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I was formerly a principal research officer in the Irish National Food and Agriculture Authority, Teagasc based in Grange, Trim, Co. Meath from 2009-2020. Pictured is the new Animal & Bioscience Research Department building which opened in 2012.
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Prior to starting my own group, I was a postdoctoral researcher in the Comparative Immunology laboratory, run by Professor Cliona O' Farrelly.
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Between my PhD and moving to TCD, I was a postdoctoral researcher with Professor Cliona O' Farrelly in St. Vincent's University Hospital.
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During my postdoctoral studies with Professor Cliona O' Farrelly, I got to work in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Research Organisation (VIDO) in Canada. Here we worked on Campylobacter infection in chickens - the most prevalent cause of food poisoning worldwide! |
During my PhD in UCD with Professor David MacHugh, I received some training in the laboratory of Professor Paul Coussens in Michigan State University, where I learnt the trade of working on microarrays. We subsequently used these arrays to study Trypanosomiasis (see below) and TB (for my own PhD).
Also during my PhD, I got to travel to the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya. We were working on a disease called Trypanosomiasis (also known as sleeping sickness) which affects both cattle and humans.
The Bos indicus subspecies of cattle (pictured) are favored by African farmers but are susceptible to this disease.
During my undergraduate days in Animal Science In UCD, I spent a period of work experience in Dairygold AI station looking after the AI bulls. This involved daily mucking out and 'sample' collection!
I did get to look after this guy - Galtee Merci (left), not only one of the quietest Holstein-Friesian bulls ever, but was one of the first Irish-registered artificial insemination (AI) bulls to be used in this country.
His death (aged 15) in February 2000, he made the Irish Times, which referred to him as the Hero of Irish agriculture, and left over 100,000 offspring on farms around Ireland.
I did get to look after this guy - Galtee Merci (left), not only one of the quietest Holstein-Friesian bulls ever, but was one of the first Irish-registered artificial insemination (AI) bulls to be used in this country.
His death (aged 15) in February 2000, he made the Irish Times, which referred to him as the Hero of Irish agriculture, and left over 100,000 offspring on farms around Ireland.