Research on the role of impaired lysosomal flux in neurodegenerative diseases, aiming to identify cellular biomarkers and develop therapies to restore lysosomal function

Dr Barry Boland 

Dr Barry Boland earned my B.Sc. in Pharmacology from University College Dublin and a PhD in Physiology from Trinity College Dublin. During his doctoral studies, he developed a strong interest in the role of dysfunctional catabolism in neurodegenerative diseases. As a postdoctoral fellow, he identified hallmarks of impaired autophagic flux in neurons affected by Alzheimer's disease. Subsequently, together with Prof. Frances Platt at the Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford, he characterised the temporal impairments in endocytic and autophagic flux in mouse models of lysosomal storage diseases. In 2013, Barry joined the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at University College Cork, where he studies the cellular mechanisms underlying Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Research Interests

Inside all of our cells, waste products are packaged into acidic organelles known as lysosomes, which contain specialised enzymes that degrade cellular waste. Impaired processing (flux) of cellular waste through the endosomal-autophagic-lysosomal system of cells is a central feature of lysosomal storage diseases. Impaired  lysosomal flux is evident in many neurodegenerative diseases across the entire age spectrum; from childhood neurodegenerative conditions that occur in lysosomal storage diseases, to late-onset conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. Our goal is to identify cellular biomarkers of impaired lysosomal flux and develop therapies that can restore their function, thus enabling early diagnosis and new treatments for these diseases.

Publications

• Akerman E, Aston D, Rog-Zielinska EA, Boland B, Schotten U, Verheule S, Capel RA, Burton RAB. (2025) Atrial granules as acidic calcium stores in cardiomyocytes. Eur Heart J Open 5(4):oeaf083. doi: 10.1093/ehjopen/oeaf083
• Somogyi A, Kirkham ED, Lloyd-Evans E, Winston J, Allen ND, Mackrill JJ, Anderson KE, Hawkins PT, Gardiner SE, Waller-Evans H, Sims R, Boland B, O'Neill C. (2023) The synthetic TRPML1 agonist ML-SA1 rescues Alzheimer-related alterations of the endosomal-autophagic-lysosomal system. J Cell Sci. 136(6):jcs259875. doi: 10.1242/jcs.259875
• Boland B, Yu WH, Corti O, Mollereau B, Henriques A, Bezard E, Pastores GM, Rubinsztein DC, Nixon RA, Duchen MR, Mallucci GR, Kroemer G, Levine B, Eskelinen EL, Mochel F, Spedding M, Louis C, Martin OR, Millan MJ. (2018) Promoting the clearance of neurotoxic proteins in neurodegenerative disorders of ageing. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 17(9):660-688. doi: 10.1038/nrd.2018.109.

I welcome enquires from students interested in discussing MSc or PhD opportunities and post-doctoral researchers wishing to join the research group. If you have ideas for collaborations on existing work or would like to discuss your own research interests then there are a number of PhD studentships, Postdoctoral fellowships and other funding schemes available which I am more than happy to discuss this with you in the first instance by email barry.boland@ucc.ie