Cliona O’Farrelly is an Irish immunologist, with a background in comparative, liver and cancer immunology, focuses on the innate immune response to viruses to identify new or improved therapeutic strategies to control resistance to viral infection.
[1] As a child living in Adare, County Limerick, Ireland, O’Farrelly hoped to study architecture at Trinity College, but because that major wasn't offered at the College, chose science instead and earned her BS and PhD in immunology.
[3] In 2007, O’Farrelly joined the faculty at Trinity College where, she was named Professor of Comparative Immunology at the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute with a leading role in finding immune response therapies for viruses, including COVID-19.
[4][5] She has conducted collaborations with National Liver Centre SVUH, National Fertility Clinic, Holles Street Hospital, Cancer Institute at Trinity College Dublin, along with international research at MIT, Harvard University, Pasteur Institute and Moffite Cancer Center in Florida.
Candidates are elected to these lifetime positions for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements throughout their careers.