Dr Robert Leigh
Dr Robert Leigh is a Senior Research Fellow in Bioinformatics and Molecular Epidemiology with TILDA.
Rob’s research spans epigenomics, genomics, bioinformatics, and applied statistics, with a particular focus on identifying previously unrecognised structure and signal in high-dimensional biological data using advanced statistical modelling and machine learning approaches. Within TILDA, his work focuses on the statistical remediation of technical artefacts in population-scale epigenomic data, including batch structure, laboratory effects, and cell composition, to enable robust biological inference. Using high-dimensional modelling and machine learning, he extracts interpretable epigenetic signal linked to functional, metabolic, and clinical ageing phenotypes. A central output of this work is the development and deployment of molecular surrogates, including a large battery of epigenetic clocks and methylation risk scores applied to the TILDA epigenetic cohort, supporting reproducible inference and translational ageing research.
Rob holds a PhD in Bioinformatics and Molecular Evolution (MU, 2019); prior to this, he was awarded a BSc in Microbiology (UCD, 2014). He has completed extensive postgraduate training, including an MSc in Innovation (NUIG, 2020), a Specialist Diploma in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (UL, 2022), and a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Statistics (TUD, 2023). Since October 2023, he has also served as Adjunct Assistant Professor in Statistics at South East Technological University (SETU).
Rob's complete list of publications and outputs can be viewed here.