Trinity-Columbia Dual BA graduate delivers valedictorian speech

Posted on: 22 May 2025

Peter, the third Dual BA Program student to be named a Trinity Foundation Scholar, studied biological and biomedical sciences at Trinity and neuroscience at Columbia.

At Trinity, he was also a research assistant at the Global Brain Health Institute, where he served as a project coordinator for PREVENT Dublin, a multinational study examining the origins and early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease in a cohort of high-risk, mid-life patients. 

Peter continued his research endeavors at Columbia as a research assistant at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute. He was named a Bancroft Research Scholar in Spring 2024 for a project which aimed to understand how short-term stress can contribute to longer-term health and wellness. 

This project, carried out jointly in the labs of Drs. Andrés Bendesky and Rui Costa, also earned him the Bridges and Sturtevant Prize for a “highly original and fruitful” thesis in the Biological Sciences.

Tomás Ryan, Professor in Neuroscience in Trinity’s School of Biochemistry & Immunology, said: “Peter is a truly amazing neuroscience student. He has conducted outstanding and precocious original research on the innate visual looming response at Columbia, as evidenced by the Bridges and Sturtevant Prize. To distinguish oneself in research as an undergraduate student, while simultaneously becoming valedictorian, is no mean feat and requires a rare combination of creative initiative and focused discipline.”

“Achieving all of this while managing the transition from Trinity College Dublin to New York at the beginning of his 3rd year is particularly inspiring. Peter's achievements are a testament to the Trinity-Columbia Dual BA community, and to neuroscience teaching at both universities. I am looking forward to seeing what Peter does next, at Oxford University.”

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