Claire Gillan, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychology

Prevention has to be the focus in brain health research, we can achieve this through the dissemination of basic research.

Current Work

Claire brings expertise in psychology, neuroscience and data science to GBHI and is well-known for her use of internet-based methods to boost sample sizes in brain health research. A key goal of her lab is to identify markers of brain health problems before they arise, to facilitate early intervention.

Personal Hero

My mother

Words of Strength

Working hard

Vision

Prevention has to be the focus in brain health research - that means arming individuals and societies with the facts about how to promote good brain health - using both personal and systemic approaches

Strategy

Claire's lab uses big data techniques like machine learning to try and develop new knowledge about modifiable risk factors for dementia, but also tools that can be used to identify those most at-risk and provide early intervention.

Motivation

Dementia is a global problem of enormous, and growing, scale - with that comes the potential for great inequity in access to invention and treatment. That's why Claire's lab works on developing cost-effective tools, like smartphone applications, which they hope can one day be delivered cheaply and universally around the world.

Education & Experience

Claire received her BA degree in Psychology at University College Dublin in 2009 and her PhD degree in Experimental Psychology from University of Cambridge in 2013. Following this, she was awarded a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship at New York University. In 2017, she started her lab in Dublin and since joining Trinity College Dublin has been awarded several major grants from funders that include MQ: Transforming Mental Health, Science Foundation Ireland, and the Irish Research Council.

New York University
Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship
University of Cambridge
Experimental Psychology
2013
PhD
University College Dublin
Psychology
2009
BA

Awards & Honors

British Association for Psychopharmacology
2015
Young Investigator Award

Featured Publications