29/09/2026
Following on from our recent post highlighting two of our Network leads’ keynote talks, we’re delighted to share some of the other work presented by members of our team across the three days of the Society for the Study of Behavioural Phenotypes conference in Edinburgh.
Presentations included:
* Dr Kayla Smith presented work on early behavioural and physiological correlates of later social anxiety in children with Fragile X syndrome.
* Dr Jane Waite, presenting on behalf of Dr Courtney Greenhill, shared a mixed-methods study of anxiety and emotional outbursts in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome.
* Dr Rory O’Sullivan presented research on temporal associations between sleep, impulsivity/hyperactivity and executive functioning in children with rare genetic syndromes associated with intellectual disability.
* Dr Lauren Shelley presented a multi-method assessment of sleep in SATB2-associated syndrome.
* Dr Stacey Bissell presented findings from the OASIS Actigraphy Study, involving direct assessment of sleep in children with intellectual disability and complex health needs and their siblings.
Our team also presented a fantastic range of posters:
* Lily Waller shared early PhD work identifying transdiagnostic risk markers of anxiety in genetic syndromes associated with intellectual disability.
* Dr Nicky Thomas presented the Behaviour Checklist Project, exploring new ways of thinking about behaviours that challenge in children with intellectual disability.
* Rachel Martlew presented PhD findings from an ecological momentary assessment of repetitive behaviour in infants with rare genetic syndromes.
Together, these presentations and posters showcased not only the breadth of research across our Network, but also the different approaches being used to better understand anxiety, sleep, behaviour and development - from physiological and actigraphy measures to mixed methods and real-time assessment.
It was fantastic to see this range of work brought together at SSBP and to have the opportunity to share our findings and learn from others working across the field.
