Dr Maria Buckley

Dr Maria Buckley’s research spans neuroimmune interactions in the gastro-intestinal tract, the impact of the gut microbiome and reproductive disorders. Dr Buckley leads a  translational research group investigating post-embolisation syndrome in women following uterine artery embolization (UAE) as a treatment for uterine fibroids. Increased growth of uterine smooth muscle, the myometrium, can result in the formation of benign monoclonal tumours known as uterine fibroids (UF). More than seventy percent of women of reproductive age are affected by uterine fibroids.  UAE is an effective non-invasive treatment of the UF, however approximately 50% of patients can develop post embolisation syndrome and subsequently experience chronic pelvic pain. This research group is a multidisciplinary team with clinical colleagues in the Dept of Radiology, CUH  and  Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology CUMH. The other interest of the research group is the effect of the gut microbiome on oestrogen metabolism by modulating enterohepatic circulation of oestrogen and affecting the circulation and excretion of oestrogen metabolites in the body.

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 maria.buckley@ucc.ie