Associate Professor Michelle Downes, Lab Director
Michelle is an Associate Professor and Ad Astra Fellow at UCD School of Psychology. Before joining UCD, Michelle completed her PhD in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London and further training in London and Boston. Her research has primarily focused on brain and cognitive development in typically developing children and paediatric patient populations.
Michelle established the UCD Babylab to investigate the impact of disease-related and environmental factors, such as sleep, digital technology and family function, on executive function and learning development in infants and young children.
Some of Assoc. Prof Downes’ recent publications can be found here!
Abigail (Abby) O’ Connell, PhD Student and Lab Member
Abigail is a second-year PhD candidate in the School of Psychology at University College Dublin (UCD), supervised by Associate Professor Michelle Downes. She holds a BSc in Psychology from UCD and an MSc in Clinical Neuroscience from the University of Galway.
Abigail’s research interests lie in developmental neuropsychology, with a particular focus on early childhood. Her MSc dissertation examined the relationship between parental bonding, inflammatory biomarkers, and cognitive outcomes in adulthood—an experience that deepened her passion for neuroscience and shaped the direction of her current research. She is now pursuing her PhD as part of the ECHO project, which investigates the neurocognitive development of infants prenatally exposed to e-cigarettes.
As an active member of the UCD Babylab, Abigail is heavily involved in research exploring how early life experiences influence brain and cognitive development. In addition to her research, Abigail is currently serving on the International Neuropsychology Society’s student committee.
Tobias Constien, PhD Student and Lab Member
Tobias is a PhD candidate with the School of Psychology at UCD under the supervision of Assoc. Prof Michelle Downes. He is a trained dramatherapist (Nürtingen-Geislingen University) and a graduate from the Psychology Conversion Course at Trinity College Dublin and the Master of Psychological Science at UCD.
Tobias is interested in the multifaceted benefits of play and imagination to children’s development and health, which has brought him from his work in dramatherapy to Psychology and ultimately to the UCD Babylab. His PhD is titled the TEDDY project, and is focused on the association of children’s pretend play and their cognitive development, specifically executive functions, in the toddlerhood period.
Assistant Professor Áine Ní Choisdealbha, Lab Member
Áine is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist and an Assistant Professor at University College Dublin. Her research focuses on how the development of new motor skills in infancy helps infants to interact with the social and physical worlds around them. She uses multiple methods to understand the role of the motor system in early development, including EEG, eye-tracking, motion capture, and observational methods.
Áine has worked at developmental research centres all over the world, including the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington in the US; the Centre for Neuroscience in Education at the University of Cambridge and the Infant and Child Development Lab at Lancaster University in the UK; and the Baby & Child Research Centre at Radboud University in the Netherlands. At UCD, Áine is investigating how babies use their own bodies, actions, and motor skills to understand and relate to other people. You can find out more here.
Evija Colton, Lab Member
Evija is a final-year BSc Psychology student at University College Dublin (UCD). Her research interests centre on early childhood development and cognition, with a particular focus on how parent-child interaction, autonomy support, and early caregiving environments influence children’s cognitive development.
Evija’s final-year research project, conducted as a part of the TEDDY Study at the UCD Babylab, explores the role of parental playfulness in toddler’s executive function and pretend play. She is currently working as a Research Assistant on the TEDDY Study, contributing to data collection and behavioural coding of parent-child interactions.
She also has professional experience in healthcare market research and childcare support, complementing her academic focus on early developmental psychology.
Shannon Rosbotham, PhD Student and Lab Member
Shannon is a PhD candidate in the School of Psychology at UCD, where she is supervised by Dr Katie Gilligan-Lee and Associate Professor Michelle Downes. She completed a BSc in Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast, followed by an MSc in Behavioural Neuroscience at UCD.
Shannon’s research focuses on cognitive development during middle childhood, with a particular interest in educational neuroscience. Her PhD investigates the relations between spatial cognition and mathematical performance, and examines how environmental factors, such as socioeconomic status, may influence this relation.
She is currently exploring the strategies children use when completing standard spatial ability tasks, combining eye-tracking technology with think-aloud protocols to gain deeper insight into the cognitive processes involved.
Elena Pavalachi, Lab Member
I am a master’s student in Behavioral Neuroscience at University College Dublin (UCD). I completed a BSc in Liberal Arts & Sciences, majoring in Cognitive Neuroscience at Tilburg University.
Throughout my Bachelors, I pursued a multidisciplinary approach by combining a minor in clinical psychology with courses in Endocrinology and Infectious Diseases & Global Public Health. My dissertation explored whether selective speech adaptation occurs at a peripheral level.
I am passionate about neuropsychology, particularly about understanding how motor and cognitive processes interact across the lifespan, from their development to their impairment in neurological disorders.
Shujie Wu, Lab Member
Shujie is a master’s Psychology student here at UCD. Joining in the ECHO project, he is supervised by Associate Professor Michelle Downes and Abigail O’ Connell. He majored in Psychology at University of Twente with a minor Neurobiology at University of Amsterdam.
Shujie is interested overall in how physical health and mental health affect and correspond with one another. More specifically, he aims to better understand and support individuals with neuropsychological conditions. As part of his work on the ECHO study, he will focus on exploring the potential impact of prenatal e-cigarette exposure’s on the toddlers’ language development.
Past Lab Members
Postdoctoral Researchers
Dr. Nabil Hasshim, currently lecturing at University of Salford
PhD Students
Dr. Jennifer Keating, currently a research associate at Cardiff University
Dr. Lisa Keenan, currently a research associate at Dublin City University
Dr. Clara Sherlock, currently a researcher at CHI Temple Street
Dr. Alice Bazzurro, currently a researcher at University of Genoa
Interns
Rosie Rogers
Basak Ozkara
Anna Collins
Kathy Trinh
Tom Herrnsdorf
Clinical Doctorate
Dr. Rebecca Gaffney
Research Assistants
Sarah Conroy
Maria Dinca
Emma Cullen
Students
2024-2025
Ella Byrne, MSc Behavioural Neuroscience
Theodora Coroliuc, MSc Behavioural Neuroscience
Florencia Sandoval Gomez, MSc Behavioural Neuroscience
Joanna Kelly, MPsychSc
Past Students
Maisie Flynn, MPsychSc
Olivia Wynne, MPsychSc
Michelle Nevin, MPsychSc
Marion Gildea, Undergraduate
Ibak Baky, Undergraduate