Profile

I studied science in college and finished my PhD in genetics at Trinity College Dublin. I now pursue my own research interests as a research fellow.

I used to play keyboards in bands on the radio, electric picnic and other festivals and on Spotify. I recently gave it up to focus on some cool ongoing research.

I support open-source science, such as free access to scientific articles and access to designs for building your own DIY lab equipment. I spent a lot of my free time 3D printing things for the lab to allow us to do new experiments or to make things easier.

Genetic therapy development usually involves engineering a virus to have a new job. We take out any bad bits and replace it with our own genetic sequences. From there we test it to see how well it works and make sure its safe. If it all works as expected, we write up and publish our findings or write a patent to claim the new technology. I work at all stages of this development. I design and test the sequences in the lab, make the virus and test the virus in the lab in cells or in animals. I then usually write up the data and present it to people we work with or potential investors.

Luckily my work is flexible in that I do not have to be in for a certain time every day, however it is instead usually determined by the experiments as they might need attention at certain times. As a research fellow my time is split between experimenting in the lab and planning/organising/writing in my office. I also help out colleagues and other students who are working on similar projects and chat about ideas.

I work in the city centre so I get lunch somewhere different everyday which is nice. Home time normally depends on what experiments I have set up that day, but everyday is different and it doesn’t get boring!