Ailbhe Brazel is a PI in the Discipline of Botany and leads independent research in epigenetic regulation of plant stress responses.

Throughout her research career, Ailbhe has answered fundamental questions about how cells respond to signals from their environment. Ailbhe completed her undergraduate degree in Genetics at Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin and went on to complete a PhD studying mammalian epigenetic regulation in developing red blood cells at the University of Edinburgh. She then worked as a postdoc on plant epigenetic regulation at the Max Planck Institute of Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, Germany and also worked on the role of the ubiquitin system in Parkinson's disease and immune oncology at the University of Liverpool.

Ailbhe was awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship which she undertook in the Biology Department at Maynooth University in 2021. There, she established a line of research combining her expertise to investigate epigenetic regulation of plant stress responses. Ailbhe then spent one year working as an Assistant Lecturer in the Biology Department at Maynooth University where she contributed to both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching delivering lectures, practicals and assessments.

In 2024 Ailbhe joined the Discipline of Botany at Trinity as a Teaching Fellow. Since then she has contributed to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching while also establishing her research group in molecular mechanisms that control how plants develop and interact with their environment.

Ailbhe is also passionate about supporting equality, diversity and inclusion in academia, as well as outreach activities. She has been actively involved in organising Athena Swan initiatives such as networking events and Women in Science Lectures. Ailbhe has also written for RTE Brainstorm and developed outreach activities.