PhD Student
Contact Details
Email: j.wadhwa-brown@student.bbk.ac.uk
Supervisors
Professor Emily Jones CBCD (Co-Supervisor)
Professor Jonathan Smith IPARG (Co-Supervisor)
Research Interests
My PhD research is a multi-modal investigation into the experience of masking in late-diagnosed autistic women. I will integrate qualitative Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) interviews with quantitative physiological (heart rate and electrodermal activity) and neural (EEG and fNIRS) data. This approach contributes to Experiential Neuroscience, an interdisciplinary field that brings together personal verbal accounts with objective measures of internal brain and bodily activity. Upon completion, the three streams of information (experiential, neural, and physiological) will be compared to identify areas of convergence and provide triangulation of the probable cognitive processes involved in masking.
Education
MPhil/PhD Student, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development and IPA Research Group, Birkbeck (October 2024-present)
MSc Educational Neuroscience Birkbeck and UCL
MA Science Education UCL Institute of Education
PGCE (Chemistry) UCL Institute of Education
BSc Neuroscience and Psychology Keele University
Awards and Funding
UBEL-DTP funded PhD studentship. (2005-2007): Full scholarship (fees + stipend) for PhD research funded by the ESRC.
First place in BGRS Poster Competition (October 2025): Wadhwa-Brown, J.K.; Jones, E.J. & Smith, J.S., “The Embodied Experience of Masking in Autistic Women”, [Poster].
Conference Presentations
Wadhwa-Brown, J.K.; Jones, E.J. & Smith, J.S., “The Experiential Neuroscience of Autistic Camouflaging”. Poster presented at London Social Connection Workshop (June 2025)
Wadhwa-Brown, J.K.; Jones, E.J. & Smith, J.S. (2025, November 19-22) Exploring the Experience of Masking in Autistic Women [Conference presentation]. 11th International Congress of Clinical and Health Psychology with Children and Adolescents, Málaga, Spain.