Orla Connell

Orla Connell obtained her MSc in molecular microbiology from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland in 2025. During her masters, she worked on the characterisation of sRNA in the pathogenic bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii, and the development of a programmable sRNA. She joined the Westermann lab as a PhD student in 2026 to explore the sRNAs involved in pathogen–microbiota interactions within the gut, specifically between Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli.