Team:Cork Ireland/Team

Our Team

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Our Team

Aoife O'Brien-Horgan

I am a first year medical student and this is my first year partaking in a research project. It has been incredibly inspiring to meet the wonderful people in this community. Over this summer, I aided my teammates with lab work and also had to learn to code, the latter consumed much more of my time! However, I have come to realise that synthetic biology is an area I would love to work in after I finish my studies at university. A random fact about me is that my favourite number is 5!

Amy Keane

I am a second year biomedical science student studying both in University College Cork and Cork Institute of Technology. I have a keen interest in biochemistry and this is the first time I’ve worked on a research project. It has been unlike something I could have imagined as iGEM is so unique. It was under our control and this is something I enjoyed as I felt a real sense of teamwork. Random fact about me is I had my first coffee on the week of the wiki freeze!

Brandon Malone

I am a first year pharmacy student interested in all things science related. Before applying to take part in the iGEM competition, I had never really heard of synthetic biology however I knew I was interested in several areas that fell under the branch of synthetic biology such as metabolic engineering. I was involved in the lab throughout the summer and also was involved in a side chemistry project. When I’m not in the lab, I regularly go to the gym or go for a run.

Donnchadh O’Sullivan

I’m a fourth year medical student currently studying at UCC. I went to Malawi as part of our iGEM outreach. It was an amazing experience and definitely something that I would recommend everyone to do. We investigated the usefulness of our DNA-diagnostics system in a third world hospital laboratory and integrated what I experienced there into our project. It’s great to see a working relationship between clinical experience and lab-work. I also interned at IndieBio where I met some inspirational people changing the world for the better. I seem to be thrown into a world of synthetic biology and I’m happy here! A random fact about me is that I play the bassoon!

Leanne O'Sullivan

I am currently in third year of Biomedical Science at University College Cork & Cork Institute of Technology. This is my second year taking part in iGEM and working with the Basehunter system. I had the opportunity to play a bigger role in lab work this year. I learned last year that engaging with the public and wider scientific community is vital and I got a chance to work on this a lot this year. A random fact about about me is I pull excellent ice cream cones!

Shama Chilakwad

I am a fourth year Genetics student. This is my second year participating in iGEM so I was able to mentor the new team members on various aspects of the iGEM experience. This year I took a different role and I wanted to get more involved with the synthetic biology community in Cork. I did this by interning as Assistant Director with IndieBio, a synthetic biology accelerator that coincidentally takes place on UCC campus over the summer months. By doing this our team had ample opportunity to meet other people with similar scientific interests. Not so fun fact about me is that I HATE sneezing.

Timothy O’Flynn

I am a fourth year Genetics student and it is also my second year participating in iGEM. Like Shama, I also wanted to investigate all the avenues for synthetic biology in Cork. While I was mentoring and helping the team I was also interning for a company called BioCellection who participated in the IndieBio programme. This expanded my lab work experience and I also got to understand how synthetic biology is impacting our world. Random fact about me is that very few people have seen me without my headphones on!