Dr Catríona Dowling is a Lecturer in the Department of Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) (profile). She completed her Irish Cancer Society–funded PhD in Cancer Biology at the University of Limerick in 2016. She completed her Irish Cancer Society-funded PhD in Cancer Biology at the University of Limerick in 2016. Following her doctorate, she was awarded highly competitive fellowships through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Global Fellowship and the Irish Research Council. During her Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, she spent two years at NYU Langone Health in New York, contributing to multidisciplinary research projects that resulted in publications in leading journals, including Cancer Cell, Cancer Discovery and Clinical Cancer Research.
Dr Dowling’s research has uncovered a novel role for histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) in regulating cancer metabolism, with findings published in Science Advances and the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. She joined RCSI as a Lecturer in May 2023. Her current research investigates the role of HDAC6 in cancer metabolism, focusing on both cancer cells and immune cells. Her laboratory also explores novel therapeutic strategies for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and investigates the mechanisms underlying treatment response and resistance.
Saoirse Flanagan completed her BSc in Bioscience at the University of Limerick in 2021. Following graduation, she worked in an R&D laboratory developing a novel CAR-T instrument focused on T-cell isolation. This experience sparked her interest in immunology and cancer research and motivated her to pursue a PhD in the field.
Saoirse joined the Dowling Lab in 2022 to undertake an All-Island Cancer Research Institute (AICRI)-funded PhD project titled Identifying Metabolic Vulnerabilities to Design New Treatment Options for Aggressive KRAS-Driven Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Her research aims to improve responses to immunotherapy in patients with KRAS and LKB1 co-mutated NSCLC, a group with limited treatment options. To achieve this, she is developing a novel three-dimensional (3D) co-culture model to investigate how metabolic inhibitors influence T-cell infiltration and interactions within the tumour microenvironment. Through this work, she aims to contribute to the development of therapeutic strategies that improve immunotherapy outcomes for patients with lung cancer.
Ella Kearney completed her BSc in Biomedical Science at the University of Limerick in 2023, graduating with First-Class Honours and receiving the Becton Dickinson (BD) Gold Medal for her final-year project presentation. In 2024, she graduated with distinction from Trinity College Dublin with an MSc in Translational Oncology. During her master’s research, she spent three months in the Dowling Lab investigating the metabolic characteristics of CD8+ T cells in patients with NSCLC.
In September 2024, Ella was awarded a Research Ireland PhD Scholarship and began her doctoral research in the Dowling Lab. Building on her previous research, her project investigates how metabolic alterations in T cells influence responses to immunotherapy. Using advanced techniques, including SCENITH and Seahorse metabolic analysis, she aims to characterise metabolic differences between patients with NSCLC who respond to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) and those who do not. Her research may help identify metabolic vulnerabilities and inform the development of targeted interventions, including metabolic modulators and combination therapies, to improve treatment outcomes.
Dr Sze Ying Tan joined the Dowling Lab in January 2024 as a postdoctoral researcher following the completion of her PhD in Immunology at Maynooth University in 2023. She obtained an MPharm degree in Pharmacy from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, in 2011 and subsequently worked as a pharmacist in Malaysia from 2012 to 2017. She later completed an MSc in Immunology and Global Health in 2018 before pursuing doctoral research focused on the role of Pellino proteins in cells of the adaptive immune system.
Driven by her interest in translational research, Dr Tan joined RCSI to investigate the role of HDAC6 in T-cell function and metabolism in NSCLC. Her research aims to improve understanding of the mechanisms through which HDAC6 influences immune-cell activity in the tumour microenvironment, potentially informing the development of novel therapeutic strategies for lung cancer.
Zhuowen Wang is a StAR PhD student from Soochow University, China, who joined the Dowling Lab in October 2023. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from Jiaxing University in 2019 and his master’s degree in Microbiology and Biopharmaceuticals from Soochow University in 2023. His previous research focused on the structure and function of biomacromolecules.
His current research investigates the role of NPM1 in regulating metabolism in KRAS-mutant NSCLC. By characterising the contribution of NPM1 to this molecular subtype of lung cancer, his work aims to identify potential therapeutic vulnerabilities. As part of his research, Zhuowen will undertake a one-year project at Soochow University, where he will analyse complex crystal structures to investigate NPM1 function and identify potential new therapeutic targets for NSCLC.
Isabel Lynch completed her BSc in Genetics and Cell Biology at Dublin City University in 2024, graduating with First-Class Honours and earning a place on the 2024 Dean’s Honours List. In 2025, she graduated with distinction from Trinity College Dublin with an MSc in Translational Oncology. During her master’s research, she spent three months investigating the role of FKBPL in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and ER-phagy in hepatocellular carcinoma. This experience strengthened her interest in translational cancer research and motivated her to pursue a PhD.
Isabel joined the Dowling Lab in January 2026 to undertake a PhD funded by Precision Oncology Ireland 2 and the Irish Cancer Society (POI-2). Her research focuses on deciphering the mechanisms of resistance in KRAS-driven NSCLC, with particular emphasis on the role of HDAC6 in driving treatment resistance. Through this work, she aims to identify potential therapeutic vulnerabilities and develop novel combination strategies to improve treatment options for patients with KRAS-driven NSCLC.
Dr Vera Lucia Almeida joined the Dowling Lab in May 2026 as a postdoctoral researcher at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She obtained a BSc in Biomedical Engineering from Paulista University in 2014, followed by an MSc in Tropical Medicine and Public Health from the Federal University of Goiás in 2017 and an MSc in Biomedical Device Materials from the University of Limerick in 2020. She subsequently completed an Irish Research Council-funded PhD in Regenerative Medicine at RCSI, investigating therapeutic targets involved in NSCLC metastasis to bone, with a particular focus on extracellular matrix-driven tumour progression and pre-metastatic niche formation.
Dr Almeida’s current research investigates the therapeutic potential of HDAC6 inhibition in brain metastases arising from NSCLC, particularly in KRAS/LKB1- and KEAP1-mutant disease. Her work aims to elucidate how HDAC6 regulates tumour metabolism, oxidative stress responses and antioxidant capacity within the brain metastatic microenvironment. She is also developing physiologically relevant ex vivo models of brain metastasis and applying techniques including flow cytometry, metabolomics, immunoprecipitation LC–MS and in vivo cancer modelling to identify metabolic vulnerabilities and novel therapeutic strategies for metastatic NSCLC.
Shannon Marshall completed her Master of Biomedical Science at Ulster University, graduating with First-Class Honours and distinction. During her master’s programme, she undertook a year-long research scholarship at Indiana University in the United States, where she worked in functional genomics. Her research focused on genome-editing approaches to investigate the mechanisms influencing genome-editing efficiency.
Shannon was awarded a Precision Oncology Ireland PhD scholarship and joined the Dowling Lab as a PhD researcher. Her research investigates the mechanisms underlying immune-related adverse events (irAEs) associated with cancer immunotherapy, with a particular focus on checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis. By integrating patient-derived samples, single-cell approaches and functional validation, she aims to identify the biological mechanisms driving these adverse events and contribute to improving the safety and effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies.
Saoirse Doyle completed her BSc in Chemistry and Biology at Maynooth University in 2024, developing expertise in proteomics and glycan analysis. In June 2024, she was awarded a Breakthrough Cancer Research Summer Scholarship at Dublin City University, where she investigated novel HER2-targeted therapeutic strategies for ovarian cancer. She subsequently completed an MSc in Translational Oncology at Trinity College Dublin in 2025, investigating circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in NSCLC and comparing two novel CTC isolation technologies. This work developed her interest in liquid biopsy approaches for cancer research.
From 2025 to 2026, Saoirse worked as a research assistant in Professor Sulaiman’s laboratory, evaluating host–microbe interactions in lung diseases, including lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with a focus on liquid biopsy sample processing and analysis. In October 2026, she joined the Dowling Lab as a PhD researcher, co-supervised by Dr Dowling and Professor Sulaiman. Her project, titled Defining Microbial Influence on Metabolic Reprogramming in Early-Stage Lung Cancer Progression, investigates how microbial interactions influence metabolic reprogramming during early-stage lung cancer progression, using novel patient-derived organoids (PDOs) as three-dimensional research models.Lab alumni
Robyn – PhD Graduate, 2026
Dr Robyn Stanley first joined the Dowling Lab in 2020 for an eight-week summer studentship funded by the Irish Cancer Society, beginning her research journey in NSCLC. She subsequently joined the laboratory as a PhD researcher in September 2021, supported by Midwestern Cancer.
Her doctoral research investigated a novel drug combination targeting KRAS and HDAC6 in KRAS-driven NSCLC, alongside the mechanistic role of HDAC6 in this cancer subtype. Robyn completed her PhD in 2026, contributing to research exploring potential new therapeutic strategies for patients with KRAS-driven NSCLC.