Dr. McGourty is a lecturer in the Chemical Sciences department at the University of Limerick (UL). Kieran undertook his undergraduate studies at UL, in Industrial Biochemistry, where he worked with Dr. Jakki Cooney and Dr. Todd Kagawa. In 2006, motivated by these experiences, he went on to attain a Wellcome Trust funded PhD working with Prof. David Holden FRS, Imperial College London, studying the molecular basis of infection. During this time, Kieran published several high impact papers on the intracellular interaction of Salmonella Typhimurium with the host before changing field from cellular microbiology to cell biology. His research group primarily focusses on the architectures of both diseased and healthy tissues. They are particularly interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms behind cellular quiescence, proliferation, and differentiation and how these fundamental cellular behaviors can be governed by microenvironmental interaction. This research focus is a culmination of his research experience to date in some of the world’s top institutions and utilizes a multidisciplinary combination of approaches, including multidimensional spatial ‘omics’ analysis, image cytometry, biomechanical characterization, flow cytometry and in vitro scaffold design in addition to standard biochemistry.