Robert Shiel qualified from University College Dublin (UCD) and after several years in small animal practice in the United Kingdom, he returned to UCD to undertake a residency in small animal medicine and obtained the Diploma of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine - Companion Animals (Internal Medicine) in 2007.
He completed a PhD at UCD in the area of canine thyroid function, and the effects of non-thyroidal illness, in 2011. After four years working as a lecturer at Murdoch University, Western Australia, Robert returned to UCD 2014 and is currently an Assistant Professor of Small Animal Medicine.
Research interests include small animal endocrinology and genomics.