Muireann Irish Explained

Muireann Irish
Alma Mater:	Trinity College Dublin (BS) Trinity College Dublin (PhD)
Birth Place:	Ireland
Workplaces:	University of Sydney

Muireann Irish is a cognitive neuropsychologist at the Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney. She has won international and national awards, including an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship and L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship.^[1]

Career

Irish works on the loss of empathy during dementia.^[2] She says she is "interested in how we remember the past and imagine the future. The relative frequency and ease with which we engage in those forms of thought belies their incredible complexity." Her career has explored how memory and imagination are changed during neurological conditions including Alzheimer’s disease.^[3] She has been awarded both Discovery Early Career Researcher and Future Fellow awards from the ARC. Irish's work on neuropsychology has been discussed on the ABC^[4] and her experiences of the L'Oreal Rising Talent award were described in Nature Jobs.^[5]

Irish has given science communication talks on the importance of day dreaming.^[6]

Diversity in science

Irish has advocated for diversity in science on many platforms, and she "is committed to the promotion and retention of women in science". She was named as one of the inaugural 30 ‘Superstars of STEM’, part of a growing movement with the goal of providing positive role models to young girls and minorities to pursue a career in science.^{[7] [5]} Irish is one of a growing number of academic women in STEMM who are committed to retaining women in science.^[5]

Select publications

• 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.12.005. 26683384. Preservation of episodic memory in semantic dementia: The importance of regions beyond the medial temporal lobes. Neuropsychologia. 81. 50–60. 2016. Irish. Muireann. Bunk. Steffie. Tu. Sicong. Kamminga. Jody. Hodges. John R.. Hornberger. Michael. Piguet. Olivier. 220988 .
• Piguet. Olivier. Hodges. John R.. Addis. Donna Rose. Irish. Muireann. 2012-07-01. Considering the role of semantic memory in episodic future thinking: evidence from semantic dementia. Brain. en. 135. 7. 2178–2191. 10.1093/brain/aws119. 22614246. free.

Awards

Irish has received a number of international awards.

• 2020 – The Gottschalk Medal is awarded by the Australian Academy of Science ^[8]
• 2019 – Young Investigator Award, from the Cognitive Neuroscience Agency ^[9]
• 2019 – British Neuropsychological Society – Elizabeth Warrington Prize.^[10]
• 2017 – L’Oréal–UNESCO International Rising Talent Award.^[7]
• 2017 – Superstars of STEMM.^[11]
• 2016–2020 – ARC Future Fellow.^[12]
• 2016 – NSW Premier's Prize – Early Career Researcher of the Year
• 2015 – L’Oreal–UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship.^[1]
• 2014 – NSW Young Tall Poppy Science Award.
• 2013 – Laird Cermak Award for Outstanding Research in Memory presented by the International Neuropsychological Society.^[13]

Irish is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN)^[14] and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2023.^[15]

Media

• Irish's work has been described on The Conversation.^{[16] [17]}
• Her work provided insight into why time flies as one gets older^[18] and why we day dream.^[19]
• The ABC described the neuroscience work conducted by her and her team.^[20]
• Dementia Australia described her work on dementia.^[21]
• Her career path was described in Careers with STEM.^[22]

References

1. Web site: Dr Muireann Irish, cognitive neuroscientist, Neuroscience Research Australia/UNSW, Sydney. www.forwomeninscience.com.au. 2019-08-15.
2. Web site: Young Investigator Award. Cognitive Neuroscience Society. en-US. 2019-08-15.
3. Web site: Dr Muireann Irish. AIPS. en-US. 2019-08-15.
4. Web site: The enigma of time. 2018-09-28. Radio National. en. 2019-08-15.
5. Web site: Reflections on the L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science program : Naturejobs Blog. blogs.nature.com. 2019-08-15.
6. Web site: Muireann Irish. Raising the bar. en-US. 2019-08-16.
7. Web site: STEMM Profile: Associate Professor Muireann Irish ARC Future Fellow Brain and Mind Centre and School of Psychology The University of Sydney Sydney NSW. Australia. Women in STEMM. 2018-03-07. Women in STEMM Australia. en. 2019-08-15.
8. News: Australian Academy of Science. www.science.org.au. en-US.
9. News: Young Investigator Award – Cognitive Neuroscience Society. Cognitive Neuroscience Society. 2019-08-15. en-US.
10. Web site: Sydney neuroscientist honoured by the British Neuropsychological Society. The University of Sydney. en-AU. 2019-08-15.
11. Web site: 2017 Superstars of STEM Archives. Science and Technology Australia. en-AU. 2019-08-15.
12. Web site: Associate Professor Muireann Irish. Science and Technology Australia. en-AU. 2019-08-15.
13. Web site: Laird S. Cermak Award Recipients. Schoenfeld. Davis. The International Neuropsychological Society. en-US. 2019-08-15.
14. Web site: Fellows - The Royal Society of NSW. www.royalsoc.org.au. 2019-10-01.
15. Web site: 2023-11-08 . The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia welcomes 21 new Fellows . 2023-11-23 . Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia . en-AU.
16. Web site: Muireann Irish. The Conversation. en. 2019-08-16.
17. Web site: Still Alice: a rare look at how dementia steals memories from millions. Irish. Muireann. Ahmed. Rebekah. The Conversation. en. 2019-08-16.
18. Web site: How did it get so late so soon? Why time flies as we get older. O'Callaghan. Claire. Irish. Muireann. The Conversation. en. 2019-08-16.
19. Web site: Daydream believer: why your brain is wired to wander. Irish. Muireann. The Conversation. en. 2019-08-16.
20. Web site: Dr Muireann Irish with her team. Hermant. ABC News: Norman. 2018-03-11. ABC News. en. 2019-08-16.
21. Web site: Muireann Irish. Australia. Dementia. 2018-02-06. www.dementia.org.au. en. 2019-08-16.
22. Web site: Cognitive Neuroscientist & Superstar of STEM Muireann Irish. Careers with STEM. en-AU. 2019-08-16.