Fionn is a PhD student in Prof. Pat Guiry’s research group in UCD since September 2020, working in the field of asymmetric catalysis. His key work interests are in organic chemistry, in the synthesis of small molecules as well as methodology. He also has a profound interest in drug design and chemical biology stemming from his undergraduate experiences.

For his undergraduate, he attended UCD from 2016 to 2020, receiving a 1st class honours degree in Medicinal Chemistry & Chemical Biology with structured electives in Statistics & Data Analytics, finishing first in his class. There he completed his final year project under the supervision of Dr. Paul Evans in the development of the Staudinger-ligation reaction for amide and enamide synthesis.

His current project focuses on palladium catalysed decarboxylative asymmetric allylic alkylation (DAAA) of sterically hindered α‐aryl cyclic siloxyketones. It is hoped that these structures can be cleaved open to generate structures consisting of sterically hindered quaternary centres produced asymmetrically.