Mark obtained a First-Class Honours degree and Top Student Award in Biomedical Science from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, in 2018. Throughout his Bachelor’s, Mark worked in several labs investigating the role of both the innate and adaptive immune system in diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, whooping cough, and multiple sclerosis. After his Bachelor’s degree, Mark worked as a Research Assistant in Prof. Marina Lynch’s neuroimmunology lab in Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, where he contributed to projects investigating microglial inflammasome activation, ageing and Alzheimer’s disease. Mark started his PhD studies with Prof. Kate Schroder at the Inflammasome Lab in April 2019, where he is exploring the mechanisms of inflammasome-driven pathogenesis in Alzheimer’s disease. Outside of science, Mark spent 7 years as an instructor in Ireland teaching sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, and stand-up paddle boarding and plays classical violin.