Dr. Ciara Molloy
Assistant Professor, Education
Biography
I am currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Trinity College Dublin and an affiliate research associate at King's College London. My research focuses on brain and behavioural development in neurodevelopmental and rare genetic conditions. I use multi-methodological approaches including MRI, EEG, eye-tracking, neurocognitive and neuropsychological measures, to better understand variability in developmental, behavioural and mental health outcomes. I contribute to two large international consortia. Within the Relative Risk for Developmental Diversity and Mental Health (R2D2-MH) consortium, I am involved in a family-based study examining developmental and mental health outcomes associated with a rare genetic condition. By studying individuals and their family members, this work aims to better understand the factors that may contribute to variability in outcomes. As part of AIMS-2-TRIALS, one of the world's largest collaborative autism research programmes, I coordinated the European Autism Genomics Registry (EAGER) project, which aims to facilitate future research and clinical trials for autism and associated rare genetic conditions across Europe. I have also contributed to The Synaptic Gene Study, to investigate developmental outcomes and brain markers of synaptic gene conditions associated with autism. Central to my research is the integration of participatory and co-creation approaches, ensuring that the perspectives of people with lived experience of neurodevelopmental conditions inform research priorities, design and outcomes. I am also involved in initiatives that focus on enhancing research accessibility, alongside the development of evidence-informed educational resources for families. I lead the R2D2-MH Early Career Researcher Group, facilitating opportunities for co-creation, research collaboration, and training to support the professional development of early career researchers.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Alexandra Lautarescu, Brett Trost, Azadeh Kushki, Bethany Oakley, Síofra Heraty, David Belton, Alison Boyle, Sarah Douglas, Ciara J. Molloy, Rosemary Holt, Madeleine Bloomfield, Fabio Campana, Miro Cupak, Erica Stevenson, Julian Tillmann, Christopher Chatham, Evdokia Anagnostou, Dean M. Hartley, T. P. Charman, Autism data sharing: Benefits, challenges, and recommendations, PLOS Digital Health, 5, (3), 2026, pe0001249 - e0001249, pe0001249-e0001249
Ciara J. Molloy, Adam Miles, Claire Christoff, Jessie Cunningham, Jamie Reilly, Jacob Vorstman, Jehannine Austin, Lisa D. Hawke, Louise Gallagher, Does genetic testing impact stigma in autism: A scoping review, Journal of Community Genetics, 17, (1), 2026, p25 - 25, p25-25
S.M. Feighan, Katie McArdle, Linda Lisanti, Edna Roche, Cathal Ormonde, Elizabeth A. Heron, Clare Kelly, Ciara J. Molloy, Louise Gallagher, Measuring shifts in attentional bias following satiety: A within-subject eye-tracking study in healthy-weight adults, Physiology & Behavior, 299, 2025, p114993 - 114993, p114993-114993
S.M. Feighan, Áine McNicholas, Alexandra P. Key, Anastasia Dimitropoulos, Edna Roche, Ciara J. Molloy, Louise Gallagher, Codesigning a Neurocognitive Assessment Protocol for Hyperphagia: Perspectives From Stakeholders in Prader"Willi Syndrome, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 70, (1), 2025, p58 - 67, p58-67
Jacqueline Fitzgerald, Ciara J. Molloy, Thomas Dinneen, Niamh Feerick, Matthew L. O"Sullivan, Richard O"Conaill, Maryam Al-Shehhi, Richard B. Reilly, Sally Ann Lynch, Elizabeth A. Heron, Clare Kelly, Sanbing Shen, Louise Gallagher, Evidence of neurocognitive and resting state functional connectivity differences in carriers of NRXN1 deletions, Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 17, (1), 2025, p62 - 62, p62-62
Bloomfield, M. and Lautarescu, A. and Heraty, S. and Douglas, S. and Violland, P. and Plas, R. and Ghosh, A. and Van Den Bosch, K. and Eaton, E. and Absoud, M. and Battini, R. and Blázquez Hinojosa, A. and Bolshakova, N. and Bölte, S. and Bonanni, P. and Borg, J. and Calderoni, S. and Calvo Escalona, R. and Castelo-Branco, M. and Castro-Fornieles, J. and Caro, P. and Cliquet, F. and Danieli, A. and Delorme, R. and Elia, M. and Hempel, M. and Leblond, C.S. and Madeira, N. and McAlonan, G. and Milone, R. and Molloy, C.J. and Mouga, S. and Montiel, V. and Pina Rodrigues, A. and Schaaf, C.P. and Serrano, M. and Tammimies, K. and Tye, C. and Vigevano, F. and Oliveira, G. and Mazzone, B. and O'Neill, C. and Pender, J. and Romero, V. and Tillmann, J. and Oakley, B. and Murphy, D.G.M. and Gallagher, L. and Bourgeron, T. and Chatham, C. and Charman, T., European Autism GEnomics Registry (EAGER): Protocol for a multicentre cohort study and registry, BMJ Open, 14, (6), 2024
Molloy, C.J. and Cooke, J. and Gatford, N.J.F. and Rivera-Olvera, A. and Avazzadeh, S. and Homberg, J.R. and Grandjean, J. and Fernandes, C. and Shen, S. and Loth, E. and Srivastava, D.P. and Gallagher, L., Bridging the translational gap: what can synaptopathies tell us about autism?, Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 16, (1191323), 2023
Molloy, C.J. and Quigley, C. and McNicholas, Ã . and Lisanti, L. and Gallagher, L., A review of the cognitive impact of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric associated copy number variants, Translational Psychiatry, 13, (1), 2023
Cooke J, Molloy CJ, Cáceres ASJ, Dinneen T, Bourgeron T, Murphy D, Gallagher L, Loth E., The Synaptic Gene Study: Design and Methodology to Identify Neurocognitive Markers in Phelan-McDermid Syndrome and NRXN1 Deletions., Frontiers in neuroscience, 16, 2022, p806990
Ciara J. Molloy, 27.2 Translational Biomarkers in Rare Genetic Synaptopathies Associated With ASD, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 61, (10), 2022, pS318 - S318, pS318-S318
Wakim KM, Freedman EG, Molloy CJ, Vieyto N, Cao Z, Foxe JJ., Assessing combinatorial effects of HIV infection and former cocaine dependence on cognitive control processes: A high-density electrical mapping study of response inhibition., Neuropharmacology, 195, 2021, p108636
Molloy CJ, Nugent S, Bokde ALW., Alterations in Diffusion Measures of White Matter Integrity Associated with Healthy Aging., The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 76, (6), 2021, p945-954
Molloy, C.J. and Gallagher, L., Can stratification biomarkers address the heterogeneity of autism spectrum disorder?, Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 2021
Brima T, Molholm S, Molloy CJ, Sysoeva OV, Nicholas E, Djukic A, Freedman EG, Foxe JJ., Auditory sensory memory span for duration is severely curtailed in females with Rett syndrome., Translational psychiatry, 9, (1), 2019, p130
Wakim KM, Molloy CJ, Bell RP, Ross LA, Foxe JJ., White Matter Changes in HIV+ Women with a History of Cocaine Dependence., Frontiers in neurology, 8, 2017, p562
Arun L.W. Bokde, Sinead Nugent, Ciara J. Molloy, [P4"292]: BRAIN ACTIVATION CHANGES DURING THE DELAY PERIOD IN A WORKING MEMORY TASK: NORMAL AGING"RELATED EFFECTS, Alzheimer s & Dementia, 13, (7S_Part_29), 2017
Liljeholm M, Molloy CJ, O'Doherty JP., Dissociable brain systems mediate vicarious learning of stimulus-response and action-outcome contingencies., The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 32, (29), 2012, p9878-9886
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Paola Pinti, Chiara Bulgarelli, Francesca Biondo, Matthew Bowdler, Sanjana Gandhi, Emil Ljungberg, Ciara J. Molloy, Ross E Vanderwertr, Helene Vitali, Tracy Warbrick, Jennifer Cooke, Lorenzo Fabrizi, Jonathan O'Muircheartaigh, Kimberley Whitehead, Ilias Tachtsidis, White paper on the reliability of neurotechnologies in paediatric populations: a report from the Respect4Neurodevelopment UK network, https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/tsfxw_v1, 2026