Colleges
Contact information
+44 (0)1865 610 476
Directions to my office at the WIN-Annexe, Wolfson Building
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3544-0711
WIN-Annexe, Wolfson Building, Headley Way, Headington, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
she/her
Research groups
Collaborators
Oxford
Dr Beata Godlewska , Dept. Psychiatry
International
Dennis Levi, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Jun-Yun Zhang, Peking University, Peking, China
Generously funded by
Betina Ip
DPhil
Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow
- Principal Investigator
- Hugh Price Fellow, Jesus College
I am broadly interested on the influence of the environment in brain function. This has been studied in neuroscience through the interaction between sensory experience and visual development. What supports experience dependent learning in early childhood? Can we facilitate learning in adults by understanding neuroplasticity?
My lab investigates such questions using advanced multimodal brain imaging, especially MR Spectroscopy, behavioural measures and digital technology, including virtual reality.
Our experimental modal is the human binocular visual system. If binocular visual experience is abnormal in childhood, a condition called amblyopia can occur that permanently reduces vision. We are interested if controlled visual experiences can rescue amblyopic vision in adulthood, and if these changes in behaviour can be related to the brain. Such brain to behaviour relationships could pinpoint factors underlying adult neuroplasticity, and generate new avenues for treating vision disorders that are currently untreatable.
Ultimately, our research can contribute to a better understanding of how experience makes us who we are, and identify ways to harness cutting edge neuroscience and digital technology to improve health.
About me
I read for my DPhil on attentional modulation of binocular vision at St John’s College, Oxford. I then worked on fine-scale representations of binocular disparity in the human brain at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics as a postdoc. In 2020, I was awarded a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship and moved to the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences. I joined Jesus College in 2022 as a Hugh Price Fellow in Neuroscience.
Positive Research Culture & Public Engagement
Research culture is important to me. I am a mentor for the BIPOC STEM network, supporting ethnically diverse students at the University; I facilitate women’s career advancement as part of the Women in Clinical Neurosciences committee, and I have co-led the WIN Centre's Early Career Researcher's group (2020-2022) to enhance researchers' careers. I have also authored a children's picture book on neuroscience featuring my daughter and myself (as an owl).
Current students
Lucy Starling, Doctoral training project student 2024
Rebecca Willis, WIN-NDCN (DPhil student) 2023
Sylvana Vilca-Melendez, Dept. Psychiatry (DPhil student, co-supervisor) 2022
Lab alumni
Po-Chun Tseng, MSc Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience 2024
Dr Jacek Matuszewski, Visiting researcher 2022
Kathleen Tracey, FHS student 2021/22, Wadham College
Amblyopia VR study
Websites
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Amblyopia VR Study
Our ongoing study in amblyopic adults studies neural changes after visual training using VR technology.
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Koala Study
Our ongoing study in amblyopic children studies neural substrates of occlusion therapy.
Research opportunities
Unversity of Oxford project students
Oxford MSc/DPhil graduate students are also welcome to get in touch about graduate rotation projects.
Projects can involve analysing brain and behaviour data, using virtual reality to train vision and characterising dynamic neurochemistry (fMRS) to sensory input.
Prospective national and international DPhil students
I would be pleased to hear from prospective graduates. Please send me your CV, information about your research interests and motivation. Further information on the DPhil in Clinical Neurosciences can be found here.
Postdoctoral and research assistant positions will be advertised here and on the University's job website.