Richard Roche (IE), FENS Communication Committee member and former BAW awardee – Chair

Dr Richard Roche is Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, Maynooth University, where he has been employed since 2005, following undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral study at Trinity College, Dublin. His areas of interest are cognitive neuroscience/neuropsychology, particularly memory, ageing, dementia, stroke, brain injury and synaesthesia. He is also strongly committed to science outreach and public engagement, and has given an Ignite talk at Science Gallery’s Mindfields at Electric Picnic 2016, performed for BrightClub Dublin in 2017, as well as hosting ‘The Brain Box’, a 2-part radio documentary about the brain on NewsTalk 106-108FM. Most recently, he co-organised and financed a series of public engagement events during 2019’s Brain Awareness Week (BAW) and the BNA-Neuroscience Ireland Festival of Neuroscience, and discussed art and brain on RTE Radio1’s Almanac of Ireland.

Francesca Cirulli (IT), FENS Treasurer-Elect and member of the FENS BAW selection committee

Francesca Cirulli is a senior researcher and group leader in the Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità. Francesca is involved in research in the field of Behavioral Neuroscience, with a special interest in the Neurobiology of Stress. Main current project is EMBED ‘Impact of Early life MetaBolic and psychosocial strEss on susceptibility to mental Disorders; from converging epigenetic signatures to novel targets for therapeutic intervention’.

Karolina Kosno-Basińska (PL), BAW 2021 grant awardee – “Scientific Conference for Children: Do you know your brain?”

Karolina Kosno-Basińska is a licensed architect, a head teacher and also a co-owner of the Association of Private Schools in Opoczno, Poland. As a graduate student, she participated in international exchange programs in Italy and the USA. After completing her doctoral studies with honours at the Faculty of Architecture at Wroclaw University of Technology, she graduated from a course Women’s Entrepreneurship Academy at Warsaw School of Economics. As an architect, Karolina has a wide experience in large-scale projects gained during her practices in Poland, Italy, Russia, Ukraine and Great Britain. Her interests are centred around: outreach programs, self-development and a healthy lifestyle.

Andrii Cherninskyi (UA), BAW 2021 grant awardee – “BAW@BIPH: Brain Days at Bogomoletz Institute”

Andrii Cherninskyi works at Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology in Kyiv, Ukraine. He is an expert in human and animal EEG, recorded brain activity of healthy humans, patients, genetically modified mice, and even octopuses. Also, he pays a lot of time teaching students and promoting science. As the Ukrainian Society for Neuroscience officer, Dr Cherninskyi was involved in the Brain Awareness Week activity for many years. In 2012 he started the Ukrainian Brain Bee, which became an essential part of BAW@Ukraine.