Psychology

Dr Anna Adlam Associate Professor

Dr Anna Adlam Associate Professor

Co-Director of Postgraduate Research for Psychology

 A.R.Adlam@exeter.ac.uk

 2209

 Washington Singer 121

 

Washington Singer Laboratories, University of Exeter, Perry Road, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK

Overview

Associate Professor Anna Adlam is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist (D.Clin.Psy.) and academic Neuropsychologist (Ph.D.), who specialises in working with individuals who have survived paediatric brain injury. Anna gained her Ph.D., investigating dissociations in memory in developmental amnesia, at the Institute of Child Health, UCL (1999-2003). Following this, Anna worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the MRC-Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (2003-2006), investigating the neural correlates of semantic memory. Anna went on to complete her doctoral training in Clinical Psychology at the University of East Anglia (UEA, 2006-2009) before joining the UEA as a Clinical Lecturer/Senior Lecturer. Anna also worked as a clinical psychologist for the Cambridge Centre of Paediatric Neuropsychological Rehabilitation (2009-2012). Anna joined the University of Exeter as a Senior Lecturer in 2012 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019. Anna completed a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship (2015-17), which focused on adapting an online problem-solving intervention for children aged 9 -12 years old who had survived a brain injury (in collaboration with Professor Shari Wade). Anna was the Deputy Director of Postgraduate Research for CEDAR/DClinPsy (2012-2015), then Co-Director of Postgraduate Research for CEDAR/DClinPsy (2017-2019) and is now the Co-Director of Postgraduate Research for Psychology. Anna is also the Research Lead for the Child and Adolescent Neuropsychology group and co-ordinates the Paediatric Neurocognitive Interventions Research Group, an international research network conducting studies in the UK/Europe, USA, and Australia.

Anna is interested in supervising MbyRes/MPhil/PhD students researching the following topics: developing  and evaluating neuropsychological/psychological interventions for children/children with neurological conditions; understanding the relationship between neurocognitive function and mood in children. Please email Anna if you wish to discuss further.

Key words: child, brain, mood, memory, executive function, interventions

Qualifications

Certificate in Higher Education Practice, University of East Anglia, 2011

D.Clin.Psy., University of East Anglia, 2009

Ph.D. (Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience), University College London, 2003

B.Sc. (Psychology, First Class Honours), University of Bristol, 1998  

Links

Research group links

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Research

Research interests

The main focus of Anna's research is to develop and evaluate interventions for young people who experience neuropsychological difficulties (e.g., following an acquired brain injury). Research themes include:

  • memory and executive processes
  • mood disorders
  • social function

Anna is particularly interested in how these processes interact and influence each other. Research techniques include:

  • experimental neuropsychology
  • neuroimaging
  • single case experimental designs
  • randomised controlled designs

Research projects

Funded projects include:

  • a feasibility study investigating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of Teen Online Problem-Solving (TOPS-UK) for young people following brain injury (NIHR RfPB)
  • developing a web-based problem-solving intervention for children aged 9-11 years following brain injury (British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship and NIHR Brain MIC)
  • the efficacy of computerised working memory training in children who have survived a brain injury - a phase II randomised controlled trial (Action Medical Research)
  • an evaluation of novel working memory training to reduce rumination and depression in young people (ISSF Wellcome Trust)

Doctoral student projects include:

  • developing an intervention to improve peer relationships in adolescents who have survived a brain injury (Scott Ankrett)
  • evaluating behavioural activtaion for low mood in adolescents who have survived a brain injury (Conor O'Brien)
  • the neural correlates of working memory training in children with ADHD (Jonathan Jones - completed)
  • developing and evaluating executive control training in adolescents (Jo Green - completed)
  • executive control and moral reasoning in survivors of paediatric brain injury (Beverly Garrigan - completed)
  • role of executive control in rumination and depression in adolescents/young people (Rebecca Pepper, Erika Baker, and Claire Stephens - completed)

Research networks

Funded research collaborators: University of Exeter - Dr Fraser Milton, Dr Het Roberts, Dr Jenny Limond, Professor Ed Watkins, Professor Tamsin Ford, Professor Brahm Norwich, Dr Annie Hawton, Dr Fiona Warren, Dr Richard Tomlinson (also Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital); National - Professor Sue Gathercole (MRC-Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit), Dr Joni Holmes (MRC-CBU), Dr Fergus Gracey (University of East Anglia), Professor Lee Shepstone (UEA), Dr Darren Dunning (MRC-CBU), Dr Peter Langdon (University of Kent); International - Professor Shari Wade (Cincinnati Children's Hospital/University of Cincinnati, Ohio), Professor Brad Kurowski (Cincinnati Children's Hospital/University of Cincinnati, Ohio)

Research grants

  • 2015 British Academy/Leverhulme
    A family intervention designed by families: developing an online problem-solving intervention for children (9-12 years) who have survived a brain injury.
  • 2015 National Institute for Health Research, Research for Patient Benefit
    The clinical and cost-effectiveness of Teen Online Problem Solving for adolescents who have survived an acquired brain injury in the UK (TOPSUK): A feasibility study
  • 2014 University of Exeter, CLES
    Neural correlates of working memory training in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
  • 2014 Wellcome Trust
    Does working memory training reduce repetitive negative thinking?
  • 2014 Great Western Research
    Clinical development of cognitive bias modification paradigms
  • 2013 Exeter University
    A University of Exeter Link Fund has been awarded to support the costs of a research visit to meet with international collaborations, Professor Shari Wade (Cincinnati Children's Hospital,Ohio) and Professor Keith Yeates (Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio).
  • 2013 Exeter University
    International Fellowship Award to support Professor McKay Sohlberg (University of Oregon) to visit the research group
  • 2012 Action Medical Research
    A RCT investigating the efficacy of computerised working memory training in children (aged 8-16 years) who have survived a traumatic brain injury (2012-2015)
  • 2011 The British Academy
    A study investigating the acceptability and feasibility of using computerised working memory training with children (aged 8-16 years) who have survived a brain injury (2011-2013).
  • 2011 British Psychological Society
    An international seminar series will be hosted by the University of Exeter and the University of East Anglia to share research developments in paediatric neuropsychology theory and evidence-based interventions (2012-2014)

Links


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Publications

Journal articles

Jones J, Souchay C, Moulin C, Reynolds S, Adlam AR (In Press). Children’s CBT skills, Metacognition, Empathy, and Theory of Mind. Journal of Children's Services Abstract.
Adlam AR, Adams M, Gracey F, Dunn BD (In Press). Empathy in survivors of traumatic brain injury: the role of interoception and emotion recognition. Cortex
Adlam AR, Westgate B, Williams C (In Press). Executive function assessments in children and adults who have survived a brain injury: a systematic review. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation
Du X, Livingstone A, Adlam A (In Press). Felt understanding as a bridge between social identity and wellbeing among international university students. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology Abstract.
Farooq A, Ketzitzidou Argyri E, Adlam A, Rutland A (2022). Children and Adolescents' Ingroup Biases and Developmental Differences in Evaluations of Peers Who Misinform. Front Psychol, 13 Abstract.  Author URL.
Roberts H, Ford TJ, Karl A, Reynolds S, Limond J, Adlam A-LR (2022). Mood Disorders in Young People with Acquired Brain Injury: an Integrated Model. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 16
Jones JS, Adlam ALR, Benattayallah A, Milton F (2022). The Neural Correlates of Working Memory Training in Typically Developing Children. Child Development, 93, 815-830.
Ankrett S, Smithson J, Limond J, Behn N, Wade SL, Wilkinson L, Adlam A-LR (2022). Understanding and supporting peer relationships in adolescents with acquired brain injury: a stakeholder engagement study. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 33(6), 1090-1119.
Wade SL, Jones KM, Corti C, Adlam AR, Limond J, Bardoni A, Gies LM (2021). Adapting intervention approaches to new contexts: Three case studies of international adaptation of the Teen Online Problem Solving (TOPS) program. Rehabil Psychol, 66(4), 356-365. Abstract.  Author URL.
Roberts H, Mostazir M, Moberly NJ, Watkins ER, Adlam A-L (2021). Working memory updating training reduces state repetitive negative thinking: Proof-of-concept for a novel cognitive control training. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 142, 103871-103871.
Wade SL, Gies LM, Fisher AP, Moscato EL, Adlam A-L, Bardoni A, Corti C, Limond J, Modi AC, Raj SP, et al (2020). Telepsychotherapy with children and families: Lessons gleaned. from two decades of translational research. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 30, 332-347.
Jones J, Milton FN, Mostazir M, Adlam A (2020). The Academic Outcomes of Working Memory and Metacognitive Strategy Training in Children: a Double-Blind Randomised Controlled Trial. Developmental Science, 23, n/a-n/a.
Limond J, Wade SL, Vickery PJ, Jeffery A, Warren FC, Hawton A, Smithson J, Ford T, Haworth S, Adlam A-LR, et al (2019). Clinical and cost-effectiveness of teen online problem-solving for adolescents who have survived an acquired brain injury in the UK: protocol for a randomised, controlled feasibility study (TOPS-UK). BMJ Open, 9(8), e029349-e029349. Abstract.
Norwich B, Fujita T, Adlam A, Milton F, Edwards-Jones A (2018). Lesson study: an inter-professional approach for Educational Psychologists to improve teaching and learning. Educational Psychology in Practice, 34, 370-385.
Garrigan B, Adlam ALR, Langdon PE (2018). Moral decision-making and moral development: Toward an integrative framework. Developmental Review, 49, 80-100. Abstract.
Wade SL, Narad ME, Shultz EL, Kurowski BG, Miley AE, Aguilar JM, Adlam A-LR (2018). Technology-assisted rehabilitation interventions following pediatric brain injury. J Neurosurg Sci, 62(2), 187-202. Abstract.  Author URL.
Bagge S, Westgate B, Few K, Clarke P, Adlam ALR, Walsh J, O'Brien M (2017). Acceptability and feasibility of collecting data from fathers on their psychosocial adaptation to the birth of a very low birth weight infant. Journal of Child Health Care, 21, 283-291.
Steverson T, Adlam A-LR, Langdon PE (2017). Development and Validation of a Modified Multiple Errands Test for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities. J Appl Res Intellect Disabil, 30(2), 255-268. Abstract.  Author URL.
Bowtell JL, Aboo-Bakkar Z, Conway ME, Adlam A-LR, Fulford J (2017). Enhanced task-related brain activation and resting perfusion in healthy older adults after chronic blueberry supplementation. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab, 42(7), 773-779. Abstract.  Author URL.
Garrigan B, Adlam ALR, Langdon PE (2017). Erratum: Corrigendum to “The neural correlates of moral decision-making: a systematic review and meta-analysis of moral evaluations and response decision judgements” (Brain and Cognition (2016) 108 (88–97) (S0278262616301646) (10.1016/j.bandc.2016.07.007)). Brain and Cognition, 111, 104-106. Abstract.
Koutsouris G, Norwich B, Fujita T, Ralph T, Adlam A, Milton F (2017). Piloting a dispersed and inter-professional Lesson Study using technology to link team members at a distance. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 26(5), 587-599. Abstract.
Mahan S, Rous R, Adlam A (2017). Systematic Review of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation for Prospective Memory Deficits as a Consequence of Acquired Brain Injury. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 23(3), 254-265. Abstract.
Adlam ALR, Adams M, Turnbull O, Yeates G, Gracey F (2017). The Bangor Gambling Task: Characterising the Performance of Survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury. Brain Impairment, 18(1), 62-73. Abstract.
Westgate B, Dunning D, Roberts H, Adlam AR (2017). The clinical use of Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT): a clinician survey. The Neuropsychologist
Dunning DL, Westgate B, Adlam ALR (2016). A meta-analysis of working memory impairments in survivors of moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury. Neuropsychology, 30(7), 811-819. Abstract.
Ukoumunne OC, 1. Farrand P, Woodford J, Llewellyn D, Anderson M, Venkatasubramanian S, Adlam A, Dickens C (2016). Behavioural activation written self-help to improve mood, wellbeing and quality of life in people with dementia supported by informal carers (PROMOTE): study protocol for a single-arm feasibility study. Pilot and Feasibility Studies
Norwich B, Koutsouris G, Fujita T, Ralph T, Adlam A, Milton F (2016). Exploring knowledge bridging and translation in Lesson Study using an inter-professional team. International Journal of Lesson and Learning Studies, 5(3), 180-195. Abstract.
Garrigan B, Adlam ALR, Langdon PE (2016). The neural correlates of moral decision-making: a systematic review and meta-analysis of moral evaluations and response decision judgements. Brain Cogn, 108, 88-97. Abstract.  Author URL.
Limond J, Adlam ALR, Cormack M (2014). A model for pediatric neurocognitive interventions: Considering the role of development and maturation in rehabilitation planning. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 28(2), 181-198. Abstract.
Gracey F, Watson S, McHugh M, Swan A, Humphrey A, Adlam A (2014). Age at injury, emotional problems and executive functioning in understanding disrupted social relationships following childhood acquired brain injury. Social Care and Neurodisability, 5(3), 160-170. Abstract.
Stefanopoulou E, Hirsch CR, Hayes S, Adlam A, Coker S (2014). Are attentional control resources reduced by worry in generalized anxiety disorder?. J Abnorm Psychol, 123(2), 330-335. Abstract.  Author URL.
Evans IEM, Kuzma E, Lang IA, Adlam AR, Llewellyn DJ (2014). P1‐345: WHICH BRIEF ASSESSMENT MEASURES FOR DEMENTIA ARE CURRENTLY RECOMMENDED FOR USE IN PRIMARY CARE? a SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 10(4S_Part_11).
Adlam ALR, de Haan M, Hodges JR, Patterson K (2013). Memory for action sequences in semantic dementia. Neuropsychologia, 51(8), 1481-1487. Abstract.
Simblett SK, Badham R, Greening K, Adlam A, Ring H, Bateman A (2012). Validating independent ratings of executive functioning following acquired brain injury using Rasch analysis. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 22(6), 874-889. Abstract.
Adlam ALR, Malloy M, Mishkin M, Vargha-Khadem F (2010). Erratum to Dissociation between recognition and recall in developmental amnesia [Neuropsychologia 47, 11, 2207-2210]. Neuropsychologia, 48(6).
Adlam ALR, Patterson K, Bozeat S, Hodges JR (2010). The cambridge semantic memory test battery: Detection of semantic deficits in semantic dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Neurocase, 16(3), 193-207. Abstract.
Adlam ALR, Patterson K, Hodges JR (2009). "I remember it as if it were yesterday": Memory for recent events in patients with semantic dementia. Neuropsychologia, 47(5), 1344-1351. Abstract.
Adlam ALR, Malloy M, Mishkin M, Vargha-Khadem F (2009). Dissociation between recognition and recall in developmental amnesia. Neuropsychologia, 47(11), 2207-2210. Abstract.
Hodges JR, Martinos M, Woollams AM, Patterson K, Adlam ALR (2008). Repeat and Point: Differentiating semantic dementia from progressive non-fluent aphasia. Cortex, 44(9), 1265-1270. Abstract.
Gray J, Yeo GSH, Cox JJ, Morton J, Adlam A-LR, Keogh JM, Yanovski JA, El Gharbawy A, Han JC, Tung YCL, et al (2006). Hyperphagia, Severe Obesity, Impaired Cognitive Function, and Hyperactivity Associated with Functional Loss of One Copy of the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (<i>BDNF</i>) Gene. Diabetes, 55(12), 3366-3371. Abstract.
Adlam A-LR, Patterson K, Rogers TT, Nestor PJ, Salmond CH, Acosta-Cabronero J, Hodges JR (2006). Semantic dementia and fluent primary progressive aphasia: two sides of the same coin?. Brain, 129(Pt 11), 3066-3080. Abstract.  Author URL.
Adlam ALR, Bozeat S, Arnold R, Watson P, Hodges JR (2006). Semantic knowledge in mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease. Cortex, 42(5), 675-684. Abstract.
Adlam ALR, Vargha-Khadem F, Mishkin M, De Haan M (2005). Deferred imitation of action sequences in developmental amnesia. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17(2), 240-248. Abstract.
Adlam A (2005). From Acquisition to Deterioration of Semantic Knowledge: a Mechanistic Theory of Semantic Cognition. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 11(05).
Moffitt TE, Adlam A, Affleck G, Andreou P, Aquan-Assee J, Arseneault L, Baines R, Benkhada N, Cant L, Cartwright S, et al (2002). Teen-aged mothers in contemporary Britain. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 43(6), 727-742. Abstract.
Baddeley A, Chincotta D, Adlam A (2001). Working memory and the control of action: evidence from task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130(4), 641-657. Abstract.
Hughes C, Adlam A, Happé F, Jackson J, Taylor A, Caspi A (2000). Good Test—Retest Reliability for Standard and Advanced False-Belief Tasks across a Wide Range of Abilities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41(4), 483-490.
Hughes C, Adlam A, Happé F, Jackson J, Taylor A, Caspi A (2000). Good test-retest reliability for standard and advanced false-belief tasks across a wide range of abilities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 41(4), 483-490. Abstract.

Chapters

Wade SL, Gies LM, Adlam A-LR, Bardoni A, Corti C, Jones KM, Limond J, Williams T (2023). Pediatric rehabilitation. In  (Ed) APA handbook of neuropsychology, Volume 2: Neuroscience and neuromethods (Vol. 2), American Psychological Association (APA), 375-392.
Adlam AR (2019). Memory Problems. In van Teijlingen E, Humphris G (Eds.) Psychology and Sociology Applied to Medicine 4E – an illustrated colour text, Edinburgh, UK: Elsevier.
Adlam AR, Limond J, Lah S (2017). The Rehabilitation of Attention in Adults and Children Part 2: Rehabilitation of attention disorders in children. In Wilson B, Winegardner J, van Heugtan C, Ownsworth T (Eds.) Neuropsychological Rehabilitation: the International Handbook, Taylor and Francis. Abstract.
Limond J, Adlam A-LR (2015). Cognitive Interventions for Children with Brain Injury. In  (Ed) Neuropsychological Rehabilitation of Childhood Brain Injury, Palgrave Macmillan UK, 82-105.
Limond J, Adlam AR (2015). Cognitive interventions for children with brain injury. In Reed J, Byard K, Fine H (Eds.) Neuropsychological rehabilitation of childhood brain injury: a practical guide, Palgrave Macmillan, 82-105.
Salmond CH, Adlam ALR, Gadian DG, Vargha-Khadem F (2008). A comparison of memory profiles in relation to neuropathology in autism, developmental amnesia and children born prematurely. In  (Ed) Memory in Autism, 63-85. Abstract.

Conferences

Jeffery A, Wilks J, Mitchell S, Cocking L, Smithson J, Adlam A (2019). The challenges of conducting an online paediatric study (Teen Online Problem Solving for adolescents who have survived a brain injury in the UK: a feasibility study (TOPS-UK).  Author URL.
Adlam AL, Rogers T, Graham K, Patterson K, Hodges J (2005). Semantic dementia and primary progressive aphasia: Two sides of the same coin?.  Author URL.

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External Engagement and Impact

Administrative responsibilities

Co-Director of the Centre for Clinical Neuropsychology Research, University of Exeter (Nov. 2012 - Sep. 2015)

Deputy Director of Research for Professional Doctorates, CEDAR, University of Exeter (Nov. 2012 - Sep. 2015)


Awards and distinctions

Pre-Qualification Award for contribution to Clinical Psychology, British Psychological Society, Division of Clinical Psychology, 2011

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, 2011

Link Fund Award, University of Exeter, 2013 (awarded to Dr Anna Adlam to visit Professor Shari Wade, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Ohio)

Visiting International Academic Fellowship, University of Exeter, 2013 (awarded to Dr Anna Adlam to host Professor McKay Sohlberg, University of Oregon)


Committee/panel activities

Executive Committee Member of the British Psychological Society, Division of Neuropsychology (Dec. 2011  - Sep. 2015)

Committee Member, British Psychological Society Research Board (Oct. 2013 - Sep. 2015)

Committee Member of the British Psychological Society, Division of Neuropsychology, Faculty of Paediatric Neuropsychology (July 2012 - July 2014)

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Teaching

Anna teaches on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology and Research streams), MSc, and Applied Psychology BSc programmes. Anna's teaching interests include paediatric neuropsychology, cognitive assessment, memory theory, and memory disorders.

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Supervision / Group

Postdoctoral researchers

  • Dr Darren Dunning Working memory training in children with brain injury
  • Beverley Garrigan UEA, Moral reasoning in young people who have survived a brain injury (with Dr Peter Langdon, University of Kent)
  • Dr Het Roberts Does working memory training reduce rumination in young people?

Postgraduate researchers

  • Scott Ankrett developing an intervention to improve peer relationships in adolescents who have survived a brain injury (D.Clin.Psy)
  • Silje Aronsen Undergraduate project student
  • Jordan Bastable Undergraduate project student
  • Georgina Easton Undergraduate internship (2019)
  • Anna Gnap Undergraduate project student
  • Jonathan Jones How Does Working Memory Training Work? Investigating the Neural Correlates of Cognitive Training in Children with ADHD. (with Dr Fraser Milton, University of Exeter)
  • Conor OBrien evaluating behavioural activtaion for low mood in adolescents who have survived a brain injury (D.Clin.Psy.)
  • Anna Telling Postdoctoral Researcher (ADAPT-Genetics)
  • Elizabeth Turnbull Undergraduate placement student (2018/19)

Alumni

  • Dr Amy Carroll The role of theory of mind and empathy in childen's understanding of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Now a qualified Clinical Psychologist.
  • Dr Josie Galpin Posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic growth in parents of infants born prematurely. Now a qualified Clinical Psychologist
  • Sian Hocking Siblings experiences of paediatric acquired brain injury (with Dr Phil Yates, University of Exeter)
  • Jonathan Jones The role of theory of mind and metacognition in children's understanding of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Completed MSc.
  • Kate Littler Cognitive and affective correlates of moral development (with Dr Peter Langdon, University of Kent)
  • Steven Mahen Prospective memory intervention for children with acquired brain injury (with Dr Ingram Wright, University of Bristol)
  • Emma Matthews Working memory and attentional control in children born prematurely (with Dr Gaia Scerif, University of Oxford)
  • Dr Rebecca Rous Prospective memory training in children with acquired brain injury. Now a qualified clinical psychologist working with Cambridge Cognition
  • Dr Evi Stefanopoulou Working memory and Generalised Anxiety Disorder. Now clinical psychologist/researcher at Kings College London
  • Briony Westgate Placement student (2012-2013): Developing and validating a parent measure of children's working memory ability. Now completing final year of undergraduate Psychology, University of Loughborough
  • Dr Lucy Wigg Moral reasoning in young adults with acquired brain injury. Now a Clinical Psychologist

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Office Hours:

UG office hours: Mondays 9:15-10:15am and Thursdays 10:30-11:30am (currently via MS Teams)

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