John Mulvihill

John Mulvihill is an Associate Professor at the University of Limerick, affiliated with the School of Engineering and the Bernal Institute. His research focuses on traumatic brain injury (TBI), particularly concussion mechanisms and biomarker identification for diagnosis. He contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 (Good Health) and 4 (Education).

Education: PhD (2013), Graduate Diploma in Teaching (2018). Awards include the ELEVATE Marie-Curie Fellowship (2014) and Innovative Student Engineer Award (2009).

Research Interests:

• Mechanisms of protein leakage through the blood-brain barrier post-concussion
• Biomarker discovery for TBI diagnostics
• Cellular responses in Alzheimer’s Disease
• Biomechanical analysis of soft tissues

Publications: Over 59 research outputs, including work on leptomeningeal cell signaling and 3D-printed hydrogels. Recent trends emphasize neuroinflammation, nanoparticle drug delivery, and sports injury biomechanics.

Awards: Highlighted achievements include grants from New Foundations (2012) and fellowships supporting interdisciplinary work.

Advising & Grants: Actively supervising PhD students and leading projects on diagnostic device development. Collaborates across sports medicine and urology for translational research.

Labs/Teams: Active in the Bernal Institute’s biomaterials and neuroscience groups, advancing medical device prototyping and in vitro disease modeling.