David Patrick O'Connell

Dr David O’Connell is Director of Research Support & Policy at University College Cork with a remit to enable research activity, and enhance its quality and impact, through the delivery of an effective research support function.

David is a member of a number of advisory groups and contributes to research and innovation policy nationally and internationally, including serving as Co-Lead of Ireland’s CoARA National Chapter (with Dr Sally Smith, TCD). David also co-chaired Ireland’s National Open Research Forum (NORF) Incentives & Rewards Working Group, and contributed to the development of the National Action Plan for Open Research. Currently, he is co-PI on a NORF-funded project to incentivise Open Research practices in Ireland and, with Dr Martin Galvin, is co-PI on the Horizon Europe project, CATALISI, which seeks to support Higher Education Institutions to successfully implement strategies and individual pathways for institutional transformation through the adoption of acceleration services.

Prior to joining UCC, David launched and become the first Chief Editor of Nature Microbiology, the world leading scientific publication in the disciplines of microbiology and infectious diseases. He was also a contributing Editor at the weekly magazine, Nature, and established and managed a major collaboration with the WHO focused on neglected infectious diseases in the developing world. Prior to his appointment at Nature, David served as Chief Editor of the Cell Press/Elsevier review journal, Trends in Microbiology and was subsequently appointed as a Managing Editor of the Trends family of journals.

David graduated with a PhD in Biochemistry from University College Dublin and the University of Calgary, which was followed by a period of postdoctoral research, as a Wellcome Trust Fellow, at Trinity College Dublin and Texas A&M University.