Neuroscience Ireland Conference 2025
Conference Speaker Profile
Prof. Mark Cunningham
Trinity College Dublin,
Ireland
Talk Title
From neurons to networks: A journey through the dynamic brain
Talk Abstract
Understanding how individual neurons give rise to coordinated brain activity is one of neuroscience’s most enduring challenges. In this talk, Professor Mark Cunningham reflects on a research journey that spans cellular neurophysiology to large-scale network dynamics, with a focus on how brain circuits generate, sustain, and sometimes disrupt functional rhythms.
Drawing on insights from high-resolution electrophysiological recordings, human brain tissue studies, and computational models, the lecture will explore how normal and pathological patterns of brain activity emerge — particularly in the context of epilepsy.
The talk will highlight the importance of bridging experimental and translational approaches to uncover principles that govern brain function in health and disease.
Speaker Biography
Mark Cunningham is the Ellen Mayston Bates Professor of Neurophysiology of Epilepsy at Trinity College Dublin and the Head of the Discipline of Physiology in the School of Medicine. His research uses electrophysiology to study the mechanisms by which neuronal microcircuits generate organised electrical activity in the brain. He has a particular interest in understanding how pathological electrical activity is generated by the epileptic brain and how this can help develop novel treatments for epilepsy.
After reading Physiology at Queen’s University Belfast, he received his PhD in Physiology from Bristol University. He then undertook post-doctoral research positions at Bristol University, University of Leeds, Heidelberg University and Newcastle University. Before joining Trinity, Professor Cunningham held a Professorship in Neuronal Dynamics at the Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University.
His research has been funded by the BBSRC, MRC, Wellcome Trust, Epilepsy Research UK, Action on Hearing Loss, Hadwen Trust, Innovate UK, Wolfson Foundation, The Royal Society and Taighde Éireann-Research Ireland. He has also had significant funding from several global pharmaceutical companies.
Professor Cunningham has previously sat on the Biomedical Resource and Technology Development Committee at the Wellcome Trust and the Scientific Advisory Committee for Epilepsy Research UK. He is a fellow of the Centre for the Advancement of Sustainable Medical Innovation (CASMI). He has also acted on numerous advisory boards and as a consultant to numerous pharmaceutical companies.
He is a member of the British Neuroscience Association, The Physiological Society (UK) and the International League against Epilepsy (ILAE). In 2019 he was elected as a Professorial Fellow at Trinity College Dublin.
He has participated in numerous public engagement events (Pint of Science, Festival of Curiosity, International Epilepsy Day). He takes a keen interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) activities and his interactions with ANU Productions, which began as Science Gallery Rapid Residency, culminated in the exhibition ‘The Wernicke’s Area’ at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in 2023.