Niall graduated from Glasgow in 2001 with an honours degree in Physiology. He went on to study for a PhD working with Prof. Godfrey Smith, investigating spontaneous Ca2+ release in cardiac myocytes through experimental and computer modelling techniques. After attaining his PhD in 2005, he carried out postdoctoral work examining the electrophysiological remodelling which occurs through the progression of heart failure in a rabbit model of myocardial infarction. Through this work he also worked in the lab of Prof Donald Bers in UC Davis, California. In 2009 he attained a Marie Curie Fellowship to work in Leuven, Belgium in the Lab of Prof. Karin Sipido to study RyR cluster organisation is changed in atrial fibrillation, attaining additional expertise in Super Resolution Microscopy. He returned to Glasgow in 2013 to start a BHF Intermediate Research Fellowship and a Marie Curie Reintegration Grant. He currently works as a group leader in the University of Glasgow..