Cambridge Babylab

28/03/2026

What an incredible day at the festival! ✨

So many curious minds, amazing conversations, and hands-on science all around 🧠

It was so special to see our BRIGHT and PIPKIN families again — some of our little participants are now 9 years old (!!) 🥹

From tiny babies to growing young minds, being part of this journey is just amazing.

Thank you to everyone who came, took part, and shared the fun with us 💛

26/03/2026

Come say hi to us at the Pitt Building🤗

13/03/2026

We've been dormant for a while on social media, because our researchers have been working tirelessly to bring new projects to you!

New age - new research questions 👀

Are you an expectant based in the ?
Do you use in your daily life?
Even if not, reach out to see if you are eligible to take part in our 1.5hr-2hrs study and get £50 💰

05/01/2026

❄First of 2026❄

This week learn what 's senior researcher Borja Blanco has been up to!👀

Borja employs non-invasive methods like and to model the developing brain in its natural habitat -- at home with the baby's family!👶🗣️

Learn more about how we can bring neuroscience to our participants' homes and why!✨

24/12/2025

Wishing all our families, collaborators and colleagues a peaceful, restful holiday break. 🎄✨

After four years of hard work, the PIPKIN study has reached a big milestone: we’ve finished all our in‑person visits with families. 🎉

We started this project during COVID, when our team only met online and working with tiny babies was especially challenging. But we found new ways to make it work together. 💻👶

One of the most exciting parts was visiting families at home with our baby‑friendly brain‑imaging kit, so newborns didn’t have to travel to us. This made for lots of car, train and bike trips all over Cambridgeshire and some great team bonding. 🚗🚲

We first saw our little participants even before they were born - in the third trimester via a 4D ultrasound scan. After birth, each baby could see us several times in their first month, again at 3 months, and then came to the lab at 5 months – a very busy schedule for both
families and our team. We are so grateful to everyone who made time for these visits.💛

Now we just have a final set of online questionnaires when babies are 9 months old, and then data collection for PIPKIN will be complete. Next comes the exciting stage of analysing the data and sharing what we learn. ✨

Huge thank you to:

* The families who welcomed us into their homes and labs visits.

* Our amazing team, P*s, sonographers and research midwives at the Rosie, our alumni, students and visitors who kept everything running through the busiest days. 🙌

We’re also starting a new study, newBONDS, and are looking for babies born in December 2025 – January 2026 to take part. If that’s you or someone you know around Cambridge, please get in touch via email: [email protected]📧

10/12/2025

💥Project Insight Series is back💥

👉Learn from our summer interns about internal operations!
💡Get involved with our by filling out this form: 🔗https://cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_41kzXvqs5Anm5SJ
For internship opportunities, please contact individual research groups

10/12/2025

06/11/2025

Thank you to The For Baby's Sake Trust and the Royal Foundation for a brilliant webinar yesterday on “Early Interactions, Lifelong Impact: Insights and Resources for Parents and Practitioners.”

It was inspiring to learn how the Newborn Behavioural Observations (NBO) and Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) are key tools in the supportive work that The For Baby's Sake Trust does with families.

We also loved seeing the wonderful short videos shared by the Centre for Early Childhood which beautifully illustrate and support babies’ and young children’s development.

You can catch up with the event here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyed0bd0HZM

14/10/2025

Meet our very first newBONDS participant! 💛
 
This little one took part in a home visit where we explored what happens in the baby’s brain during real-life social interaction — all while wearing a soft, baby-friendly neuroimaging headband that helps us understand brain activity🧠✨
 
The session took place in the comfort of the family’s home — we’re so grateful to them for their trust and enthusiasm.
 
The newBONDS study is a small feasibility project led by Dr Borja Blanco at the University of Cambridge, aiming to show that it’s possible to study brain activity in 1–2 month-old babies while they’re awake and interacting naturally.
 
We’re only recruiting 25 families, so places are limited.
If you’re expecting a baby or have a newborn, we’d love to hear from you:
📧 [email protected]
🔗 Or fill in the form linked in our bio!
 

09/10/2025

👶 Are you expecting a baby in 2025 or recently welcomed your little one?

Our new study explores how babies’ brains work during early social interactions💭✨
 
Families in and around Cambridge can choose to see our team at home or in our central Cambridge lab, depending on what’s most convenient.
 
If you’d like to learn more about this new research and how families are getting involved, tap the link in our bio or email us directly at [email protected]💛
 

11/09/2025

On this week introducing Xiangyi Ma, one of our senior research assistants from the Team🎈

In her work, Xiangyi employs EEG - a noninvasive method to visualise electrical activity of our brain 🧠⚡

Learn more about how the auditory processing of social environment lays foundation for successful language acquisition in the first months of baby's life 👆