Emma Teeling

Prof. Emma Teeling is an international leader in the cross-cutting fields of mammalian phylogenetics and comparative genomics, with particular expertise in bat biology. She established the Laboratory of Molecular Evolution and Mammalian Phylogenetics in 2005, is a Founding Director of the genome consortium Bat1K and the Full Professor of Zoology, UCD. She has pioneered wild bats as new models of extended healthspan, uniting field, molecular, cellular and genomic studies to uncover how bats slow down expected ageing and resist disease. She has been awarded prestigious personal grants for this research- European Research Council (ERC) Starting grant (2013-2018), a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), President of Ireland Young Researcher Award (2006-2012), an Irish Research Council (IRC) Laureate Award (2018-2022), an SFI Future Frontiers Award (2020-2025), and an ERC Synergy grant BATPROTECT (2024-2030) as lead PI. She successfully leads a prolific, internationally renowned research team of typically 10 people and has secured >€18M in research funding since 2005. She has graduated 25 PhD and MSc research students and has supervised >15 postdoctoral research fellows. Her record of leadership and research excellence is demonstrated by her publication record of >170 internationally peer-reviewed papers, 6 book chapters, 4 invited subject reviews. A number of these publications have over-turned conventional paradigms in mammalian biology and therefore have been published in high profile journals such as Nature (n=4), Science* (n=19,*11 Zoonomia Consortium), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (n=6), Nature Communications (n=2), Nature Ecology and Evolution (n=2), Science Advances (n=2), Cell (n=1). Her high standing in the international community is highlighted by a total citation record of 22,739 citations, h-index 65 (Google Scholar Jan. 2026); prestigious international keynote lectures; invited high profile collaborations such as Genome 10K (includes 64 scientific leaders assembled to sequence 10,000 vertebrate genomes); and, high profile invited public presentations (e.g. TED talk >581,993 views; EU Parliament; World Economic Forum, Davos; BBC’s Science Club with Dara Ó Briain, Royal Institute Christmas Lectures, NOV A documentary on PBS); nomination to prestigious academic boards and institutes (e.g. Irish Research Council Board, 2015-2022; Member of Royal Irish Academy, 2016; Board of Directors Dublin Zoo 2022-present). She has been awarded Chevalier des Palmes Académiques, 2017 by the French Government; the Murray Lectureship, University of Sydney (2022); Miller Award (2023) North American Bat Research Society, and Commended Irish Research Council Researcher of the Year Award (2023), for her research, University of Michigan, Bennett J. Cohen Award for Research in Aging (2026).