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Olivia O'Leary

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Olivia O'Leary

Professor (Scale 2)

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9171-2032
20042026

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

Professor Olivia O'Leary is Director of the BSc Neuroscience Programme, and a Principal Investigator in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience and the APC Microbiome Ireland Research Institute. Olivia graduated with a BSc in Biotechnology, NUI, Galway, followed by an MSc in Neuropharmacology at the same institution.  She was a visiting scholar for over three years at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, where she conducted her PhD research in behavioural neuropharmacology.  This was followed by postdoctoral research at the Neuroscience Centre at the University of Helsinki where her research was focused on the role of neuronal plasticity in pathophysiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders.  Subsequently, Olivia was awarded a prestigious Career Development Award from the Health Research Board to conduct her research at the School of Pharmacy, University College Cork, where she was appointed as lecturer in 2011.  Olivia then joined the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience as a lecturer in 2012, followed by promotion to Senior Lecturer, and subsequently Professor. 

Research Interests

Olivia leads a research group focused on determining the effects and consequences of psychological stress on the brain and identifying the biological mechanisms and factors that determine vulnerability or resilience to stress-induced depression, anxiety, and cognitive dysfunction. Her research programme has increased understanding of  how antidepressant drugs exert their therapeutic  effects (e.g. Science PMID:18420937; PNAS PMID:15148402; Psychoneuroendocrinology PMID:18977602) and has identified novel biological mediators of stress resilience including FKBP51 (Mol Psych PMID: 36104438) and the GABAB1 receptor (PNAS PMID: 25288769). Much of her research programme focuses on the role of the hippocampus area of the brain and neurogenesis (the production of new neurons) as a cellular mediator of stress, anxiety, antidepressant action, and learning & memory. How the hippocampus has functions as diverse as memory and antidepressant action is not understood, but research in her lab has shown that neurogenesis specifically in the ventral region but not the dorsal region of the hippocampus, plays a key role in responses to stress and antidepressants (e.g. Mol Psych PMID: 32709996). Her research also discovered that the gut microbiome and neural signalling from the gut to the brain regulates hippocampal neurogenesis (Biol Psych PMID: 25700599; PMID: 29426666), findings that led to her 2020 Citation Award from the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Olivia's RI-funded research is focused on determining the mechanisms underlying the microbiota -gut-neurogenesis axis and the implications that this has for cognitive function and stress-related psychiatric disorders. Her current research programme also investigates interactions between stress, the gut microbiota and female brain health (cognition, anxiety, depression) during hormonal transition periods of life (puberty, post-partum, menopause, e.g. PMID: 36532376) which may potentially explain the higher susceptibility of females to stress-related psychiatric disorders when compared with their male counterparts.  

Olivia's research has been published in high-impact journals including PNAS and Science.  In addition, Olivia has been the recipient of several awards from international professional societies including  the 2015 most outstanding Junior Faculty Award from the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society (IBANGS), The Rafaelsen Young Investigators Award from the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2011) and the Fellowship Award from the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP; 2010), as well the career development award from the Health Research Board Ireland (2008-2011). Olivia was also honoured with the 2020 ECNP Citation Award. 

In addition to her teaching and research activities, Olivia is an expert reviewer for >90 international journals and >20 international funding agencies. She is on the Editorial Board for 7 ResearchInternational Journals, acts as an external examiner for PhD thesis (e.g. Kings College London, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), India, Aarhus University). She is a Judge for Ireland's Life Science Industry Awards (2023, 2024, 2025). 

Olivia is a member of several UCC committees focused on teaching, research, and the postgraduate research student experience, at departmental, school, college and university levels. 

Teaching Activities

PROGRAMME DIRECTOR (2023-present):

  • BSc Neuroscience
  • Intercalated BSc (Hons) Degree (Anatomy or Neuroscience) 

UNDERGRADUATE: 

Module Coordinator & Lecturer: 

  •  AN3004 Human regional neuroanatomy
  • AN4012 Medical imaging and biomedical devices in the neurosciences
  • AN4011 Research Project
  • AN4015 Work Placement
  • MD1205 Principles of Human Structure for Practitioner Paramedics
  • MD1206 Topographical Anatomy for Practitioner Paramedics
  • MD3012 Principles of Human Structure for Practitioner Paramedics
  • MD3015 Topographic Anatomy for Practitioner Paramedics
  • MD2005 Principles of Human Structure for Practitioner Paramedics
  • MD2006 Topographic Anatomy for Practitioner Paramedics
  • AN1063 Anatomy of Exercise (Academic Years 2012-2023)

 Co-ordinator & Lecturer of Neuroanatomy component of:

  • AN2006 Neuroanatomy and embryology for dental students
  • AN2060 Developmental neuroanatomy for occupational therapy
  • AN2061 Neuroanatomy and embryology for speech and language therapy

Lecturer:

  • AN4014 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
  • AN4013 Advanced Topics in Neuroscience
  • AN3013 Neurobiololgy of Disease
  • AN2020 Introduction to Neuroscience, the Brain and Behaviour

Supervisor:

  • AN3011 Library project (2012 - 2021, 2023 - present)
  • AN4011 Research Project (2012 - present)
  • MX5091 Research Project and Elective Practice

POSTGRADUATE:

MSc thesis Supervisor:

  • AN6010 Research Dissertation (MSc in Human Anatomy)
  • MB6303 Dissertation ( MSc Bioinformatics and Computational Biology)
  • ML6001 Molecular Cell Biology Research Dissertation (2015-2018)

Previous Teaching Contributions:

  • ML6002 Biological and Clinical Perspectives of Human Disease.
  • Prior to my appointment to my current position, I was a lecturer in pharmacology in the School of Pharmacy (UCC) and an ad-hoc lecturer in the Dept. of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (UCC) during which time I taught various aspects of pharmacology to Medical students (direct entry and graduate entry), Pharmacy students, Science students and Dental Hygiene students, and I supervised 4th Yr Pharmacy undergraduate research projects (PF4004 Pharmacy Project). I was module co-ordinator for two modules [PT4005 (Neuropharmacology), PT3445 (Systems Pharmacology)] and contributed to four other modules [FM3003 (Foundations of Medicine: Fundamentals of Therapy); PT3001 (Introduction to Pharmacology), PT4005 (Neuropharmacology), PT3445 (Systems Pharmacology)].

CURRENT POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH STUDENTS:

  • Julia Jaz (2025-2026, MSc Student)
  • Amiee Cronin (2023-2027, PhD student)
  • Ana Ahktar (2024 - 2028, PhD student)
  • Almas Khan (2022-2027, PhD student)
  • Ketki Mulay (2022-2026, PhD student)
  • Maria Caruso (2021-2025, PhD Student)

UCC Futures (primary)

  • Food, Microbiome and Health

Other research affiliations

  • Biosciences Imaging Centre
  • UCC Futures - Future Ageing and Brain Science

PhD Supervision

  • Available for PhD supervision

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  2. SDG 4 - Quality Education
    SDG 4 Quality Education

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