***Marie-Jeanne H. C. Kempen

Marie-Jeanne H. C. Kempen obtained her Bachelor of Science Biomedical Sciences from Maastricht University (The Netherlands), during which time she worked within the Department of Neuroscience investigating the migration of adult progenitor cells in response to electrical stimulation of the cortex. She then furthered her scientific aspirations, undertaking a Master of Science in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience specialising in Fundamental Neuroscience, at Maastricht University (The Netherlands). During her Masters, Marie-Jeanne developed a fascination for gene-environment interactions and epigenetics, topics she was able to further explore through her involvement in two international research projects. In Pisa (Italy) at the Institute of Neuroscience Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, she investigated of the role of epigenetic mechanisms in experience-dependent development of the visual cortex. She subsequently explored the epigenetic mechanisms contributing to the formation and maintenance of long-term memories at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) in Australia. Following her Masters, Marie-Jeanne relocated to Geoffrey Faulkner’s laboratory at Mater Research Institute (Australia), where she has been working as a research assistant and is continuing to explore gene-environment interactions focussing on the involvement of LINE-1 in schizophrenia. In the future she wishes to continue this project as part of her PhD project.