Dr Christopher Eaton

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Background

Chris is a Research Fellow in the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre and joined the University of Edinburgh in November 2019.

Before coming to Edinburgh, Chris completed his PhD at Cardiff University with Professor Marianne van den Bree, Professor David Linden and Professor Sir Michael Owen in the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics. His thesis was titled : "Epileptic seizures and epilepsy in young people with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: prevalence and links with other neurodevelopmental disorders". His PhD was funded by a Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Grant.

Chris has also worked as a postdoc in the Cerebra Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Birmingham, with Professor Chris Oliver, Dr Caroline Richards and Dr Jane Waite, exploring sleep, anxiety and depression in individuals with intellectual disability.

 

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Psychology, University of York (First Class), 2015

PhD, Cardiff University, 2019

Research summary

Chris researches child psychopathology and neurodevelopmental syndromes.

Current research interests

Chris is interested in the presentation of comorbid neurological and psychiatric conditions in young people with autism, with a particular focus on depression, epilepsy and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Past research interests

For his PhD, Chris examined the prevalence and semiology of epileptic seizures in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS), as well as the links of epilepsy with impaired cognition, psychopathology and other developmental problems in this population.

Project activity

Chris is currently working to develop a screening tool for depression in children and adolescents with autism who do not have an intellectual disability. This project is led by Dr Sinead Rhodes and is funded by the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre.