The UCC College of Medicine and Health held its very successful CoMH Futures Research Conference on Thursday 21st September 2023 in Devere Hall, UCC, organised by a team led by Professor Gerard O'Keeffe, Vice-Dean for Research and Innovation at College of Medicine and Health UCC.

Dr Olivia O'Leary, Senior Lecturer & Principal Investigator, Department of Anatomy & Neuroscience, SFI-funded Investigator, HRB-funded Investigator and Funded Investigator, APC Microbiome Ireland, has recently been appointed Programme Director BSc Neuroscience.

Michael Cronin, Clinical Industrial Liaison Officer, ASSERT Centre, College of Medicine & Health, UCC is leading a collaborative initiative which will provide anatomical and surgical training to design engineers in the MedTech industry, with an aim to bridge the gap between engineering and surgery, advance medical device innovation and improve patient outcomes.

Professor Aideen Sullivan, Academic Director BSc Medical and Health Sciences and Dr Louise Collins, Course Coordinator BSc Medical and Health Sciences, welcomed the class of 2023 to UCC at the College of Medicine and Health First Year Orientation in Brookfield Health Sciences building on Thursday 14th September 2023. 

Dr Rebecca Henry, Royal Society Science Foundation Ireland Fellow, PI, and lecturer in the Department of Anatomy & Neuroscience has recently been announced as judge for the 2023 Royal Society Science Book Prize. Supported by the Trivedi Family Foundation, The Royal Society Book Prize celebrates the best popular science writing from across the globe.

Very excited about their futures the BSc Medical and Health Sciences Class of 2023 marked the completion of their four-year degree programme with staff on May 25th 2023. The class of 2023 are the second cohort of students to complete the new BSc Medical and Health Science's inovative programme. 

Professor Aideen Sullivan, Head of Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience and Professor John F. Cryan, Chair of Anatomy joined with staff and research students of the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience to recognise and celebrate the Department's recent top 100 ranking by subject, and for also having received the highest score for 'academic reputation' indicator for subject relative to its peers nationally in the 2023 QS World University Subject rankings. 

Dr Olivia O'Leary senior lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience at UCC, explains the changes that occur in our bodies when we experience stress.

Global leaders in nutritional products Health and Happiness Group and Arla Foods Ingredients have combined with APC Microbiome Ireland (APC), a world-leading Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre, to collaborate on a research project focused on diet and early-life cognitive development. The 1-year project will investigate early life nutritional interventions of strategic importance to both companies.

Congratulations to Dr Joana Cruz-Pereira and Dr Chiara Minuto who were conferred with PhDs, and Adam Lannon who was conferred with an MSc (Research) at the Summer UCC College of Medicine and Health Conferrings held on 23rd June 2023

Launching UCC Futures - Future Ageing & Brain Science, Professor Aideen Sullivan welcomed representatives from all UCC Colleges to the Future Ageing and Brain Science Town Hall meeting on May 15^th 2023, ‘to encourage interest and input from researchers across all four of UCC’s Colleges, who have an interest in the very broad areas of ageing and/or brain science.’ 

The use of virtual reality as a valuable tool to enhance the teaching of anatomy was demonstrated live by researchers in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience at the recent UCC College of Medicine and Health Teaching and Learning Showcase in Brookfield Health Sciences.

Congratulations to Dr Olivia O’Leary, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience and Funded Investigator in APC Microbiome Ireland, who was invited to the USA National Academies’ Board on Life Sciences spring meeting on May 23^rd 2023, to present her research on gut microbiome regulation of brain function, and as invited research leader in a live webcast public discussion on Frontiers in Microbiome-Gut-Brain Science.

Professor Katalin Karikó took time to chat with research students from the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience in advance of receiving an Honorary Doctorate from UCC for her pioneering mRNA research, which led to the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against COVID-19. 

Congratulations to Dr Siobhain O'Mahony, PI and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience and research lead in APC Microbiome Ireland who was awarded the SPRINT Clinical Impact Award 2023 at the Annual SPRINT awards ceremony in recognition of the important clinical success of her FemmeBiome startup. The SPRINT awards celebrate innovative technologies led by early-stage start-up companies on the SPRINT accelerator programme.

Congratulations to the BSc Neuroscience Class 2023 who completed their viva exams last week. 

Professor Yvonne Nolan, Vice Dean of Graduate Studies in the College of Medicine and Health and Professor in Neuroscience, along with the COMH Graduate Studies committee and Postgraduate Student Committee, hosted a very successful “Bright Futures: Celebrating our Researchers” on Wednesday 26th April 2023 in G05, Western Gateway Building, UCC. 

The role of Vice Dean for Research and Innovation at CoMH is an integral position in the College of Medicine and Health, and Professor O'Keeffe said that he is looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that the position presents. Comprising of six Schools, the College of Medicine and Health provides future medical and healthcare professionals with a world-class, student-centred education based on knowledge, informed by research and with an awareness of societal needs.

Dr Lone is a lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, and has lectured to Graduate Entry Medical students (GEM) and MSc Radiography students before being appointed programme coordinator on the then recently introduced MSc Human Anatomy in 2017. Dr Lone currently lectures to MSc Human Anatomy students and lectures dental anatomy and histology to undergraduate dental students. As a research supervisor Dr Lone supervises MSc students' research projects and postgraduate research students.

Staff and Postgraduate students of the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience hosted a fun open day welcoming the public of all ages to a day of Brain themed activities, games, tutorials, and an opportunity to view brain cells under a microscope!

To celebrate Brain Awareness Week 2023, Dr Sarah Nicolas, lecturer and Ms Patricia Flynn, PhD student in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience organised an informal Open Science Discussion evening, which was held in the UCC staff common room on Thursday 16th March at 4:30 pm

Professor John Cryan delivered the 2023 McCance Medal Award Lecture at The Neonatal Spring Meeting at Royal Society of Medicine London on March 10th.

Dr Sarah Nicolas and PhD student Patricia Flynn, will host two exciting events for Brain Awareness Week. A scientific discussion chat on this Thursday 16th March in the UCC Staff Common Room, and a fun day of brain science and fun activities for children on Saturday March 18th in G.04 Western Gateway Building. Brain awareness for all at these two events! 

Professor Aideen Sullivan, Head of Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, gathered together with over 40 female colleagues working in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience on Wednesday 8th March 2023 to celebrate International Women's Day 2023.  

Dr Siobhain O'Mahony, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience celebrated International Women's Day at three events! On video with her APC colleagues and UCC Innovation and with over 45 female staff in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience.

The Department of Anatomy and Neruoscience are delighted to see Dr María Rodriguez Aburto Senior Lecturer, Group Leader and ERC-funded Investigator Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience and APC Microbiome Ireland featured in its recent Research Spotlight Series.

The student-led UCC Translational Medicine Society hosted its second annual Narrowing the Void Conference in UCC on Wednesday 25th January 2023. The Conference was opened by Professor Aideen Sullivan, Head of Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience and Director of the BSc Medical and Health Sciences.

Professor Cryan and colleagues in UCC have recently published an article titled 'The Microbiome-Gut-Brain axis regulates social cognition & craving in young binge drinkers' in Lancet EBIOMedicine in which the researchers have shown that youth binge drinking is linked to gut microbiome change.

Global high-profile news and podcast outlets Euronews, BBC Future, The Wall Street Journal and Zoe Science and Nutrition, as well as UCC's own Narrowing the Void podcast have recently featured the work of Professor John Cryan. Read the articles, watch the videos, and listen to the podcasts at the below image links.

On Saturday 26th November 2022 the UCC Translational Medicine Society partnered with Cleanmarine to host the Women's Health Conference, bringing together a range of speakers with expertise in women's health to speak on, explore and discuss menopause, women's health and nutrition.

Dr Louise Collins BSc Medical and Sciences Coordinator hosted the first BSc Medical and Sciences Mentoring programme in December 2022. The event  brought together first year Medical and Health Sciences students and academic staff lecturing on the programme in an innovative mentoring initiative.

In their new podcast series Narrowing the Void, Brian Curtin and Mark Vesey, UCC Translational Medicine Society founders and UCC students, chat with Professor Aideen Sullivan, Head of Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, about her career path, her research focused on novel approaches to the treatment of Parkinson's disease, developing the BSc Medical and Health Sciences degree programme and how she manages to do it all!

We are saddened to announce the death on Friday 6th January 2023 of Ms Deirdre Kelleher, who worked as a Technical Operative in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience since 2000.

• Researchers discover that loss of consciousness during seizures is caused by four types of neurons.
• The research could help predict seizures before they happen.
• Led by researchers at University College Cork and Yale University, the discovery could improve the lives of people with epilepsy.