Principal Investigator
Tomás J. Ryan, PhD
Associate Professor
School of Biochemistry & Immunology
Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institutes
& Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience
Trinity College Dublin (TCD)
Honorary Senior Research Fellow
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
University of Melbourne, Australia
Email / ResearchGate / Google Scholar / Twitter / Profile
Staff Members
Mariia Yurova
Laboratory Manager
Mariia obtained her B.A. in Neuroscience from Trinity College Dublin. Working previously as a summer research intern in the Ryan lab, she then joined the group for her final year project. The research she completed encompassed investigation of the molecular side of engram cell connectivity. Following graduation, Mariia took on the role of the laboratory manager and research assistant, aiding in one of the lab’s major research topics – specifics of establishing engram cell networks. In her spare time, Mariia enjoys film photography, classic literature and painting.
Postdoctoral Researchers
Clara Ortega de San Luis
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Email / ResearchGate / LinkedIn
Clara holds a B.Sc. in Biology (University of Jaén, Spain). She joined the lab of Dr. Alberto Pascual at the Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (Spain) where she received her M.Sc. and PhD in Neuroscience. During her Ph.D., Clara studied GDNF (Glial-cell derived neurotrophic factor) and its role on Parkinson’s disease physiopathology. She also studied microglial response to hypoxia in the context of Alzheimer’s disease. As a Postdoc in the Ryan Lab, Clara is interested in the molecular basis of memory engram function, to better understand the link between fundamental brain function and memory. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and listening to podcasts.
James O’Leary
Postdoctoral Research Associate
James originally graduated with a B.Sc. in Psychology from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia and an M.Sc. from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He then conducted his Ph.D. in Behavioural Neuroscience in the research groups of John Cryan, Yvonne Nolan and Olivia O’Leary at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. His Ph.D. research focussed on the effects of stress and exercise during adolescence and adulthood on hippocampal neurogenesis and cognition. As a Postdoc in the Ryan Lab, James is interested in the neurobiology of learning and memory throughout development. Outside of the lab James enjoys travelling, reading and is passionate about programming and electronics.
Marius Rosier
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Marius originally graduated with a M.Sc. in Neurosciences and Cognition from the Claude Bernard University in Lyon, France. During Marius’ undergraduate studies, he completed two research internships at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CNRL), working on the involvement of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep on hippocampal plasticity and contextual memory. Marius then gained his Ph.D. from CNRL where his doctoral thesis research was focused on the role of REM sleep on emotional regulation and on remote consolidation of memory. For his post-doctoral research in collaboration with the Palmer Lab (Florey institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne), Marius is interested in studying the modifications of signal integration in engram cells.
Graduate Students
Sarah Power
Graduate Student
Sarah graduated with a B.Sc. in Neuroscience from University College Dublin (UCD) in 2016. She conducted undergraduate research at the Institute of Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry in Ruhr-Universitat, Germany, on the cellular mechanisms underlying aberrant protein folding and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. Following graduation, Sarah worked as a research assistant for the APC Microbiome Institute at University College Cork (UCC) before beginning her current position as a doctoral student in the Ryan Lab. Sarah’s current research focuses on studying the neurobiological mechanisms of memory storage across development. In her personal time, Sarah likes to sail, swim, and travel.
Antoine Harel
Graduate Student
After obtaining a B.Sc. in Life Sciences from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) in Paris, France, Antoine joined the two-year international Dual Masters in Brain and Mind Sciences programme at University College London (UCL), U.K. In Hugo Spier’s research group at UCL he studied spatial cognition and memory in humans. He then worked on Sidney Weiner’s team at Collège de France in Paris. There, he researched learning and cognitive flexibility at the scale of neuronal networks in freely moving rats, using electrophysiological techniques. Antoine’s primary scientific interest and the focus of his Ph.D. research in the Ryan Lab is the biology of memory formation and maintenance, and how these mechanisms relate to behaviour. In his free time, Antoine enjoys travelling, listening to podcasts, hiking and running.
Livia Autore
Graduate Student
Livia completed her bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences in Andrea Mele’s lab (La Sapienza – University of Rome) working on the behavioural differences of massed and spaced learning in spatial memory. Then in 2017 she received her MSc with a research project focused on the role of the offline communication between the hippocampus and the ventral-striatum in spatial memory consolidation. After spending 8 months working as a research engineer in the Epsztein lab (INSERM) in Marseille, she joined the Ryan group as a PhD student in 2018. Her research now focuses on the behavioural and biological substrates of extinction learning and memory. During free time she enjoys travelling, listening to music, cooking and sports.
Erika Stewart
Graduate Student
Erika graduated with a B.A in Neuroscience from Trinity College Dublin. Her final year research project focused on investigating the impact of inflammatory driven glial metabolites on neuronal integrity and synapse formation. Since graduating, Erika spent some time working as a research intern in Trinity Biomedical Science Institute (TBSI) before joining the lab of Dr. Lorina Naci in the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN) as a research assistant working on the PREVENT Dementia Neuroimaging project. In 2020 she joined the Ryan lab as a PhD student and her research focuses on the investigation of memory engrams across development. Outside of the lab, she enjoys climbing, hiking and travelling.
Paul Conway
Graduate Student
Paul graduated with a B.A. in Neuroscience from Trinity College Dublin. For his final year project he joined the Ryan and Ramaswami labs to investigate the variation in innate olfactory behaviour of the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup and how this may be modified by learning. In the summer of 2019, he joined the Walsh lab in Ulster University to investigate how changes in DNA transcriptional regulation are implicated in mental health disorders. Paul joined the Ryan Lab as a PhD student in 2020 to research how instinctive behaviours can be modified by experience and how instincts can evolve. In his free time, Paul enjoys Taekwondo, rock climbing and coding.
Andrea Muñoz Zamora
Graduate Student
Andrea originally graduated with a M.Sc. in Neuropsychology and a Research M.Sc. in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. After graduating, she spent a year at the laboratory of Dr. Christine Denny (Columbia University, New York) investigating how multiple memories are co-stored in the brain. Andrea joined the Ryan lab in 2020 and is interested in studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie instincts, memory and learning. Andrea likes to dream big with regards to science in general and is passionate about promoting underrepresented minorities and women in science. In her free time, Andrea loves cooking and sharing good food with friends and family, yoga and coffee.
Past Members
Lydia Marks
Lab Manager
Maurizio Pezzoli
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Alumni
Hugh Delaney
Undergraduate Student
Hugh is in his final year studying Biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin. During the summer of 2017 he was an Amgen scholar at Institut Pasteur in Paris. He studied a novel protein shown to be involved in the regulation of recycling endosomes. Hugh is doing his final year research project in the Ryan lab where he is working with Dr. Clara Ortega-de San Luis on the molecular basis of memory storage. Outside of science Hugh enjoys playing the piano and sport.