Awarded a B.Sc. (Hons) in 1993 and a Ph.D in 1999, both from the Department of Microbiology, UCC. Commenced post-doctoral research in 1998 and remained at UCC until 2006.  Research topics included interactions between Propionibacterium and Lactobacillus, heterologous expression and characterisation of fungal enzymes and the functional genomics of ochratoxin production by Aspergillus and Penicillium species. Moved to Moorepark Food Research Centre, Fermoy, Co. Cork to take up a position as a research officer in 2006 working on the genomics of Lactobacillus helveticus. Returned to UCC in 2009 as a senior research scientist in the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Research Centre (APC) investigating the transcriptional responses of bacterial and epithelial cells in intestinal epithelium models. Returned to Teagasc Moorepark in June 2012 to work as a research officer in the Glycoscience research group mainly using bioinformatic techniques to analyse microarray and glycoarray datasets. Appointed as Technical Officer – Molecular Microbiology in the School of Microbiology UCC in October 2013.  Awarded the Postgraduate certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in 2019.  Commenced current role as Chief Technical Officer in the School of Microbiology in 2023.