateral vs bilateral damage to the perisylvian regions, and behavioural and neural phenotypes of genetically determined speech dyspraxia
• Frontal lobe pathology and development of social cognition and executive functions
• Sensorimotor reorganization in relation to age at onset of brain pathology
• Cognitive and behavioural outcome after central nervous system prophylactic treatment for lymphoblastic leukaemia
• Development of visual functions and face processing abilities and their plasticity in relation to extent of brain damage and age at injury.

The research work of The Unit involves extensive collaborations with colleagues in other Units and Departments of the Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital, including the Neurosciences Unit, Radiology and Physics Unit and Cardiothoracic Unit. In addition, The Unit has active collaborations with colleagues in other Departments and Institutes of University College London, such as the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, and the Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health and University College Hospital. A collaboration network has also been established with cognitive neuroscientists and geneticists working at universities and institutes in the UK (e.g. Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Department of Psychology, University of Bristol), and internationally (e.g. Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, USA).

Our Unit and the Children's Trust at Tadworth have also agreed to be partners in developing research. This partnership is linked to a neurosciences initiative, which seeks to improve understanding of brain function in children with developmental and cognitive disorders, including those arising from acquired brain damage.  The partnership combines the Institute’s research capabilities and experience, along with the knowledge and experience of the Trust in caring for children with multiple disabilities and complex health needs.