51±¾É«

Education and Employment

I graduated from the National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway with a B.A. in Psychology in 2003. Later that year I began an M.Sc. in Neuropharmacology in NUI, Galway, which included a six-month work placement in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour of the University of Mississippi Medical Centre, before graduating in 2005. I worked as a Research and Teaching Assistant, then later as a Technician in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, NUI, Galway. I began my Ph.D. in 2009 in the same Department, finishing in 2012. I joined the Psychology Department in the 51±¾É« in August 2012. In 2018 I graduated with a Masters in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship from UL.

My research interests are the behavioural and neurochemical effects of prenatal and early life exposure to compounds such as antidepressants and amphetamines.

Published Abstracts

O'Brien, S., Kelly, J.P. (2010). Effects of in utero antidepressant administration on adult behaviour in the rat. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 24 Supplement 3:A38

O'Brien, S., Fahy, G.E., Campadieu, N., Kelly, J.P. (2010). Effects of prenatal methamphetamine exposure on neurodevelopmental and somatic tests in the neonatal rat. Irish Journal of Medical Science. 180 Supplement 2:S63

O'Brien, S., Kelly, J.P. (2011). Consequences of in utero exposure to fluoxetine on adult behaviour in the rat. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 25 Supplement 8:A24

O'Brien, S., Campadieu, N., Higgins, D., Kelly, J.P. (2011). Consequences of in utero methamphetamine exposure on behaviour in the adult rat. European Neuropsychopharmacology. 21 Supplement 1:S56

O'Brien, S., Amchova, P., Bannerton, K., Cormican, D., Osikoya, A., Kelly, J.P. (2012). A comparative study of the effects of neonatal exposure to clomipramine, amitriptyline and fluoxetine on behaviour in later life in an animal model. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 26 Supplement 8:A60

Conference Proceedings Abstracts

O'Brien, S., Kelly, J.P. (2010). Oral gavage administration during pregnancy has developmental and behavioural effects on offspring. Proceedings of the STAR 2010: 31st World Conference on Stress and Anxiety Research (National University of Ireland, Galway)

O'Brien, S., McDonnell Dowling, K., Kelly, J.P. (2011) Developmental and behavioural effects of early life exposure to amitriptyline in a rat model. Proceedings of the 6th Annual Meeting of Neuroscience Ireland (National University of Ireland, Maynooth)

Irish meeting presentations

Effects of in utero antidepressant administration on adult behaviour in the rat. O'Brien S., Margalit, Y., Kelly J.P.Oral presentation at Galway Neuroscience Cluster Research Day, December 2010 (National University of Ireland, Galway)

Consequences of in utero methamphetamine exposure on behaviour in the adult rat. O'Brien, S., Campadieu, N., Higgins, D., Kelly, J.P. Oral presentation at NCBES Research Award in Life Sciences and Bioengineering, March 2011. (National University of Ireland, Galway)

Early life fluoxetine exposure: Behavioural effects in adulthood. O'Brien S., Kelly J.P. Oral presentation at NUI, Galway College of Science Research Horizons Day, October 2011. This presentation was awarded second prize at the event

Early life fluoxetine exposure in the rat: Behavioural effects in adulthood. O'Brien S., Kelly J.P.Oral presentation at Galway Neuroscience Cluster Research Day, December 2011 (National University of Ireland, Galway)

Behavioural effects of early life fluoxetine exposure in the rat. O'Brien S., Kelly J.P. Donegan Medal oral communication at the Royal Academy of medicine in Ireland (RAMI) Section of Biomedical Sciences Annual Meeting, June 2012. (National University of Ireland, Galway).

International meeting presentations

Behavioural effects of early life fluoxetine exposure in the rat. O'Brien S., Kelly J.P. Poster presentation at the EURON-FENS-IBRO Workshop on Drugs and the Brain, April 2012. (University of Minho, Braga, Portugal).

Other publications

Lavelle G., Spiro A., O'Brien S., Kelly J.P., Doyle K. (2010). A comparison of the locomotor hyperactive response of the OB model using different novel arenas. Irish Journal of Medical Science. 180 Supplement 2:S41.

Horie S., Bannerton K., McDonnell-Dowling K., O'Brien S and Kelly J.P. (2012). An appraisal of the neurotoxic effects of methamphetamine in rats using clinically relevant patterns of exposure. Proceedings of the 7th Annual Meeting of Neuroscience Ireland (Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland).