Tomás J. Ryan, PhD
Principal Investigator
Assistant 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
Education
Trinity College Dublin (2001 – 2005)
B.A. (Moderatorship) in Natural Sciences: Human Genetics
University of Cambridge (2005 – 2009)
Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Grant Laboratory, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Wolfson College, Cambridge (2009 – 2010)
Junior Research Fellow, Genes to Cognition Program
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (2010 – 2016)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Tonegawa Laboratory
Trinity College Dublin (2016 – Current)
Assistant Professor in Neuroscience
School of Biochemistry and Immunology
Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience
Awards and Funding
- European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant (2017 – 2022)
- Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) President of Ireland Young Investigator Award (2016 – 2021)
- Jacobs Foundation Early Career Research Fellowship (2017 – 2020)
- Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant (2017 – 2021)
- Wellcome Trust PhD Fellowship (2005 – 2009)
Bio
Tomás originally graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2005 with a BA in genetics. He completed his Ph.D. in molecular neuroscience with Seth Grant at the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in 2009. His thesis work was supported by a Wellcome Trust PhD Fellowship. Following a year as Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College, University Cambridge, he relocated to the USA to work as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the group of Susumu Tonegawa (Nobel Laureate, 1987) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (2010-2016). At MIT he was centrally involved in the development of novel genetic methods that allow for the labelling and manipulation of specific memory engrams in the rodent brain. This work was supported by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and RIKEN Brain Sciences Institute, Japan. He started his research group in 2016 at Trinity College Dublin, where he is Assistant Professor of Neuroscience. Tomás also holds a joint faculty position at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His research is supported by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant, a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) President of Ireland Young Researcher Award (PIYRA), and a Jacobs Foundation Fellowship. Outside of science, Tomás’ interests include travel, reading, philosophy, and politics.