Celebrating Collaboration: FamilyGenomics Christmas Lunch 2025
- familygenomics
- Dec 19, 2025
- 2 min read
On 15th December, the FamilyGenomics Research Group and colleagues gathered for our Christmas Collaboration Lunch 2025 in Pugin Hall as a wonderful end-of-year celebration of teamwork!
This year we were delighted to be joined by Dr Cathy Wyse from the University of Edinburgh, newly appointed Chancellor’s Fellow, whose ongoing work with our team on the AmbientBD project has enriched our collaborative research endeavours. We also shared the occasion with our friends and collaborators from Professor Andrew Coogan’s group in the Psychology Department at Maynooth University, underscoring the interdisciplinary spirit that drives our work forward.
Our annual lunch provided the perfect backdrop to reflect as a team on the highlights of 2025.
During a lively discussion, we celebrated:
Key scientific achievements, including successful progress across our major studies particularly in FamilySleeps recruitment and data collection, and advances in the AmbientBD programme.Team members also reached important milestones, including publishing their first papers, presenting at both national and international conferences, and receiving awards such as the ESHG Young Investigator Award and Education and Public Engagement Champion 2025.
New collaborations and publications, especially congratulations to our collaborators Professor Lina Zgaga on their Nature Communications paper. Lina and Rasha joined us in 2024 for our Christmas collaboration lunch (December 2024: Christmas Collaboration Lunch 2024). We’re happy to see these connections developing further.
Growth in training and skill development, our team members heavily invested in advancing their analytical and methodological expertise through engagement in external workshops and symposia.Highlights included completing advanced workshops like the Oxford Masterclass in Sleep Measurement, and deepening genomics and data analysis expertise. These achievements reflect how we’regrowing as a team and laying the groundwork for what’s ahead.
As we look ahead to 2026, our team outlined three core priorities:
Deepening collaborative research with our partners in Edinburgh already planning research meetings in Edinburgh in February and inviting our collaborators to Maynooth
Accelerating recruitment and engagement for the FamilySleeps and AmbientBD studies while advancing analysis pipelines that will power future discoveries.
Creating more opportunities for early-career researchers in interdisciplinary research methods.
The Christmas Collaboration Lunch was so lovely to remind us of the strength that comes from working together.
Happy Christmas from all of us at the FamilyGenomics Research Group! 🎄
