| Why did you choose this course? | Being taught by Mr. Nissar and Mr. Burns in Ratoath College, I developed an interest in biology. During the Trinity Open Day, I went to a presentation given by Prof. Kevin Mitchell and decided that I wanted to study human genetics. I was excited by the new technologies he spoke about and the power of genetics to understand and treat disease. I was also drawn to the course as students complete an original research project in their final year, working at the cutting edge of knowledge. | |
| How long is/was the course? | 4 years | |
| Current role / employment: | I have just finished the final year of my undergraduate degree and will graduate with First Class Honours later this year. After graduation, I will begin a PhD in the Bracken lab in Trinity. Over the course of my PhD, I hope to discover new targets for cancer treatment.
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| Best career achievement to date: | I was lucky enough to be awarded the David McConnell Scholarship in Human Genetics. This award allowed me to conduct a research internship in the lab of Prof. Lisa Goodrich in Harvard Medical School. This was a formative experience for me. I was very fortunate to have two brilliant postdoctoral fellows, Evelyn Avilés and Brikha Shrestha, as mentors during my time in Harvard. I learned a lot of hands-on lab skills and about the process of designing experiments to test ideas. The experience certainly has contributed to my decision to pursue a PhD. | |
| Have you any advice for our current students? | Just after finishing my first term in college, I went to a talk given by former astronaut Chris Hadfield. He gave some advice about following your dreams that really stuck with me. The main message I took away is that you will be happy if you work towards your dreams. I just found a short clip of the talk if you’d like to check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbOU-2Elgrk | |
| Best memory of Ratoath College: | Unexpectedly freestyle dancing in front of quite a large crowd of people on the China trip. | |
Dáire Gannon
Name
Dáire Gannon
Age
22
Class of
2014
LC Points:
590
3rd Level Course:
Human Genetics at Trinity College Dublin
