Niamh Connolly

Niamh Connolly is a Lecturer in the Department of Physiology and Medical Physics at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). She holds a B.E. in Electronic Engineering (UCD, 2004), an MSc in Biomedical Science (NUI Galway, 2009), and a PhD in Physiology from RCSI, where she investigated bioenergetic dysfunction in neuronal excitotoxicity using experimental and computational methods.

Education

• B.E. in Electronic Engineering, University College Dublin (2004)
• MSc in Biomedical Science, National University of Ireland Galway (2009)
• PhD in Physiology, RCSI

Her research focuses on mitochondrial bioenergetic dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. She employs interdisciplinary techniques such as primary cultures, multi-omics, microscopy, biochemical studies, and systems modeling, with recent emphasis on single-cell and spatial multi-omics to explore cell type-specific neurodegeneration. She co-supervised five graduate students and currently supervises three PhD candidates conducting projects on Parkinson’s, epilepsy, and breast cancer. Her work contributes to collaborative initiatives analyzing metabolic dysfunction in neurodegenerative disorders.

Niamh’s scientific publications are accessible via http://bit.ly/2fy5EGt, and she engages in public outreach through seminars on Parkinson’s research in Ireland (https://www.pdmitoquant.eu/general-public/videos/). She also advocates for critical thinking in science through an online article on the value of doubt (2013: http://bit.ly/2eSrwLk) and her career journey is featured on the SFI Smart Futures website (2016: https://bit.ly/3pRBVgU).