Dr Elena Menichini

Dr Elena Menichini is a neuroscientist interested in the neural mechanisms underlying emotional processing and in understanding how these processes are altered in disease states, including chronic pain. She completed an MSci in Neuroscience at University College London before undertaking a PhD in Neuroscience at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, UCL, in the laboratory of Dr Athena Akrami. Her PhD research investigated how the brain learns and exploits sensory statistics to guide decisions, combining behavioural experiments, computational modelling and neural recordings.

In 2026, Elena joined the University of Exeter as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the laboratory of Dr Charlotte Lawrenson, where she researches the affective dimension of the pain experience, investigating the role of cerebellar–midbrain circuits in emotional control and pain modulation.

With an interest in the interface between scientific research and policy, Elena undertook a traineeship at the European Commission’s European Research Council (ERC), where she worked on analysing demographics and participation across the research grant evaluation process, with a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion in research funding. She is also a member of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Network for Advocacy, supporting engagement between the neuroscience community and policymakers in Europe.