Bruno Godinho wins ‘Science for All’ competition

16 Apr 2012

Bruno Godinho,  School of Pharmacy and Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, UCC, was the winner of the ‘Science for All’ competition on March 28th 2012

Topics such as developing new treatments for depression and Huntington’s Disease, diagnosis of cancer, chronic inflammation and renewable energy were presented at the competition to find the PhD student who could explain their work the most clearly and in the most interesting way.

Bruno, who is from Portugal is a PhD student in the Cryan lab, spoke about his research into Huntington’s Disease, "Hunting Disease Messages in the Brain", using silent messenger RNA to treat the disease. Huntington's Disease is a rare disorder that causes death of nerve cells within the brain. The disease is caused by a defect in a gene called Huntingtin (HTT) and as a result a toxic HTT protein builds up within the brain. The disease mainly affects middle-aged individuals and the symptoms are: rapid involuntary muscle movements, loss of memory, anxiety and depression. In addition, an affected individual has a 50% chance of transmitting the disease to their children and unfortunately there is no prevention or cure available.The competition was jointly organised by the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science and the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, UCC. This year’s competition was sponsored by UCC, the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre and the Tyndall National Institute.