Understanding Eligibility For Participation

Professor David Skuse
University College London
d.skuse@ucl.ac.uk

David is a Professor of Behavioural and Brain Sciences at University College London and an Honorary Consultant in Developmental Neuropsychiatry at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, UK. He leads the London site, which oversees online assessments, collecting information on wellbeing, behaviour, and development. His team also supports families in completing assessments, whether online or over the phone.
For over 20 years, David has been a leading researcher in neurodevelopment and autism. His work challenges common misconceptions about children with learning difficulties by highlighting subtle behavioural and developmental differences. He collaborates closely with the rest of the team, sharing a vision to transform our understanding of intellectual disability.

Professor Jeremy Hall
Cardiff University
Hallj@cardiff.ac.uk

Jeremy is a Professor, Director, and Research Theme Lead at the Neurosciences & Mental Health Research Institute at Cardiff University. His research focuses on the role of genetic and environmental risk factors in the development of neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia, autism, and related personality disorders. He is particularly interested in how genetic risk factors influence learning processes in the brain, as abnormalities in these processes contribute to key symptoms across various mental health conditions.
In addition to his research, Jeremy leads local clinical assessment services for adults with autism and developmental disorders. Alongside Marianne, he coordinates the face-to-face assessments conducted by the Cardiff University research team, who gather more detailed phenotypic and behavioural information from families participating in the project.

Professor Marianne van den Bree
Cardiff University
Vandenbreemb@cardiff.ac.uk

Marianne is a Professor of Psychological Medicine at Cardiff University. Her research focuses on the development of behaviour, thinking, and learning from childhood through adolescence into adulthood. She has published groundbreaking research and collaborates internationally on numerous projects. Additionally, she has received awards for translating scientific findings into practice, ensuring they benefit both patients and the wider public. Marianne trained in the Netherlands and the USA.
As one of the four Lead Investigators of IMAGINE ID, she co-leads the face-to-face assessments in Cardiff alongside Jeremy. Their dedicated research team values the opportunity to visit participants and their families, learning from their experiences. With the information generously shared, they aim to improve understanding and support for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Professor Sir Michael Owen
Cardiff University
OwenMJ@cardiff.ac.uk

Michael is a Professor of Psychological Medicine (Psychiatry) at the School of Medicine and Emeritus Director of the Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute. With over 25 years of experience in psychiatric and neurodegenerative genetics, he has extensive expertise in the genetic aspects of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Over the past decade, Michael has focused on psychiatric and cognitive outcomes in children at high genetic risk, particularly those with structural chromosomal abnormalities. He has studied the impact of genetic risk factors across diagnostic boundaries and developed a theoretical framework to understand the relationship between different neurodevelopmental disorders. Additionally, he has also identified specific genes and sets of proteins involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, which are potential therapeutic targets.

Professor Lucy Raymond
University of Cambridge

Lucy is a Professor of Medical Genetics at Cambridge University Hospital, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, UK, and has recently retired. She managed the Cambridge site, overseeing study recruitment and supervising and analysing the genetic information during IMAGINE-1.
Over the past 15 years, Lucy has led research on understanding the genetic basis of intellectual disability and has identified many new disease-causing genes which has been rapidly translated into clinical service. As the lead investigator of the IMAGINE-1 study, alongside David, Marianne, and Jeremy, she played a key role in advancing research on intellectual disability and mental health. She hopes collecting valuable knowledge from families can help enhance understanding of intellectual disability and mental health and improve treatments in the future.

Dr Samuel Chawner
Cardiff University
ChawnerSJ@cardiff.ac.uk

Samuel is Co-Investigator and Senior Research Fellow on the IMAGINE 2 project in the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences. He plays a key role in facilitating Cardiff University research into the development of children with rare genetic variants. An important part of his work is raising awareness of the mental health needs of children with rare genetic conditions.
As a multi-award-winning researcher, Samuel is passionate about understanding the causes and development of child mental health. His work bridges mental health data science and lived experience, and includes the voices of public, clinical, and policy stakeholders to shape and drive meaningful impact.