Jennifer Connolly, PhD, MSc

Associate Professor, Department of Medical Foundations
Jennifer Connolly
Contact Information

jenniferconnolly@rossu.edu

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Biography

Dr. Connolly obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science and PhD in Reproductive Physiology from University of Galway, Ireland. Her doctoral work, focused on optimization of the in vitro growth and development of ovarian follicles, was supported by a scholarship from the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET). She completed a postdoctoral research fellowship focused on the etiology of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) within the Institute of Reproductive Biology and Development (IRDB) in Imperial College London. She also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship focused on the use of nanoparticles and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) in oral and oropharyngeal cancer theragnostics. This research was conducted within the Nanobiophotonics and Imaging Group in the School of Physics in the University of Galway and the Singapore Bio-imaging Consortium. Dr. Connolly also holds an MSc in Sports and Exercise Nutrition, with current research interests centered on the intersection of nutrition and female health.  Dr. Connolly joined RUSM in 2015. She serves as the discipline lead for physiology and co-course director for semester 04. She teaches cell physiology, neurophysiology, endocrine and reproductive physiology.  

Education and Certification
  • Undergraduate Degree: Biomedical Science, University of Galway, Ireland  
  • Medical/Doctoral Degree: PhD Physiology, University of Galway, Ireland 

Additional training/certifications:  

  • MSc in Sports and Exercise Nutrition, Ulster University, Northern Ireland  
  • Postgraduate Diploma (PgD) in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, University College Cork, Ireland  
  • Postgraduate Certificate (PgC) in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, DeVry University  
  • Certification in Mind Body Medicine, Center for Mind Body Medicine (CMBM)  
Areas of Expertise

Physiology, Endocrinology, Nutrition.

Honors & Awards
  • Adtalem TEACH Award 
  • Adtalem Ron Taylor Excellence Award 
  • IRCSET Government of Ireland Scholar
Affiliations and Memberships
  • American Physiological Society (APS) 
  • Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) 
  • International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) 
  • Society of Reproduction and Fertility (SRF) 
  • Team Based Learning Collaborative (TBLC) 
Publications

Peer-reviewed articles 

Connolly JM and McNeilly A (2025) Nutrition knowledge and risk of low energy availability (LEA) in Ladies Gaelic footballers. Submitted to: International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Under review.  

Connolly JM, Kane MT, Quinlan LR and Hynes AC (2019) Enhancing oxygen delivery to ovarian follicles by three different methods markedly improves growth in serum containing culture medium. Reproduction, Fertility and Development. https://doi.org/10.1071/RD18286.  

Connolly JM, Davies K, Dockery P, Wheatley AM, Olivo M and Keogh I (2016) Non-invasive and label-free detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma using saliva surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and multivariate analysis. Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine. 12 (6) 1593-1601.  

Connolly JM, Kane MT, Quinlan LR, Dockery P and Hynes AC (2015) Hypoxia limits mouse follicle growth in vitro. Reproduction, Fertility and Development. 28 (10) 1570-1579.  

Davies K, Connolly JM, Dockery P, Wheatley AM, Olivo M and Keogh I (2015) Point of care optical diagnostic technologies for the detection of oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Surgeon. 13 (6) 321-329.  

Connolly JM, Raghavan V, Owens P, Wheatley AM, Keogh I, Dockery P and Olivo M (2014) Nanogold-based photosensitizer probes for dual-modal bioimaging and therapy of cancer. Journal of Nanomedicine & Nanotechnology 5 (6) 249.  

Raghavan V, Connolly JM, Fan HM, Dockery P, Wheatley AM, Keogh I and Olivo M (2014) Gold nanosensitisers for multimodal optical diagnostic imaging and therapy of cancer. Journal of Nanomedicine & Nanotechnology 5 (6) 238. 

Peer-reviewed teaching resources  

Connolly JM and Chambers J (2023) Physiology and Pharmacology of Male Reproductive System – Team-Based Learning (TBL) Module. Team-Based Learning Collaborative (TBLC). Available at: https://www.teambasedlearning.org/tblc-resource-portal/