I'm a PhD researcher in the School of Psychology at University College Dublin. My research is funded by the Irish Research Council and investigates cognitive reserve and cognitive functioning in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). I conduct this research in cooperation with a university hospital.
I am excited about research with real life applications and impact. I believe that science has to be shared and discussed beyond the lab and lecture hall. Please get in touch if you'd be interested in a science communication collaboration - and check out my blog for updates on my research and PhD life!
PhD in Psychology funded by the Irish Research Council (2022 - current)
- I’m a PhD researcher at the School of Psychology, based in University College Dublin. I investigate the impact of cognitive reserve on cognitive functioning in people with multiple sclerosis. My PhD research is supervised by Prof Jessica Bramham and Dr Fiadhnait O’Keeffe.
MSc in Behavioural Neuroscience (2021 - 2022)
- Prior to my PhD, I completed a MSc in Behavioural Neuroscience in UCD. My master’s research focused on the role of pre-MS cognitive functioning in explaining differences between self-reported cognitive difficulties and cognitive assessment in people with multiple sclerosis. My MSc research was supervised by Prof Jessica Bramham and Dr Fiadhnait O’Keeffe, and published in the Journal of Neuropsychology (open access article).
MA in Psychology (2017 - 2021)
- I began my studies in Psychology as an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh. Here, I became increasingly interested in the intersection of Psychology and Neuroscience. My undergraduate thesis explored cognitive reserve and semantic knowledge as independent predictors of cognitive estimation task performance in healthy older adults. This research was supervised by Dr Sarah E MacPherson.
Awards
- Winner of the 2023 Psychological Society of Ireland Division of Neuropsychology Early Career Award
- Irish Research Council 2022 Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship of €82,500
- Runner-up prize for best poster at the 2022 All-Ireland & Northern Ireland MS Research Network Symposium
- Commended for the 2022 Psychological Society of Ireland Division of Neuropsychology Early Career Award
- Nominated for the Margaret Donaldson Prize for best undergraduate dissertation poster
Skills
- Project design and management
- Participant recruitment, data collection and management
- Data analysis using R, SPSS, and Excel
- Research dissemination via articles, conferences, and science outreach
- Teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level
- Interdisciplinary and cross-institutional collaboration
