Dr. Katie Gilligan-Lee (She/Her)
Lab Director
Katie is an Assistant Professor (Ad Astra Fellow) at the School of Psychology, UCD. Katie completed an undergraduate BA in Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin followed by a MPhil in Psychology and Education at the University of Cambridge. She obtained her PhD in Developmental Psychology from University College London (UCL) on the developmental relations between spatial and mathematical skills in middle childhood. Katie worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Surrey from October 2018 to 2022. She joined UCD as an Assistant Professor (and Ad Astra Fellow) in January 2023.
Hannah O'Gorman (She/Her)
Research Assistant
Hannah O'Gorman is a second year undergraduate Psychology student at UCD. She joined the lab in January 2024 as a research assistant working on the Many Numbers project. Hannah has a special interest in Educational Psychology and has previous experience in both teaching and in special needs assisting.
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-g-o-gorman
Jessica Hoskins (She/Her)
Trainee Clinical Psychologist
Jess is a clinical psychology doctorate student at the University of Surrey. Her thesis projects, which Katie is a co-supervisor for, investigate the experience of seeking a diagnosis of ADHD in adulthood, and the mental health outcomes of adults with ADHD.
Andrew Roe (He/Him)
Research Assistant
Andrew is a Research Assistant and MSc student in Behavioural Neuroscience at UCD. He holds a first-class degree in Psychology from Dublin City University.He joined the CDL lab in September 2024 and is currently the lead researcher on the Spatial Interference and Maths Study (SIMS). More generally, he has an interest in all things Neuropsychology and neuroscience.
Faye Darmanin (She/Her)
Research Assistant
Faye is a primary school teacher from Malta visiting on an Erasmus+ exchange. She has particular interest in Educational Psychology, and also works as an assistant to an Educational Psychologist, aiding in report writing and literacy testing. During her time at the CDL lab she has been working on creating parent resources and coding papers for a meta-analysis on ADHD and mental health.
Shannon Rosbotham (She/Her)
Research Assistant
Shannon is PhD candidate in the School of Psychology at UCD, where she is supervised by Dr Katie Gilligan-Lee and Dr. Michelle Downes. She completed a BSc in Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast followed by an MSc in Behavioural Neuroscience at UCD. Shannon is intrigued by how environmental factors can induce structural neurological change in the brain and how this can be applied to an educational setting. Her PhD explores differences in the associations between spatial skills and mathematics across children from different socio-economic status backgrounds.
Niamh Gaynor (She/Her)
Trainee Educational Psychologist
Niamh is a doctoral student in UCD's Educational Psychology program, and will be completing her thesis under the supervision of Dr Katie Gilligan-Lee. She holds a BSc in Psychology and MSc in Psychology and Wellbeing, both from Dublin City University, and has experience working with children and adolescents in clinical settings. Her research to date has focused on mind-wandering and its relationship with psychological outcomes.
_edited.jpg)
Hao Lucy Liu (She/Her)
Postdoctoral Researcher
Lucy Liu (刘好) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Cognition, Development and Learning Lab. Lucy holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Sheffield, and then moved to the University of Pennsylvania where she earned an MSEd in Human Development. Lucy completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of St Andrews in 2022 and worked as a researcher in China before joining UCD in November 2024. In general, Lucy is interested in how children understand knowledge and ignorance between themself and others. She is currently working on the SFI sponsored Junior Engineer Development Initiative (JEDI) project. As part of this project she is investigating Irish children's perception of engineers, and will develop an intervention to promote children's understanding of engineering and engineers.
Alexandra Broderick Khan
Research Assistant
Alex is a research assistant at the Cognitive Development and Learning Lab and is working on the Junior Engineer Development Initiative (JEDI) project. Alex completed a BA in psychological studies and philosophy and an MSc in psychology, both at Maynooth University. Alex has experience in psychology and nursing research, and in educational settings working with children and adolescents.