Dr. Shirley O’Dea is a lecturer in the Department of Biology at Maynooth University where she is Course Coordinator for the Biotechnology Degree and she heads the Cell Engineering Research Laboratory. Dr. O’Dea completed her PhD in lung cancer cell biology at the National Cell and Tissue Culture Centre in Dublin City University. Subsequently, she was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship and a Salvesen Trust Fellowship to study lung regeneration mechanisms and lung gene therapy in the Medical School at Edinburgh University. Upon returning to Ireland, Dr. O’Dea was awarded a Science Foundation Ireland Principal Investigator award to establish her own research group at Maynooth University.

In 2011, Dr. O’Dea co-founded Avectas, a spin-out company from Maynooth University, to commercialise her research into non-viral delivery methods. She served as Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Board Member at Avectas for 10 years and is co-inventor on numerous patents related to the delivery technology. Dr. O’Dea was awarded the Maynooth University Annual Commercialisation Award, 2014 and Avectas won several awards including ‘Biotech Company of the Year’, Pharma Industry Awards, 2021.

Currently, Dr. O’Dea’s research focuses on cell engineering methods for cell therapy applications. She also serves as Member of the Education and Training Working Group of the National Cell and Gene Therapy Forum  and is a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT).