Recent Graduation: Congratulations to recent graduate Dr Cristina Cuesta Marti

24 Nov 2025

Congratulations to Dr Cristina Cuesta Marti who recently graduated with a PhD at the UCC College of Medicine and Health Conferring Ceremony on Tuesday 11th November 2025.

From Spain, Cristina completed a double BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain, before joining UCC as an Erasmus research intern in Dr. Harriet Schellekens' lab at APC Microbiome Ireland in January 2021.  She commenced her PhD studies in October 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Schellekens, Prof. Gerard Clarke, and Prof. Siobhain O'Mahony, investigating the role of the gut microbiota and the microbiota-gut-brain axis on feeding behaviour, with a focus on early-life dietary programming.

Following her thesis defence in March 2025, she worked with Dr. Lily Keane as a post doctoral researcher studying the role of the gut microbiota in diffuse midline glioma, a devastating paediatric brain tumour. She now plans to return to Spain and to continue her career as a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience research.