Scientific Support Staff

Berta Hortiguela-Fernandez

CBCD Finance & Research Manager Berta completed a BA (Honours) in Economics at the University of Valladolid (Spain), completing her degree in 1999. She has worked most of her professional career in wholesale operations and sales administration within the retail sector.

Tamsin Osborne

Babylab & Toddlerlab Manager Research Interests All areas of infant and child development, with an emphasis on attention and learning. I work on various research projects as needed and manage all research testing within the BabyLab & ToddlerLab. Curriculum

CBCD News

Professor Denis Mareschal gave evidence at Houses of Parliament on Neuroscience and Digital Childhoods
On 10th June 2026, Birkbeck Professor Denis Mareschal was invited to the Houses of Parliament as a witness to the Science, Innovation
BASIS Exhibition 13-25 June 2026 “Autism Research: Growing Up”
Over the last two decades, our understanding of early autism development has undergone a profound transformation, moving from observing behaviours to
Birkbeck & UCL awarded £3 million by DfE
Birkbeck and UCL were awarded £3 million by the Department for Education to establish a new policy research centre focused on
STAARS research featured in Channel 5 documentary “Does your child have ADHD?”
Professor Emily Jones and the STAARS research are featured in Channel 5’s documentary “Does your child have ADHD?”. Watch for a fascinating insight into
Does neurodiversity affect eating behaviours in teenagers?
Dr Virginia Carter Leno is quoted in ‘Children of the 90s’ research blog (based on data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of
Prof Denis Mareschal interviewed for evening news impact of screen time on child development
CBCD Director, Professor Denis Mareschal, was interviewed for both ITV news and Channel5 news for their evening news features about upcoming
How the ‘postcode lottery’ of parenting really impacts young children
Professor Emily Jones is quoted in the BBC News indepth article on the “postcode lottery” of parenting. Read full story here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjdr42ez3d2o
Babylab & Toddlerlab researchers feature on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Child’ podcast
Three of our CBCD staff were interviewed for BBC Radio 4’s ‘Child’ podcast with India Rakusen (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001v4dd). The new series features
Unleashing the Toddlers: Lessons from the new Birkbeck ToddlerLab
Professor Denis Mareschal recently gave a webinar for Learnus, a charity specialising in bringing research innovations in neuroscience to educators. He discusses
The Babylab features in Channel 5’s “Are you Autistic” documentary!
Watch Channel 5 to see a family visiting the Babylab and findings from the STAARS study! Professor Emily Jones discusses studying