Molly O'Reilly
20232023

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Research interests

Molly O’Reilly – Curriculum Vitae

Education 

2014 - 2018 – University of Sussex – Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Neuroscience

2011 - 2014 – University of Sussex – BSc. (Hons.) Neuroscience with Cognitive Science - First class

2003 - 2010 – King Edwards VI Grammar School, Birmingham

A-level: Biology (A*), Physics (B), Psychology (A), General Studies (B)  

Professional experience

01/01/2022 – Present                             Academic Medical Centre          Hartstichting and ZonMw Research Fellow

As a Hartstichting and ZonMw Research Fellow, I primarily use electrophysiology and microscopy techniques to investigate the contribution of neuronal dysfunction to cardiac arrhythmia conditions.

01/10/2018 – 30/11/2021                  University of Birmingham                Post-Doctoral Research Fellow

As a British Heart Foundation (BHF) Research Fellow, I used electrophysiological techniques to investigate the underlying ionic basis of cardiac arrhythmias caused by genetic abnormalities or environmental stressors.

21/09/2014 – 21/08/2018                       University of Sussex                                    Doctoral Tutor

Employed as a Doctoral Tutor throughout the course of my PhD, I completed over 200 hours of teaching alongside marking. Those I taught ranged in experience from undergraduates to MSc students. 

 

Publications (h-index 9, i10-index 9, citations 242)         - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Molly-OReilly

 

O’Reilly M, Derudas M, Kirkwood N, et al. (2023). Charge and lipophilicity are required for effective block of the hair-cell mechano-electrical transducer channel by FM1-43 and its derivatives. Front. Cell Dev. Biol., 11

O’Reilly M, Sommerfeld L, O’Shea C, et al. (2022). Familial atrial fibrillation mutation M1875T-SCN5A increases early sodium current and dampens the effect of flecainide. EP Europace, euac218.

Al-Maswary A, O’Reilly M, Holmes A, et al. (2022) Neurogenic modulation of dental pulp stem cells through activating MAPK signalling pathway. PLoS One;17(11):e0277134.

Sommerfeld L, Holmes A, Yu T… O’Reilly M, et al. (2022). Male sex hormone and reduced plakoglobin jointly impair atrial conduction and cardiac sodium currents. bioRxiv 2022.06.03.494748.

O’Shea C, Winter J, Kabir S, O’Reilly M, et al. (2022). High-resolution optical mapping of cardiac electrophysiology in pre-clinical models. Sci Data 9, 135.

O’Brien S, Holmes A, Johnson D, O’Shea C, O’Reilly M, et al. (2022). Increased Atrial Selectivity of Flecainide Conferred by Reduced Atrial Sodium Currents. J Mol Cell Cardiol; 166:23-35.

Kunzel S, Hoffman M, Weber S… O’Reilly M, et al. (2021). Diminished PLK2 Induces Cardiac Fibrosis and Promotes Atrial Fibrillation. Circ Res; 129(8):804-820. International collaboration.

Holmes A, Saxena P, Kabir S… O’Reilly M, et al. (2021). The atrial resting membrane potential confers sodium current sensitivity to propafenone, flecainide and dronedarone. Heart Rhythm; 18(7):1212-1220.

Obergassel J, O’Reilly M, Sommerfeld L, et al. (2021). Effects of genetic background, sex and age on murine atrial electrophysiology. Europace; 19: euaa369.

O’Reilly M, Young L, Kirkwood N, et al. (2019). Gentamicin Affects Bioenergetics of Isolated Mitochondria and Collapses the Mitochondrial Membrane Potential in Cochlear Sensory Hair Cells. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 13:416.

O'Reilly M, Kirkwood N, Kenyon E, et al. (2019). Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of a new series of carvedilol derivatives that protect sensory hair cells from aminoglycoside-induced damage by blocking the mechano-electrical transducer channel. J. Med. Chem. 62(11):5312-5329.

Jeong M, O'Reilly M, Kirkwood N, et al. (2018). Generating inner ear organoids containing putative cochlear hair cells from human pluripotent stem cells. Cell Death & Disease. 922(9). 2041-4889.

Kenyon E, Kirkwood N, Kitcher S, O'Reilly M, et al. (2017). Identification of ion-channel modulators that protect against aminoglycoside-induced hair cell death. JCI Insight. 2:96773.

Kirkwood N, O’Reilly M, Derudas M, et al. (2017). d-Tubocurarine and berbamine: alkaloids that are permeant blockers of the hair cell’s mechano-electrical transducer channel and protect from aminoglycoside toxicity. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 11:262.

 

Publications under review/in preparation

Reyat J, O’Reilly M, Cardoso V, et al. PITX2 deficiency in iPSC derived atrial cardiomyocytes reveals an arrhythmogenic phenotype. (under review Basic Research in Cardiology)

Sommerfeld LC, Holmes AP, Yu TY… O’Reilly M, et al. (2022). Male sex hormone and reduced plakoglobin jointly impair atrial conduction and cardiac sodium currents. (under review JCI insight)

O’Reilly M, O’Shea C, Wells S, et al. Succinate and Exposure to Hypoxia-Reoxygenation cause similar Pro-Arrhythmic Modifications in Left Atrial Electrophysiology. (in preparation)

 

Prizes and Awards

Vector Labs Science Photography Competition finalist (20/01/2018) and winner (20/01/2019)

Sussex University Research Image Competition Exhibition winner – 16/06/2018

Don Henderson PhD Award – 12/02/2018  

University of Sussex PhD Prize runner-up – 08/12/2017

 

Personal funding

ZonMw Off-Road Grant - €100.000 – July 2022

Dutch Heart Foundation Dekker Grant - €280.000 – July 2022

Amsterdam UMC Postdoc Career Bridging Grant - €105.000 – March 2022

  • Targeting neuronal dysfunction to prevent sudden cardiac death in inherited arrhythmia syndromes

Erasmus+ staff mobility award - €1,300 – November 2021

  • To enhance the pre-established collaboration between the Universities of Birmingham and Amsterdam

British Heart Foundation (BHF) Accelerator Award - £8,500 – May 2021

  • SCN5A mutation-induced arrhythmias: cardiac or neuronal in origin?”

European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Basic Research Fellowship - €25,000 – February 2021

  • “The effects of ‘cardiac’ mutations on neuronal electrophysiology”

Medical Intercalation Student Project proposals - £4,200 – September 2020

  • “Investigating the effects of AMP-activated protein kinase activators on cardiac electrophysiology”

Research Development Fund Award - £4,800 – February 2020

  • “Does cardiac nerve stimulation cause atrial arrhythmia following ischaemia/reperfusion?”

 

During my PhD I presented at 8 conferences and independently secured external funding towards the cost of attendance, from at least one source on every occasion. The funding bodies that provided Travel Awards were:

 

  • Association for Research in Otolaryngology - £500 (01/01/2016), £750 (01/02/2018)
  • University of Sussex Postgraduate Fund - £650 (01/09/2017)
  • Physiological Society – £500 (01/01/2016), £500 (01/08/2016), £500 (01/01/2017)
  • Action on Hearing Loss - £200 (01/04/2016)
  • National Institute of Health - £1000 (01/08/2016)

 

Invited oral presentations

‘Unravelling the role of autonomic nervous system dysfunction in inherited arrhythmia syndromes’

  • Cross-Talk of Cells in the Heart: Novel Mechanisms of Disease and Arrhythmias, 11/09/2023

‘Succinate and exposure to hypoxia-reoxygenation cause similar pro-arrhythmic modifications in left atrial electrophysiology’

  • ESC Working Group on Cardiac Cellular Electrophysiology (EWGCCE), 05/05/2022

‘The SCN5A point mutation M1875T, associated with familial atrial fibrillation, causes a gain-of-function effect of the cardiac Nav1.5 channel in atrial cardiomyocytes’

– European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) congress, 24/04/2021

‘The Effects of Hypoxia and Reoxygenation on Cardiac Electrophysiology’

– Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences Away Day, 03/05/2019

‘XE 991, a KV7 channel blocker, acts as an otoprotectant in vitro

– British Neuroscience Association (BNA) Festival of Neuroscience, 10/04/2017

 

Teaching and Supervising

Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), 01/06/2016.

  • During my post-doc, I supervised a third-year medical intercalation student whom I attained wet lab funding for (First class); I taught students in Cardiovascular Systems; supervised PhD students within the laboratory; and taught visiting international postdoctoral researchers in cardiovascular sciences lab techniques.
  • Employed as a Doctoral Tutor throughout my PhD, I completed over 200 hours of teaching alongside marking. Students ranged in expertise from first year undergraduates to MSc students.

 

Extracurricular

  • Post-doctoral and Early Research Career Development and Training (PERCAT) – University of Birmingham Cardiovascular Sciences representative (2018-2021).
  • Public outreach:
    • I organised a lab demonstration together with the Hartstichting, to showcase laboratory research to cardiomyopathy patients (June, 2023).
    • I organised a lab demonstration with Giving Back NL, to showcase laboratory research to talented high school students (April, 2023).
    • I engaged with the Green Heart project, supervising the BHF stall and showcasing research outputs whilst engaging and educating the public as to the work that the charity supports (May, 2019).
  • Private science tutor at Tutor Hunt.

 

 

Professional Society Memberships

Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy; Affiliate member of the Physiological Society; European Society of Cardiology; European Working Group of Cellular Cardiac Electrophysiology.

 

Academic Citizenship 

Reviewer for: The Journal of Pharmacological and Experimental Therapeutics; The Journal of Membrane Biology; The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging; Heart Rhythm; iScience.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or