Jemma’s PhD research focuses on the intersection of mechanotransduction and developmental biology. She is using single-cell RNA sequencing and immunofluorescence microscopy to investigate the role of mechanical forces on developing skeletal tissues. This research is essential to unlocking a greater understanding of the changes which occur later on in life, when dysregulation of these same tissues results in conditions such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.


Jemma worked as a research assistant at the UCD Centre for Arthritis Research for a year where she used genomic and proteomic methods to research tissue damage in rheumatoid arthritis. She completed her undergraduate and Master of Science degrees at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Her undergraduate degree was in genetics and developmental biology, and her master’s investigated the epigenetic regulation of a gene involved in collagen IV crosslinking, which is dysregulated in triple-negative breast cancer.