Geraldine is a native of Cork and graduated from University College Cork where she obtained herB.A. (Hons) in Applied Psychology and Ph.D. in Psychology.Geraldine is a behavioural psychologist and her expertise lies in the broad area of neurodevelopmental conditions especially autism and intellectual disability.Her research focuses on the expansion of our understanding of the autism spectrum and thereby enhancing the life experience and potential of individuals with autism and their families.She studies autism across the lifespan with an emphasis on increasing the quality of life of children, adolescents, and adults through evidence-based research.She also conducts interdisciplinary research and has established a range of important research partnerships and collaborators, nationally and internationally.She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in the leading journals in her field.At the University of Galway, she is the Director of the Irish Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Research (ICAN) which is located at the Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS). Geraldine is a Principal Investigator in a EUUS led project called GEMMA (Genome, Environment, Microbiome, and Metabolome in Autism) which wasawarded 14.2m funding by the EU. She also leadsan interdisciplinary COST network of 135 researchers from 43 countries dedicated to increasing access to education and employment for people with disability using Assistive Technology (AT).

Geraldines research interests lie in area of autism spectrum disorder, rare neurodevelopmental conditions and intellectual disability. Geraldine conducts research into the epidemiology, assessment and treatment of autism spectrum disorder. She is especially interested in the study comorbid conditions and how they affect the primary diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. She also conducts interdisciplinary research primarily concerned with improving the quality of life of individuals with a diagnosis of autism spectrum and with an intellectual disability.

I established Irelands first MSc programme in Applied Behaviour Analysis in 2006. The programme provides professional-level education in the field of applied behaviour analysis to practitioners and researchers seeking careers in the area of autism spectrum disorder and other disabilities. To date 120 students have graduated from this programme and are employed in a range services. The programme is accredited by the internationally recognised Behaviour Analyst Certification Board (BACB). My teaching interests lie in the areas of Applied Behaviour Analysis and Autism Spectrum Disorder.