AMTO-Tech Scientific Consultants

​Roy O'Mahony MSc, PhD, MRSC

I was inspired at a young age to study biology and molecular biology after a visit to my home university of University College Cork, Ireland. 
At UCC I gained my B.Sc. (Hons) specialising in plant sciences particularly plant biotechnology. This led me to taking a M.Sc. degree at University College Dublin in plant molecular biology, my research project was developing a bespoke ballistic gene gun for plant transformation. 
I moved to the UK to attain my PhD degree at the University of Wolverhampton in conjunction with the Scottish Crop Research Institute with the aim of using genetic engineering and mRNA antisense technology to improve salt tolerance in crops.
This lead to two postdocs from 2000 to 2005 at the Plant Science Department in Cambridge University and subsequently on a H2020 EU grant moving to the University of Potsdam in Germany to continue the work of characterising Ca2+ signalling in plant stress. This involved making transgenic plants and yeast carrying the aequorin gene where I built a photon counting device to measure the photon output from the calcium binding to aequorin.
I then switched careers and worked as a field account manager for Merck Biosciences covering Ireland, meeting and discussing projects with scientists all over Ireland and advising on Merck products to help their research.
Following this I joined a start-up company in Cornwall England, my role there was product and production manager to install a custom built tissue culture laboratory, train and manage a team of scientists and develop the tissue culture and vertical farming products.
In 2010 I left to start my own company CleanGrow Ltd with an old friend from Cork. This led to two companies, www.cleangrow.com a liquid blending and formulating fertilizer company in California and www.ionseelectiveelectrode.com in the UK, developing and making novel solid state multi-ion analysers and sensors for nutrient and fertilizer measurement.