Francesca Happé facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Francesca Happé
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Francesca Happé
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Francesca Gabrielle Elizabeth Happé
1967 (age 57–58) Cambridge, England, UK
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| Nationality | British |
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| Known for | Research on autism spectrum conditions |
| Awards | Rosalind Franklin Award (2011) |
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| Institutions | King's College London |
| Thesis | Theory of Mind and Communication in Autism (1991) |
| Doctoral advisor | Uta Frith |
| Doctoral students | Essi Viding |
Francesca Gabrielle Elizabeth Happé (born in 1967) is a top scientist who studies the brain. She is a professor at King's College London in England. She also leads a research center there. Her main work is about understanding autism spectrum conditions. She looks at how people with autism think and interact with the world.
Early Life and Education
Francesca Happé's family encouraged her curiosity. Her parents always told her to "ask questions." Her grandfather was also a scientist. He worked on new ideas for Technicolor.
Francesca studied Experimental Psychology at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. This was in the mid-1980s. She became very interested in autism during her university lectures. She joined a research project about autism during a summer break. This project was led by Neil O'Connor and Beate Hermelin.
She had planned to get her PhD at Oxford. But she was told to meet another scientist, Uta Frith. This meeting changed her path. She decided to study for her PhD at University College London. Her studies focused on autism, and Uta Frith was her supervisor.
Career and Research
From 1991 to 1995, Francesca Happé worked at a research unit in London. Then she spent a year in the USA. Since 1995, she has worked at the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre. She started as a senior scientist. Later, she became a professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in 2008. In 2012, she became the director of the center.
Her research explores how autistic people understand the world. She has made two important discoveries. First, she found that autistic people often pay more attention to details. This can also be true for their family members. Second, she showed that autism can affect women and men differently.
She also studies the mental health of autistic people. She looks at how aging might affect them. She uses many different ways to do her research. These include studying twins and genetics. She also uses brain imaging methods.
Her work has received funding from several important groups. These include the Wellcome Trust and the MRC.
Francesca Happé has been a leader in the field of autism research. She was President of the International Society for Autism Research from 2013 to 2015. She also served on its Board. She has been part of the National Autistic Society's advisory group since 2011. She has also helped edit several scientific journals.
In 2021, she received a special honor. She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). This award was for her important work in studying autism.
Awards and Honours
Francesca Happé has received many awards for her work:
- Scholarship, Corpus Christi College, Oxford (1987)
- Proxima Accessit to the Chris Welch Science Scholarship (1988)
- Young Science Writer prize (1991) from The Daily Telegraph
- British Psychological Society Spearman Medal (1998)
- Experimental Psychology Society Prize (1999)
- Royal Institution Scientists for the New Century Lecturer (1999)
- Winner, King's College London Supervisory Excellence Award (2011)
- Rosalind Franklin Award (2011) from the Royal Society
- Elected a Fellow of the British Academy (2014)
- Elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) (2017)
She was featured in a TV show called A Living Mind. This show was part of the Living Science series on Channel 4. It was made for students aged 11 to 14. She was also a guest on a BBC Radio 4 show called The Life Scientific in 2020.
