My current role is Head of Strategic Research Award Life Cycle in the College of Business, Public Policy, and Law at University of Galway. I lead a team responsible for the expansion of research activity and impact across the College's three Schools. Prior to this role, I was a Senior Research Support Officer in the University's Research Office. I actively help researchers locate, plan for, and apply for research funding. Attached to this, I also assist researchers with a variety of the resources required to manage their research projects and personnel.

I moved to University of Galway (then NUI Galway) in 2007 while completing my doctoral work in the Molecular and Cellular Biology program at Arizona State University. My scientific research has focused on complex sugar structures (oligosaccharides and polysaccharides) and how they function in a variety of biological systems. Because they are part of every living organism, these complex sugars are vital to many aspects of health and often display variations under the influence of infection, disease or environmental stress. I have worked with carbohydrates in a variety of pursuits across glycomics, proteomics, biosensing and the development of high-throughput screening and analysis techniques. As a member of the Advanced Glycoscience Research Cluster (AGRC), I was involved in academic collaborations as well as industrial partnerships with companies including Randox and Bristol-Myers Squibb. I participated in the Centre for Bioanalytical Sciences (CBAS), an international academic-industrial partnership, where I worked primarily on the rapid detection of minute quantities of enzymes in complex media. I also discovered and characterized fungal enzymes which facilitate the selective removal of oligosaccharides from proteins. As part of the Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI), I have studied the glycobiology of extracellular vesicles (including exosomes) and their potential as diagnostic and prognostic indicators of renal health through an HRB-funded project with members of Mayo Clinic and a Science Foundation Ireland TIDA. I was also involved in the launch of Aquila Bioscience, Ltd., a spinout life-science company from University of Galway.

As a biologist with experience spanning biochemistry and chemical biology, my research interests have always been diverse. General areas of interest include: Extracellular vesicles; Glycoconjugate characterization; Identification and control of pathogens; Novel carbohydrate-specific enzymes; Enhancement of data sets for cross-discipline access and transfer; Affinity-based analysis methods; Biosensors and applications of biosensing