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. 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.
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.
Izadora Fonte Boa, Visiting Researcher and PhD Candidate
Izadora Fonte Boa is a Visiting Researcher at University College Dublin (UCD), hosted by Associate Professor Michelle Downes at the UCD BabyLab and by Dr Huichao Xie in the School of Education. She is a PhD candidate in Child and Adolescent Health at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil. She holds a degree in Psychology, a specialisation in Neuropsychology from the University of São Paulo (USP), and a Master’s degree in Neurology.
Her research focuses on developmental neuropsychology, particularly executive functions, neuropsychological assessment, and early childhood development. Her PhD research focuses on the translation, cultural adaptation, and preliminary validation of the Brazilian version of the Preschool Executive Task Assessment (PETA), an assessment of executive functions for children aged 3 to 5 years. At the UCD BabyLab, she is interested in contributing to research on early cognitive development and executive functioning in young children.
Lieselotte (Lotte) Klemme, Lab Member
I am currently in my final year of the BSc Psychology program at University College Dublin (UCD) and my research interests mostly lie in developmental and clinical neuropsychology.
My final research-project will be conducted as part of the TEDDY Study at the UCD Babylab, under the supervision of Brendan Rooney and Tobias Constien. The project will explore how pretend play develops in toddlers from age 2 to age 3, explicitly focusing on prevalence and complexity of pretend behaviours.
Outside of the university, I volunteer as a daycare assistant at the Dementia Care Centre in Shankill, which has amplified my interest in neuropsychology.
Past Lab Members
Assistant Professor Áine Ní Choisdealbha, currently lecturing at Royal Holloway, University of London
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
Past Students - MSc Behavioural Neuroscience
Megan Swift
Lydia McGee
Elena Pavalachi
Shujie Wu
Ella Byrne
Theodora Coroliuc
Florencia Sandoval Gomez
Past Students - MSc Psychological Science
Joanna Kelly
Guru Chellian Gurunathan
Maisie Flynn
Olivia Wynne
Michelle Nevin
Marion Gildea, Undergraduate
Ibak Baky, Undergraduate