Principal Investigator:

Michael-John Dolan

Mike earned his undergraduate degree in Biology and Applied Maths from Maynooth University and completed his PhD in Neurobiology at the University of Cambridge under Dr. Gregory Jefferis. As part of his PhD, he was a visiting Graduate Fellow at Janelia Research Campus. After a brief postdoc with Dr. Gerald Rubin at Janelia, Mike joined Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute to work on neuroimmunology and genomics under Dr. Beth Stevens and Dr. Evan Macosko.

In 2024, he established his own lab at Trinity College Dublin's Department of Genetics and became an Investigator at the SFI FutureNeuro Research Centre For Translational Brain Research. His work has been recognized with awards such as the Life Science Research Foundation Fellowship (2020), NARSAD Young Investigator Award (2024), a Cure Epilepsy Taking Flight Award (2024), and an ERC Starting Grant (2024).

The Team

  • Nathan Haywood - PhD Student

    Nate earned his B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 2021, he joined Dr. Joshua Levin’s lab at the Broad Institute, focusing on spatial, single-cell, and bulk transcriptomics, developing an atlas of Parkinson’s Disease. Currently, Nate is pursuing his PhD in the Dolan Lab, funded by a Trinity Provost's PhD Award. He is researching how transcription factors drive microglia activation in neurodegeneration. In his free time, he enjoys climbing, cooking, and reading.

  • Kathryn Duff - PhD Student (co-supervised with Matthew Campbell)

    I'm Kathryn, a first year PhD student. I completed my undergraduate degree in Human Genetics at Trinity College Dublin and began my PhD in the Department of Genetics at Trinity College in September 2024. My research focuses on CSF1R, a critical receptor for mononuclear phagocytes. Specifically, I am investigating the differences in CSF1R signaling between microglia and macrophages, particularly in the context of CSF1R mutations.

  • Donia Arafa PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow

    Donia completed a her BSc in Human Health and Disease at Trinity College Dublin, followed by a Master’s in Biomedicine at the Karolinska Institute. She then joined the Wellcome Trust Programme in Tissue Repair at the University of Edinburgh, where she completed her PhD under the supervision of Professor David Lyons. During her PhD, she became fascinated by glia, and used zebrafish to study how oligodendrocytes respond to damage, by live imaging. Keen to understand how other glia, particularly microglia, interact with other cell types in central nervous system injury or disease, Donia moved to Dublin and joined the Dolan lab in 2025 as a postdoctoral researcher. Outside of science, Donia enjoys following Formula One, doing experiments in the kitchen, and spending time with friends and family.

  • Raven Guo - PhD Student (Sept 2025)

    Raven will join the Dolan Lab in September 2025. Their research focuses on the genetic regulation of the dynamic nature of microglia in health and disease. Raven completed an undergraduate degree in Human Genetics at Trinity College Dublin. During their undergraduate studies, they completed an internship at the Stevens lab at the Broad Institute, studying the interferon response of iPSC-derived microglia. When Raven is not doing science, they enjoy reading, gaming, and shooting arrows. It has been peer-reviewed that the archery range is Raven’s second natural habitat.

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