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My research focus is to understand the biomolecular basis of disease, identifying new treatment avenues, and improving patient’s quality of life. Early in my scientific career, it became apparent to me that small-molecule therapies, while extremely effective, often lack the target specificity required to adequately treat disease and remain tolerable for the patient. For me, cancer was a prime example of this, where first-line resistant variants often need second and third lines of small-molecule cocktails, with the likelihood of success decreasing after each subsequent treatment. Working in industry during my undergraduate convinced me that there must be a better way to reduce patient side-effects and improve treatment outcomes, by moving away from systemic administration of small-molecule therapies through the development of more targeted delivery vehicles. After graduating from UCD, I worked with Prof. Dawson’s lab specializing in developing nanotherapeutic vehicles for drug delivery. There I learned that the primary hurdle preventing nanotherapies from entering the clinic is our lack of understanding of how nanoparticle-cell interactions work and how disease develops and progresses at the nanometre scale. This prompted me during my PhD to use light and electron microscopy methods to determine the key interactions which govern treatments at this level. While working with Prof. Subramaniam I developed a wide array of skills to elucidate the source and components of disease across multiple levels of detail, while also quantifying the effects of therapeutics and other interventions on diseased tissues and biomolecules. Currently, I’m using Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) and electron spectroscopy techniques to analyze the elemental composition and distribution in tissues and cells.
Biography
Education
2016 – 2020, PhD with Prof. Subramaniam, University of British Columbia, Canada.
2010 – 2015, BSc (Hons) Chemistry, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Research and Industry Experience
2022 – Present, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Rosalind Franklin Institute, UK.
2020 – 2022, Postdoctoral Research Associate, UBC/Gandeeva Therapeutics, Canada.
2016 – 2020, Wellcome Trust-National Institutes of Health-University of British Columbia PhD Student, USA and Canada.
2015 – 2016, Postgraduate Research Assistant with Prof. Dawson, University College Dublin, Ireland.
2013 – 2014, Process Chemist, APC Ltd., Ireland.
2012 – 2013, Summer Undergraduate Research Assistant with Profs. Albrecht (2012) and O’Shea (2013), University College Dublin, Ireland.
Teaching Experience
2018, Instructor of Record/Adjunct Professor of Medical Genetics module NURS-390 “Concepts in Genetics/Genomics”, Georgetown University, USA.
2017-2018, Lecturer, Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences, USA.
2017, Diploma in “Scientists Teaching Science”, Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences, USA.
2015 – 2020, Teaching Assistant, University College Dublin, Ireland and University of British Columbia, Canada.
Awards and Achievements
2022, Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship (Amount Awarded: EUR 64,000; Declined in favour of PDRA position at Rosalind Franklin Institute).
2020, Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
2020, UBC President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award.
2018-2020, UBC PhD Funding (Amount Awarded: CAD 44,000).
2018-2019, UBC International Tuition Award (Amount Awarded: CAD 6,600).
2018-2019, UBC Faculty of Medicine Award (Amount Awarded: CAD 8,600).
2016-2018, Cancer Research Trainee Award (CRTA) NIH Visiting Fellowship (Amount Awarded: USD 70,000).
2016, Wellcome Trust PhD Studentship (Amount Awarded: EUR 110,000).
2015, UCD Visiting Student Scholarship (Amount Awarded: EUR 3,600).
2011-2013, UCD College of Science Special Recognition Gold Medal for “Leadership in Science Activities…”