Mary O'Reilly, Ph.D.

Education and Experience

Director of Research Communications, Arena BioWorks, 2023-2025

Visual Designer at Pattern, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 2019-2022

Owner, O'Reilly Science Art, LLC, 2010-present

Specialized Certificate in Digital Design, University of California, San Diego Extension, 2014

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA  2010-2013

American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA

Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry, MIT, Cambridge, MA

B.S. in Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

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LinkedIn profile with recommendations

Instagram @oreillyscienceart for handmade art, mostly not about science

If you are interested in how I ended up here you can read about my career path in C&E News or in a more recent essay I wrote for Science Magazine.

PAST AND PRESENT CLIENTS

Principal Investigators from 

  • Baylor College of Medicine

  • Boston College

  • Brandeis University

  • Clemson University

  • Duke University

  • Emory University Medical School

  • ETH Zurich

  • Freie Universitat-Berlin

  • Harvard Medical School

  • Harvard University

  • Iowa State University

  • Johns Hopkins University

  • Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • McGill University

  • National Taiwan University

  • Northwestern University

  • Oregon Health and Sciences Institute

  • Purdue University

  • Rice University

  • Stanford University

  • The Scripps Research Institute

  • Tufts Medical Center

  • University of Alberta

  • University of California-Berkeley

  • University of California-San Diego

  • University of California-Santa Cruz

  • University of Chicago

  • University of Colorado-Boulder

  • University of Illinois-Chicago

  • University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign

  • University of Iowa

  • University of Massachusetts Medical School

  • University of Michigan

  • University of San Diego

  • University of Southern California

  • University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • UT-Southwestern

  • Wellesley College

  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Biomedical Research Institutes

  • The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

  • Janelia Research Campus

  • La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology

  • National Research Council Canada

  • Salk Institute

  • Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute

  • Stowers Institute for Medical Research

Biotech

  • Amplyx Pharmaceuticals

  • Aptitude Medical Systems

  • aTyr Pharma

  • Belharra Therapeutics

  • Bicycle Therapeutics

  • Cell Guidance Systems, Ltd.

  • CTK Biotech

  • eFFECTOR Pharmaceuticals

  • Keros Therapeutics

  • LogicBio Therapeutics

  • Merck

  • Minerva Biotechnologies

  • Parallel Squared Technology Institute

  • Polyamyna Nanotech

  • Reneo Pharmaceuticals

  • Salgomed, Inc.

  • Stemcentrx

  • Stemgent, Inc.

  • Sunflower Therapeutics

  • Synthorx

Publishers

  • Chemical & Engineering News

  • W.H. Freeman & Company

  • Rockefeller University Press (Journal of General Physiology)

  • Taylor & Francis Group

INVITED TALKS

2026

Science Art Summit 

Fourth in a virtual series hosted by science artist Philipp Dexheimer

Making Art with Scientists

American Chemical Society                              

Spring meeting in Atlanta, GA

Beyond the Beaker

2023

American Society for Cell Biology

Annual meeting in Boston, MA

Science and Art Subgroup

2021-2022

Boston College

Graduate-level science communication course, Chemistry Department

Guest lectures and workshops on simple design principles for science graphics

2022

Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Graduate-level seminar course, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department

Guest lecture on science careers away from the bench

2020

Ocular Genomics Institute

Annual Retreat, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School
Keynote speaker, workshop on simple design principles for science graphics

Penn State
Career Development Seminar Series, Huck Institute of Sciences Graduate Program
Scientist to Science Illustrator: the Oddball’s Guide to Finding Your Niche

2019

MIT
Infinite Careers Series, Alumni Association
From Researcher to Illustrator

Rice University
Visual Communication Symposium
Telling Your Story Through Illustration

2018

Tufts Medical School
Career Seminar Series
From Researcher to Illustrator

Scientific publications

  1. O'Reilly M.K., Stubbe J. JoAnne Stubbe's Radical Path: A Story of Passion, Curiosity, and Persistence.  Annu Rev Biochem. 2026 Apr 2. doi: 10.1146/annurev-biochem-040320-103623. Online ahead of print.

  2. Dahlin, J.L., Hua, B.K., Zucconi, B.E., Nelson, S.D. Jr., Singh, S., Carpenter, A.E., Shrimp, J.H., Lima-Fernandes, E., Wawer, M.J., Chung, L.P.W., Agrawal, A., O'Reilly, M.K., Barsyte-Lovejoy, D., Szewczyk, M., Li, F., Lak, P., Cuellar, M., Cole, P.A., Meier, J.L., Thomas, T., Baell, J.B.,  Brown, P.J., Walters, M.A.,  Clemons, P.A., Schreiber, S.L., Wagner, B.K. Reference compounds for characterizing cellular injury in high-content cellular morphology assays. Nat. Commun.2023, 14(1), 1364.

  3. Brockman D.G., Petronio L., Dron J.S., Kwon B.C., Vosburg T., Nip L, Tang A, O'Reilly M.K., Lennon N., Wong B., Ng K., Huang K.H., Fahed A.C., Khera A.V. Design and user experience testing of a polygenic score report: a qualitative study of prospective users. BMC Med Genomics. 202114(1), 238.

  4. O'Reilly M.K., Stubbe J. PET Polymer Recycling. Biochemistry. 2020, 59(25), 2316-2318.

  5. O’Reilly, M.K. and Paulson, J.C.  CD22 is a recycling receptor that can shuttle cargo between the cell surface and endosomal compartments of B cells. J. Immunol. 2011, 186(3), 1554-63.

  6. O’Reilly, M.K. and Paulson, J.C. Multivalent Ligands for Siglecs. (Review) Methods Enzymol. 2010, 478, 343-363.

  7. Udit, A.K., Hackenberger, C.P, O’Reilly, M.K. Chemically tailored multivalent virus platforms: from drug delivery to catalysis. (Highlight) Chembiochem. 2010, 11(4), 481-4.

  8. O’Reilly, M.K. and Paulson, J.C. Siglecs as targets for the therapy of immune cell diseases. (Review) Trends Pharm. Sci.2009,30, 240-8.

  9. O’Reilly, M.K.; Collins, B.E.; Han, S.; Liao, L.; Rillahan, C.; Kitov, P.; Bundle, D.; Paulson, J.C. Bifunctional CD22 ligands use multimeric immunoglobulins as protein scaffolds in assembly of immune complexes on B cells.  J. Amer. Chem. Soc.2008130(24), 7736-45.

  10. Kaltgrad E., O'Reilly M.K., Liao L., Han S., Paulson J.C., Finn M.G. On-virus construction of polyvalent glycan ligands for cell-surface receptors. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130(14), 4578-9.

  11. O’Reilly, M.K.; Zhang, G.; Imperiali, B. In vitro evidence for the dual function of Alg2 and Alg11: Essential Mannosyltransferases in N-linked glycoprotein biosynthesis. Biochemistry200645(31), 9593-9603.

  12. Hackenberger C.P., O'Reilly M.K., Imperiali B. Improving glycopeptide synthesis: a convenient protocol for the preparation of beta-glycosylamines and the synthesis of glycopeptides. J. Org. Chem.2005, 70(9), 3574-8.

  13. Zhao L., O'Reilly M.K., Shultz M.D., Chmielewski J. Interfacial peptide inhibitors of HIV-1 integrase activity and dimerization. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett.2003, 13(6), 1175-7.

  14. Peluso S., de L Ufret M., O'Reilly M.K., Imperiali B. Neoglycopeptides as inhibitors of oligosaccharyl transferase: insight into negotiating product inhibition. Chem. Biol.20029(12), 1323-8.