Headshot of Cian O’Donnell.

Cian O’Donnell

Lecturer in data analytics
Ulster University

Cian O’Donnell is a computational neuroscientist and lecturer in data analytics at Ulster University. His group works on the mechanisms of learning and memory, autism, and developing statistical methods for neuroscience data.

He earned his B.Sc. in applied physics at Dublin City University, followed by his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in neuroinformatics at the University of Edinburgh. He spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, before returning to the United Kingdom in 2015 as a lecturer and then senior lecturer at the University of Bristol. In 2021, he moved to Ulster University in Derry, Northern Ireland.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of proliferating neural cells.

Diverse autism genes derail common developmental pathways

Multiple genetic mouse models initially show delayed cortical development, but the animals’ molecular trajectories diverge within weeks after birth, a new study finds.

By Holly Barker
8 July 2026 | 5 min read
Brain scans showing sex-based activation differences.

Brain’s sex differences are subtle and contradictory, large MRI study finds

Sex-based behavioral differences do not match with variations in brain activation or structure in a study of almost 1,000 people.

By Lauren Schenkman
8 July 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of autism-linked gene PTEN changes in neurons.

A consensus on the definition of profound autism, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 5 July.

By Sarah Thau
7 July 2026 | 2 min read