There has been increasing emphasis on the role of lifestyle factors in healthy aging. Now APC Microbiome Ireland together with King's College London have been awarded research funding to investigate how exercise impacts gut microbiota and brain health in middle age.

Professor John Cryan, Chair of Anatomy and Vice President for Research & Innovation, University College Cork commented in a tweet how it is 'Great to be back to in-Person conferrings' having attended the 2021 College of Medicine and Health Autumn Conferrings 'in person' on Friday 5th November to support his graduating PhD students.

Dr Olivia O’Leary, Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience and APC Microbiome Ireland Research Institute, has been awarded research funding from the Geneva-based BIOSTIME Institute Nutrition & Care (BINC) Foundation to explore the role of the maternal gut microbiome in increasing susceptibility of females to stress-related psychiatric disorders and associated brain changes. The project will be conducted with collaborator, Professor John F. Cryan, also of the Department of Anatomy & Neuroscience and APC Microbiome Ireland.

Congratulations to Ms Patricia Flynn who has been awarded the prestigious Musgrave PhD Scholarship, in association with Breakthrough Cancer Research

Professor Gerard O’Keeffe and Dr Mutahira Lone wish to congratulate the MSc Human Anatomy Class of 2021 who recently presented their research projects and have successfully completed their MSc degrees in Human Anatomy. 

Congratulations to Professor Aideen M. Sullivan who was appointed Head of the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience at University College Cork, in March 2021. 

Professor John Cryan, Chair of Anatomy and Vice President for Research & Innovation, University College Cork commented in a tweet how it is 'Great to be back to in-Person conferrings' having attended the 2021 College of Medicine and Health Autumn Conferrings 'in person' on Friday 5th November to support his graduating PhD students.

The legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic on the workplace has not all been doom and gloom. For Dr Harriët Schellekens the additional opportunities offered by hybrid work, online conferencing in virtual events and delivery of remote online talks, has meant a very productive summer of research dissemination, all while juggling the commitments of a family of three young children.

A new study funded by Cure Parkinson’s and led by Professors Gerard O’Keeffe and Aideen Sullivan at University College Cork, Ireland, will help lay the foundations to determine just how effective the neurotrphic factor GDF5 is at regenerating brain neurons and stopping Parkinson’s. 

Research from APC Microbiome Ireland (APC) SFI Research Centre at University College Cork (UCC) published today in the leading international scientific journal Nature Aging introduces a novel approach to reverse aspects of aging-related deterioration in the brain and cognitive function via the microbes in the gut.

Congratualtions to Dr Harriët Schellekens who was invited by Harvard Interdisciplinary Oxytocin Research Initiative to present her most recent research publication at the April 28^th 2021 meeting.

Dr André Toulouse and Dr Mutahira Lone, lecturers in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, have developed an innovative blended learning approach which incorporates online 3D models for teaching and examining of dental morphology into Canvas.

Bookended by puberty and culturally defined adult roles, it is now established that adolescence extends from age 10 to age 24. The recent DOTS Seminar organised by Dr. Eithne Hunt (Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy / Graduate Attributes Programme, UCC), Dr. Samantha Dockray (Applied Psychology, UCC) and Professor Yvonne Nolan (Anatomy & Neuroscience, UCC) explored the ramifications of this research and 'gave participants an opportunity to reflect on what this information may mean for them within their work or role in higher education'.

In an article in today's Irish Examiner, poet and essayist Doireann Ní Ghríofa chats about her decision to donate her body to the Anatomical Donation Programme in the Department of Anatomy UCC. Professor of Anatomy John F. Cryan and Professor Aideen Sullivan Head of Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience explain the UCC donation programme.

Congratulations to the BSc Neuroscience class 2020-21 who successfully completed their vivas on the 27th of May 2021. Despite the Covid-19 Pandemic restrictions, the BSc Neuroscience vivas were held online for a second year.

Dr André  Toulouse, a Lecturer of Anatomy and Principal Investigator in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, was nominated for this award by one of his many students in Medicine, Dentistry, Clinical Therapies, Neuroscience and Research Programmes for his outstanding teaching skills and ongoing dedication and support to his students.

Congratulations to Rehan Ali, a final year BSc Neuroscience student in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience UCC, winner of the 2021 Virgin Media Discovers & Screen Ireland Short Film Competition. Rehan's winning entry Water Under the Bridge was described by competition judge award-winning director and screenwriter Lenny Abrahamson as having a ‘really clear vision’ with 'very original themes' and 'above all was just really good and really interesting!'

A new collaboration between Dr Siobhain O’Mahony in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience UCC, Professor Andrew Horne and Professor Phillipa Saunders in University of Edinburgh and Dr David MacIntyre in Imperial College London will explore novel mechanisms in endometriosis, a debilitating syndrome associated with pelvic pain and infertility, which affects 1 in 10 women.

Dr. Eva McMullan, lecturer at UCC’s Department of Music has created a video featuring APC Microbiome Ireland researchers, the UCC Choir, body percussion composed by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas from the percussion group STOMP and an Allen Billingsley arrangement of the Pentatonix cover of Fleet Foxes’ White Winter Hymnal.

Dr Eva McMullan, an MSc student in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience has created a lively upbeat video with the UCC Choir, Crosshaven Community Choir and the Ukuladies. Performing their version of 'I'm Still Standing' they wish to send a positive message to all and to raise much needed funds for cancer research. 

Congratulations to the MSc Human Anatomy class of 2020 who graduated at the College of Medicine and Health Autumn graduation ceremony on November 18th 2020.

The research paper by Dr Harriët Schellekens and her team in the APC Microbiome Ireland SFI Research Centre, entitled 'Bifidobacterium longum counters the effects of obesity: Partial successful translation from rodent to human' which was published in the 'Lancet EbioMedicine' journal recently, has attracted quite an amount of media interest, with profiles appearing in The New York Post, Fox News and The Irish Times. 

Professor Gerard O'Keeffe and Professor Aideen Sullivan's recent research publication in the prestigious 'BRAIN' Journal has been featured in the 'The Conversation'. 

'Lift your 2021 spirit with nice bacteria. That old adage of 'let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food' is getting a makeover at University College Cork - and we could all feel less stressed as a result' writes Katy McGuiness in the Sunday Times January 3rd 2021.