Department of Physiology welcomes new faculty Kathryn Irish
Dr. Irish brings a wealth of clinical expertise and neuroscience research to her new role
Article Highlights
- Will teach NEU 403, Communications in Neuroscience, the tier II writing course in the undergraduate neuroscience curriculum.
- Earned her Ph.D. in social work at MSU with research on empathy and ideological differences.
- Brings more than a decade of clinical social work experience in health clinics and hospital.
Somewhere in a drawer or maybe tucked inside a box, Kathryn Irish knows there’s a sticky note she scribbled some personal aspirations on 12 years ago, just months after the birth of her twins. Wanting to give herself a sense of purpose and direction, she wrote down two goals: earn a Ph.D. and conduct research that combined social work with neuroscience. At the time, neither seemed realistic.
“I knew the first was possible—technically—although nothing could’ve seemed further from it at the time,” she said. “And honestly, I didn’t even know where to begin with the second goal.”
Still, she kept the note. Over time, it became less of a roadmap and more of a reminder to hold onto, even as life pulled her in unexpected directions. Those directions first led her from Hunter College in New York City to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she earned her BA in psychology. She then pursued a Ph.D. at MSU, focusing her research on empathy and ideological differences and using brain stimulation to explore how people process social information.
“We learned that ideology matters,” Irish said. “People were significantly less willing to help someone once they knew that person held different beliefs, even though the situation had nothing to do with the topic.”
Her research was grounded in real-world perspective that’s been shaped by more than a decade of clinical social work across health clinics and hospitals in Michigan and Colorado. That combination of lived professional experience and academic inquiry, however, eventually brought her back to the sticky note.
This past spring, Irish was able to cross off one of those goals when she completed her Ph.D. in social work. Now, she can check off the second one as the newest assistant professor joining MSU’s Department of Physiology.
In her new role, she will teach NEU 403, the Tier II writing course in the university’s revised undergraduate neuroscience curriculum.
“Honestly, I think this journey could only have happened at MSU,” she said. “As a student here, I was really encouraged to explore, even if that meant I would have to forge my own little trail. Then all of the people I met here were so supportive and generous with their time and mentorship. That was the key that really unlocked the door.”
Now Irish is ready to unlock her own teaching potential by bridging her clinical expertise with neuroscience research and sharing it with the next generation of scientists.
“By stepping into a faculty role, now I am going to be able to give the same kind of support and guidance that helped me so much, back to my own students,” she said. “Hopefully, they can build bridges and forge paths of their own.”
