Interests
Claire Gillan, PhD
Professor in 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.
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. One way Claire’s lab has achieved this has been through large-scale online engagement. For example, with seed funding from GBHI, the lab launched the Neureka app in 2020 – which has engaged over 28,000 users, who learn about brain health and donate their time to push the needle forward for brain health research.
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 the European Commission, MQ: Transforming Mental Health, Research Ireland and the Health Research Board.
Awards & Honors
Featured Publications
News
Send
Claire
a Note
