Cognitive neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore to deliver Rosalind Franklin Lecture 2017

13 December, 2016

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has today announced that Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore will deliver its Rosalind Franklin Lecture 2017 on the evening of 6 March in Central London.

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL, and leader of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Group. She is a member of the Royal Society BrainWaves working group for neuroscience, and received the Royal Society’s Rosalind Franklin Award in 2013.

The 2017 lecture will be just the second time the BHA has hosted the Rosalind Franklin Lecture, named after Rosalind Franklin, the pioneering chemist who was so crucial to the discovery of the unique double helix structure of DNA.

Professor Blakemore’s talk, playfully titled ‘Inventing your self: the secret life of the adolescent brain’ will explore pioneering neuroscientific research into  the fascinating ways that adolescent brain development helps make us who we are.

Held in the week of International Women’s Day, the Rosalind Franklin Lecture explores and celebrates the contribution of women towards the promotion and advancement of Humanism –  whether through achievements in science, philosophy, or the promotion of democracy and human rights – in Britain and around the world.

Tickets cost £12.50 for the general public and £10 for BHA members and students. You can get yours at humanists.uk/franklin2017.

Notes

The British Humanist Association (BHA) is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity.

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is Deputy Director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, and leader of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Group. She is Deputy Director of the Wellcome Trust Four Year PhD Programme in Neuroscience at UCL, and is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, and a member of the Wellcome Trust Expert Review Group for Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health. She is actively involved in public engagement with science activities and has an interest in the links between neuroscience and education. In 2015 she was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 programme The Life Scientific by BHA Vice President Jim Al-Khalili.