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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

We're starting the new academic year with a bang! We have two ARCH talks planned this October from Jessica Dark and @jwadhwabrown.bsky.social. More information below 🥳 Interested? Tickets available on our Eventbrite @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research (ARCH) Seminar Series. This seminar is called "Inclusive Research and Organisational Design for Autistic Participation at Work: A Neuro-Cognitive Trait Interaction Approach" and is delivered by Jessica Dark (she/they), a PhD Alumni at Birkbeck, University of London. The talk takes place on October 2nd 2026 at 2pm BST on Zoom. The abstract reads "This talk traces my doctoral journey, from my initial research exploring autistic women’s experiences of disclosing an autism diagnosis in the workplace through to the development of the three published frameworks that now form the core contributions of my thesis. Drawing on this journey, I will explore epistemic justice, ethical practice and the resources and conditions required for inclusive research, alongside a brief overview of the frameworks developed. I will conclude by considering why meaningful inclusion of autistic people in work requires three shifts in perspective across research and practice: from adjustment to design, from diagnosis to neuro-cognitive trait interaction, and from individual responsibility to researcher, academic and organisational responsibility."

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research (ARCH) Seminar Series. The talk title is "The Embodied Experience of Masking in Autistic and Non-Autistic Women", and the speaker is Jagdeep Wadhwa-Brown (she/her), a PhD student from Birkbeck, University of London. The talk takes place on October 28th 2026, at 2pm GMT on Zoom. The abstract reads "I will present qualitative findings from a phenomenological study of masking in autistic and non-autistic women. Alongside these lived-experience narratives, I will outline how they feed into my wider PhD methodology, discussing how I plan to to explore the experiential, cognitive, and somatic dimensions of masking."

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Our last ARCH seminar of the academic year is here! Join us next week on June 24th to hear about care pathway outcomes for autistic people and others, presented by Celine El Baou from UCL. Interested? Tickets available at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

This is a poster advertising the ARCH, or autism research, seminar series. This edition takes place at 14:00 BST on the 24th of June 2026 on zoom. The speaker is Celine El Baou (she/her), a research fellow and PhD student at University College London. The title of the talk is "Autism, ADHD, and Learning Disability in NHS Talking Therapies: What Can Routinely Collected Data Tell Us about Outcomes and Care Pathways?" and the abstract reads "I will present findings from two studies using routinely collected data in NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression (NHS TTad) services across England, between 2012 and 2022.
The first study examines therapy outcomes for Autistic people with co-occurring ADHD. The second study aims to quantify whether Autistic people and people with learning disabilities experience barriers in the care pathway prior to receiving therapy.".

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, this seminar will no longer go ahead. Thank you for your interest and we hope to be able to share more about our June seminar soon!

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Feeling the post-INSAR blues? Fear not - ARCH has just the thing for you! 🎉 On May 27th, we'll be hosting Mark Somerville, who will discuss his review on the lived experience of transgender autistic people. Interested? Tickets are available @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... ✉️ #Autism #AutRes

This is a poster advertising the autism research (or ARCH) seminar series. This seminar will take place at 14:00 BST on the 27th of May 2026, and will take place on Zoom. The speaker is Mark Somerville (who uses he/him pronouns), a PhD student from the University of Edinburgh. The talk title is "The Lived Experience of Transgender Autistic People - A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis" and the abstract reads "I will speak on the progress of a systematic review conducted to identify qualitative studies exploring the lived experience of transgender and gender diverse autistic people. A total of 26 studies have been included in the review and the data has been synthesized to develop analytical themes integrating the results of the different studies. Double marginalization, the intersection of minority identities, the value of the neuroqueer community, and multiple forms of dysphoria have emerged as prominent themes underlying the lived experience of transgender autistic people."

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

🗣️Could it be? It's ARCH next week! Join us next Wednesday to hear from Dr Ashlea Cromby (with an introduction from Dr Rebecca Wood) about her PhD work about autistic communication through memes. Tickets available @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research (or ARCH) Seminar Series. This edition is taking place at 2pm on the 25th of March 2026 on Zoom. The speakers are Dr Ashlea Cromby, a postdoctoral researcher who is an alumni of the University of East London, and Dr Rebecca Wood, a senior lecturer in inclusive education at the University of Glasgow. The talk title is "Meme-ingful communications" and the abstract reads: "My PhD examined autistic communication through the lens of internet memes, using semiotic and cultural analysis to understand how memes function as a dynamic, accessible expressive system."

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

It's ARCH time once again! 🥳 Join us on Wednesday the 25th for a talk by Alanna Shand (@alannajshand.bsky.social) about the psychological strengths autistic people use to compensate for difficulties. Tickets are available @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research (or ARCH) seminar series. This edition is taking place at 2PM GMT on the 25th of February 2026 on Zoom. The speaker is Alanna Shand (who uses she and her pronouns), a PhD student at King's College London. The talk is titled "exploring how autistic people leverage psychological strengths whilst compensating for difficulties", and the abstract reads "Our study examined compensation in autism (i.e., the use of strategies to appear neurotypical and manage autism-related differences). We developed two themes from interviewing autistic adults about their experiences; these themes captured, number 1, how strengths were used to compensate, and number 2, the duplicity of strengths and their impacts. These findings suggest that strengths may be leveraged to engage in compensation and highlight the variety of strengths endorsed by autistic people.".

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

📢New ARCH talk coming soon! Join us on December 10th to hear Howard Childs discuss a service evaluation of adult autism assessment centres. Find tickets @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

This is a poster advertising the ARCH (Autism Research) seminar series. This talk is called "Experienced Autism, Trauma, and Mental Health: Rethinking Adult Diagnostic Pathways" and is delivered by Howard Childs, a neurodevelopmental practitioner for Surrey and Borders NHS Trust. The talk takes place on December 10th, 2025, at 2pm on Zoom. The talk abstract is: "This study took a novel approach by positioning lived experience of high autistic traits centrally in an adult autism assessment service evaluation. The results contribute to population derived data on co-occurrences of mental health for autistic adults and the understudied area of childhood adversity. The findings support lived experience as vital for holistic assessment, suggesting adult assessment pathways need to be trauma informed and move beyond purely diagnosis based support outcomes."

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

📣The ARCH seminar is back! Join us on October 22nd to hear from Nell Fahey (with introduction from Dr Gavin Stewart) about their work on the social experiences of middle-aged and older autistic adults. More info on our mailout - sign up and get tickets @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

This is a poster advertising the ARCH (or Autism Research) Seminar Series. This talk takes place on the 22nd of October, 2025, at 2pm on Zoom. The talk is being given by Nell Fahey, who uses she and her pronouns, and is an MSc graduate from King's College London. She is being introduced by Dr Gavin Stewart, who uses he and him pronouns, and is a senior research fellow at King's College London. The talk title is "Exploring the Social Experiences of Autistic Adults in Midlife and Old Age: a co-produced qualitative study". The abstract reads "Being connected to other people and having good access to social support are often linked to a better quality of life as we get older. However, autistic people often experience barriers to being socially connected. Our co-produced study set out to explore the social experiences of middle-aged and older autistic adults, with a particular focus on the types of social connections they would like as they age. We interviewed 33 autistic people in midlife and old age and conducted a reflexive thematic analysis of their responses. Our findings highlighted the varying impact that ageing can have on people’s social experiences and suggest that social motivations and barriers to social interaction may differ for autistic adults in midlife compared with those in old age. In this talk, we will describe our co-production process and highlight these key findings and what they mean for autistic people."

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

We're looking forward to #AutismEurope later this week! Our lab co-lead, Dr Gavin Stewart @gavrobstew.bsky.social, will be presenting a poster on Thursday, exploring sleep problems and mental health in middle-aged and older people. Drop by and say hello!

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Dr Gavin R. Stewart @gavrobstew.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

If you'd like to hear more about our autism work, including lots on ageing and other topics, you can sign-up to the ReSpect Lab's mailing list here: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/ayFfhqc7pd

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Dr Gavin R. Stewart @gavrobstew.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

We start by raising the issue that autism in midlife and old age are often overlooked. Using data from O'Nions et al. (2023; Lancet), we estimate that 89% of middle-aged autistic people and 96% of older autistic people in the UK are likely undiagnosed. doi.org/10.1146/annu... #AutRes

An infographic showing the estimated percentage of males and females in the UK who are likely to be autistic but undiagnosed.

Middle-aged adults (age 40 to 59 years old), who make up 26% of the UK's population have an overall underdiagnosis rate of 89%.

Older adults (age 60 and older), who make up 24% of the UK's population have an overall underdiagnosis rate of 96%

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

🚨 TODAY! 🚨 Eunhee Kim, a PhD student from Bournemouth University, is presenting her research on health and wellbeing in menopause in autistic and non-autistic people. This is our last talk of the academic year: we hope to see you there! Tickets can be found at: t.co/K5ZlvIs5YS

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. The talk takes place on the first of July, 2025, at 2pm on Zoom. The talk speaker is Eunhee Kim, a PhD student from Bournemouth university. The talk title is: Understanding health and wellbeing during menopause: A longitudinal comparison study between autistic and non-autistic people. The abstract is: We examined whether menopause representations (thoughts, beliefs and feelings about menopause) are associated with menopausal symptoms, quality of life and mental health in autistic and non-autistic people over one month. We found that autistic participants consistently showed negative menopause representations, which predicted more severe symptoms (menopausal, depressive, anxiety) and lower quality of life. These outcomes can contribute to improving awareness of menopause in the autistic population and developing autism-specific support for menopause.

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

🚨May Talk Announcement!🚨 Join us on May 28th at 2PM to hear Kayleigh Doyle (@kayleighdoyle.bsky.social) discuss her PhD work looking at using the creative arts to teach autistic students. Tickets are available at eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. This talk is called "Creative arts-based pegagogy (CABP) with autistic students: co-producing a manifesto", and is delivered by Kayleigh Doyle, a PhD student at the University of York. The talk will take place on May 28th at 2pm on Zoom. The talk abstract reads: "In this research, I explore how autistic young people and teachers feel about using the creative arts to teach autistic students in mainstream schools, and what they perceive to be barriers and facilitators. In this talk, I will briefly touch upon the findings from two systematic reviews, before discussing the findings from two empirical studies, a teacher questionnaire and student interviews. I will finish by outlining the planned next steps, a co-production workshop with the aim to develop a co-produced "creative arts-based pedagogy manifesto"."

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

📢April Talk Announcement 📢 Join us on April 16th to see @lomasresearch.bsky.social discuss his PhD research exploring the usefulness of Theory of Mind in pedagogy. Tickets can be found here: eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

This poster is advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. The talk will be given by Matthew Lomas, a PhD student at the University of Exeter. The talk will take place on April 16th, 2025, at 2pm
and on Zoom. The talk title reads "How Important is Theory of Mind to Human Pedagogy?". The talk abstract reads "The ecological dominance of humans has been often suggested as being underlined by our capacity for pedagogy (i.e. teaching), but the mechanisms the enable us to transfer knowledge effectively are not well understood. Theory of Mind (ToM, i.e. the capacity to consider the minds of others) has typically been framed as human’s “silver bullet”, however empirical research is lacking and this position is contradicted by accounts of teaching by neuro-divergent people, and studies of non-human teaching. This presentation will discuss research which seeks to evidence questions about the role of ToM in human pedagogy, using experimental designs that aim to contrast and characterise Autistic and non-Autistic approaches to teaching."

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Sadly, due to circumstances beyond our control, this talk will not be going ahead today. Apologies for any inconvenience caused - look out for details of our next talk shortly.

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

🎙️SPEAKER CHANGE!🎙️ Due to unforeseen circumstances, this month's talk will now be given by @sophphillips32.bsky.social, and will be on her research on autistic women's experiences of higher education. Tickets are still available through eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. The next talk will be on the 26th of March, 2025, at 14:00 and on zoom. The speaker is Dr Sophie Phillips, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sheffield. The title of the talk is "autistic women's experiences of higher education". The abstract is "This talk focuses on research from my PhD considering autistic women's experiences of university alongside my own experiences of postgraduate study as an autistic woman. It explores topics such as conferences and belonging".

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

📣New talk announcement 📣 The next ARCH talk will be held at 2pm, March 26th, with Ashlea Cromby talking about her work on autistic communication via memes! Tickets can be found @ t.co/K5ZlvIsDOq

The poster advertises the Autism Research (or ARCH) seminar series. This talk is taking place on the 26th of March, 2025, at 2pm, and will take place on zoom. The speaker is Ashlea Cromby, a PhD student from the University of East London. The title of the talk is "Meme-Ingful Communications". The abstract reads as follows: "This study explores how autistic individuals use internet memes to communicate and express their identities. Using a qualitative, participatory approach, data were gathered from n=31 participants across three private Facebook groups, resulting in n=436 memes and n=986 comments. Semiotic analysis revealed themes such as Social Cues, Social Burnout, and Dark Humour, highlighting how memes convey complex social experiences and emotions. The findings challenge deficit-based views of autistic communication, illustrating how memes serve as powerful tools for sharing experiences, expressing identity, and challenging stereotypes in the online space."

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

The day is here - join us at 2pm UK time for this amazing talk! Sign up information is linked below.

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Reposted by Re:Spect Lab KCL

Alice Quinton @alicequinton.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Thoroughly enjoyed discussing some of the existing research on PTSD in autistic people at the Autism Hub's monthly webinar (ALAG) and hearing people's thoughts on future directions! You can read Nick's blog about the meeting here: theautismhub.org.uk/creative-out...

theautismhub.org.uk

Creative outlets: Research into autism and PTSD – The Autism Hub

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

📣February 19th! Come join us to hear about the PhD work by @ninadanon.bsky.social on musical neuroqueering. The next ARCH talk will be held at 2pm, February 19th, and tickets can be found @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research (ARCH) Seminar Series. The talk is called "Composing Neurodivergence: A Musical Neuroqueering Journey", and is delivered by Nina Danon, a PhD student at Goldsmiths, University of London. The seminar will be held on the 19th of February 2025 at 2pm on Zoom. The talk abstract reads as follows:
"This talk introduces musical neuroqueering, the practice of understanding, expanding, and creating neurodivergence through music, and music through neurodivergence. By combining self-reflection with embodied musical exploration, musical neuroqueering fosters a deep understanding of individual neurocognitive styles and auditory acuities. Drawing from my practice research PhD in composition, I will delve into the creative processes of Autistic and neurodivergent musicians, and propose a practical framework to enable anyone to embark on a musical neuroqueering journey."

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

📣 Join us for the next Autism ResearCH (ARCH) talk, which will be held on the 22nd of January at 1pm! @heasutherland will talk about her ethnographic work on communication in high support needs autistic adults in support services. Register for free @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

This is a poster to advertise a talk by Holly E A Sutherland, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Cambridge as a part of the Autism Research, or ARCH, seminar series. The talk will take place on January 22nd 2025 at 1pm on Zoom.
The talk title is "An ethnographic exploration of cross-neurotype socialising and communication in a high support needs context". The talk abstract is "This talk presents research findings from an ethnographic study of two day-support services for autistic adults with high support needs, through a neurodiversity paradigm lens. Specifically, we will look at the social dynamics, interactions, and communication between (autistic and non-autistic) staff, the supported (autistic) people, and the (autistic) researcher – and, specifically, how mutual (mis)understandings across neurotypes influence these dynamics."

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Dr Gavin R. Stewart @gavrobstew.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Since we're using BlueSky more now, I figured I'd make a thread recapping some of my ageing/autism research. For an easy-read overview, see my open article in The Psychologist here: www.bps.org.uk/psychologist... #autres #autism #ageing #aging #midlife #oldage 1/X

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

All this and more at our lab showcase next week! Eventbrite link here - www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

📣Join us for the first ARCH seminar of the academic year - the ReSpect Lab Showcase! On December 5th, members of the ReSpect Lab will be showcasing their research from the last year. Tickets are available @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

A poster advertising a seminar in the ARCH (autism research) seminar series. This talk is the ReSpect Lab Showcase, a showcase of the ReSpect Lab's latest research from 2024. The featured speakers are Dr Gavin Stewart, a postdoctoral researcher from King's College London; Alice Quinton, a PhD student from King's College London; Queenie Siu, a PhD student from King's College London; and Rich Cole, a PhD student from King's College London. The seminar will take place on December 5th 2024 at 12:30pm on Zoom.

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Very happy to be a part of the Autism research community on here! 👋 🗯️ We are led by @proffrancescahappe.bsky.social & are REsearching autism across the SPECTrum and lifespan. 🗯️ Our PhD Students organise the online Autism ResearCH (ARCH) seminars for ECRs to present their work (stay tuned!)

tinyurl.com

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 09/11/2023

November's Bonus Autism ResearCH (ARCH) talk on the 28th of November at 4 pm! Ellie Gray from King's College London will discuss multi-disciplinary staff perspectives on autistic adults at-risk of admission to or in hospital. Register here for free: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

Poster for Autism research (ARCH) Seminar Series.
Speaker: Ellie Gray, MSc Graduate from King's College London.
Title of the talk: The perspectives of multi-disciplinary staff working in Intensive Support Teams with autistic adults at risk of admission to or in hospital.
Description: Ellie will be talking through the findings of her MSc dissertation project in which she interviewed staff members of intensive support teams to explore their experiences and perspectives of working to reduce the hospitalisation of autistic adults.
Date: 28th of November 2023
Start time: 16:00
Location: Microsoft Teams

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 09/11/2023

🔔 Next week's Autism ResearCH (ARCH) Seminar is on Wednesday 15th November 2pm - Hannah De Laet will be presenting her results on double empathy from survey with 400 autistic people. Register for free below: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

Autism research (ARCH) Seminar Series
Talk title: Experiences of autistic adults in communicating with others with and without autism
Speaker: Hannah De Laet, PhD student, Ghent University
Abstract: One of the main criteria of autism is having social interaction difficulties. However, individuals with autism often indicate that communication goes easier with other autistic individuals compared to individuals without autism. In this talk, Hannah will present the results of a large mixed-method questionnaire where over 400 autistic adults in Belgium and the Netherlands were asked questions on their experience of communicating with individuals with and without autism.
Date: 15th of November 2023
Start time: 14:00
Location: Zoom

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 26/10/2023

Our Autism ResearCH (ARCH) Seminar series is back for another year of fantastic ECRs sharing their research! Our first speaker is Hannah De Laet, presenting her results of a survey with 400 autistic people focusing on the double empathy problem. Join us on the 15th Nov at 2pm shorturl.at/ET469

shorturl.at

ARCH Seminar Series

Join us for our monthly Autism ResearCH seminars - a friendly platform for early career researchers to share their recent research.

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Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 26/10/2023

Hi there! We will start sharing Re:Spect Lab news on here and continue to do so on the other app - we will keep an eye on where the scientific community lands. Looking forward to connecting with new and old friends of the lab :)

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