Anne Parle-McDermott is Professor in Genetics at the School of Biotechnology and is currently Head of School and the DCU Biotechnology Lead for Biodesign Europe. She is Principal Investigator of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory and a PI of the National Institute of Cellular Biotechnology and the Water Institute. Her research interests are in the complementary areas of functional genetics as it relates to human health and the application of DNA-based methodologies for diagnostics and biosensor development. She teaches a range of modules on Eukaryotic genetics and genomics and associated nucleic acid based molecular technologies.