Education & Experience

Education

PhD in Genomics Data Science | University of Galway | Galway, Ireland | Sept 2019 - Dec 2023

I recently completed my PhD which focused on using single-cell gene expression data to investigate novel drug targets in acute myleoid leukemia.

During my PhD I became an expert in many commonly used packages for analyzing single-cell data, including Seurat and scanpy and also tools for pipeline development and containerization. For example, here is a Nextflow pipeline I developed for finding the optimal hyperparameters for integrating multiple single-cell datasets using scVI.

I also gained expertise developing R shiny apps (example here) and R packages (example here).

MSc in Biomedical Genomics | University of Galway | Galway, Ireland | Sept 2018 - July 2019

During my MSc I undertook robust training in all aspects of genomics data analysis and consistently achieved high grades (1.1. overall grade).

I was awarded a scholarship to conduct my MSc research project at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, where I gained my first introduction to single-cell RNA-seq analysis. My project here focused on characterizing transcriptional heterogeneity between tissue-resident macrophage subsets.

BSc in Human Health & Disease | Trinity College Dublin | Dublin, Ireland | Sept 2013 - July 2017

My undergraduate degree provided me with a strong foundation in the field of human biology. I studied the fundamentals of cell structure and function, immunology, genetics, neuroscience and anatomy and physiology. I also conducted a research project entitled “Identification of biomarkers for the biological characterization and diagnosis of Rett Syndrome” under the supervision of Dr Daniela Tropea.

Experience

Visiting Researcher | Max Delbrück Centre | Berlin, Germany | Oct 2022 - Dec 2022

As part of my PhD I completed a three month placement in the lab of Dr Simon Haas at the Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology.

During this placement, I applied RNA velocity methods to characterize heterogeneity in the differentiation potential of hematopoietic stem cell clones.

Visiting Researcher | Wellcome Sanger Institute | Cambridge, UK | May 2019 - July 2019

My MSc research project “Characterizing transcriptional variation between tissue-resident macrophage subsets using single-cell RNA-Seq” was conducted at the Wellcome Sanger Institute under the supervision of Dr Daniel Gaffney, Dr Sarah Teichmann and Dr Pilib Ó Broin.

Here, I conducted an analysis of scRNA-seq data from the Human Cell Atlas consortium to characterize tissue-specific macrophages.

R&D Scientist | airmid healthgroup ltd | Dublin, Ireland | May 2016 - Sept 2018

Both during and after my undergradute degree, I worked in the R&D lab for a contract research organization, mainly on the development of a novel ELISA assay. This job allowed me to develop my wet lab skills and taught me how to plan, conduct and evaluate molecular biology experiments.

Some of my responsibilities here included maintaining the R&D quality control system, feeding and maintaining Cimex lectularius (bed bug) colonies and conducting a week-long field study in the US.