Bethany Oakley

Bethany Oakley is a Lecturer in Neurodevelopmental Science at King's College London, affiliated with the Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences within the School of Academic Psychiatry. She holds a BSc in Psychological and Behavioural Sciences from the University of Cambridge (2016) and a PhD from King's College London (2020), where she investigated co-occurring mental health symptoms in autism. Her current role involves leading research on the AIMS-2-TRIALS project, focusing on mental health co-morbidities and neurobiological mechanisms in autism.

Research Interests: Dr. Oakley's work centers on autism spectrum disorder, mental health, neurodevelopmental disorders, and biomarker discovery. Her research integrates neuroimaging, genetic analyses, and clinical studies to understand the neurobiological underpinnings of autism and associated mental health challenges. She actively explores interventions for anxiety in autistic populations and advocates for equitable healthcare access.

Recent Contributions: Her recent work includes studies on EEG metrics of social cognition in autism, genomic registries for autism research, and global neuroimaging initiatives. Key themes involve translational research, data-sharing ethics, and bridging clinical and basic science perspectives.

Grants & Projects: Dr. Oakley leads the 'Developmental trajectories of mental health in neurodivergence' project (Medical Research Foundation, 2025–2027) and co-investigates the R2D2-MH initiative (2022–2027), focusing on risk and resilience in neurodevelopmental diversity. She also contributed to the Feasibility Study of an app-based anxiety intervention for autistic individuals (2022–2023).

Labs/Teams: She collaborates with the EU-AIMS LEAP consortium and the AIMS-2-TRIALS initiative, emphasizing multi-center, interdisciplinary approaches to autism research.