Stephanie Forkel

 

My research is part of a Wellcome Trust-funded project studying brain connections and their impact on symptom severity in neurodegenerative disorders and cognitive recovery after brain damage from stroke and tumours.

 

I am an associate editor for Cortex and a reviewer for over 20 journals and several funding agencies (incl. ERC StG). I organised many international workshops, several symposia, conferences and national meetings (e.g. #NPdC2019). Early on in my career, I had the great honour of contributing to the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting for Medicine or Physiology and the German Scholar Organisation Leadership Academy. I am honoured to be shortlisted this year for the Academics "Nachwuchspreis" which is acknowledging dedicated and talented young researchers for outstanding contributions to science and science communication.

 

Beyond my academic endeavours, I contribute to a plethora of public engagement projects. I have a colourful portfolio of experiences, including broadcasting, storytelling, and working with children and patients. I have previously worked with the BBC, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the Science Gallery London, Pint of Science, and Native Scientists. Also, I won a Wellcome Trust Image award. I published an interview with the Nobel Laureate Professor Elizabeth Blackburn in honour of International Women's Day.  A personal endeavour of mine is the use of 3D printing for science and some models freely available for distribution. ​

 

 

Peer-reviewed Publications, reviewer & editorial work

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Publication record available on ORCIDiD

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Reviewer & Editorial record on Publons

 

 

Book chapter and other print media

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• Forkel SJ et al. Clinical applications of diffusion tractography. In the Handbook of Diffusion Imaging. (Dell’Acqua & Leemanns, Eds), forthcoming

 

• Forkel SJ. Lesion analyses methods and theory. In Encyclopaedia of Behavioural Neuroscience 2e, (Della Sala et al., Eds). Elsevier, forthcoming

 

• Forkel SJ. Anatomy and disorders of the language system. In Encyclopaedia of Behavioural Neuroscience 2e, (Della Sala et al., Eds). Elsevier, forthcoming

 

• Forkel SJ & Catani M. Structural Neuroimaging. In Research Methods in Psycholinguistics (de Groot & Hoogart, Eds). Wiley & Sons, 2018

 

• Catani M & Forkel SJ. Diffusion Imaging Methods in Language Sciences. In Oxford Handbook of Neurolinguistics (de Zubicaray & Schiller, Eds). OUP, 2018

 

• Rickards T, Baldo J, Yochim BP. Changes to the Brain: Methods of Investigation, Aging, and Neuroplasticity (image contribution) in Yochim & Woodhead (Eds). Psychology of Aging: A Biopsychosocial Perspective. Springer, 2017

 

• Forkel SJ & Howells H. Professor Blackburn on Unconscious biases – an interview. Published online on the Lindau Nobel Laureate website 2015

 

• Catani M, Forkel SJ, Thiebaut de Schotten M. Asymmetry of white matter pathways in the brain. In The Two Halves Of The Brain: Information Processing In The Cerebral Hemispheres (Eds, Hugdahl, K & Davidson, RJ). MIT Press. 2010

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Work featured in the public domain:

 

BBC Horizon Depression, 2019

Colleagues at King's College London are presenting their research findings on Neurofeedback in depression using my 3D printed models of the emotional network of the brain.

 

Wellcome Trust Image Award, 2017

To create this model, a map of the white matter pathway of a healthy volunteer was generated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diffusion imaging, which tracks the movement of water molecules. The data from the scan was used to create a 3D model made from clear resin, using 3D-printing technology. The 3D model was then illuminated using bycicle lights.

 

Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, 2015

Professor Elizabeth Blackburn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009 with her graduate student, Carol Greider, and collaborator Jack Szostak for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase. She is one of only 47 female Nobel Laureates thus far, and is a role model to young female scientists across the world. We interviewed Prof. Blackburn on her recent visit to London for International Women’s Day.

 

REWIRED - Stroke-induced Language Loss, 2013

I teamed up with Rupert ‘Bass6’ Oldridge and Carl ‘Soundbytz’ Orza who did Live Beatboxing and I explained how speech and language are processed in the brain and what happens if things go wrong.