Congratulations to Dr Siobhain O’ Mahony - Winner of SPRINT Clinical Impact Award 2023

31 Mar 2023

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.

Dr Siobhain O’ Mahony's project FemmeBiome will support a mothers’ well-being during pregnancy and postpartum to reduce the burden of stress on body and mind and improve overall health for mother and baby. FemmeBiome’s oral supplement will harness the signalling pathways of the microbiome-gut-brain axis, which Dr O’ Mahony has identified as playing a key role in maintaining well-being and physical health.

Photo: Dr Siobhain O'Mahony receiving the SPRINT Clinical Impact Award 2023 from Professor John Cryan, Vice President for Research & Innovation at University College Cork

The SPRINT Programme was developed to help spin-out and start-up companies overcome challenges they may encounter when starting their businesses. On the programme, pre and early-stage start-ups work with successful business mentors who help the researchers and founders to bring their business from idea stage through to the eventual commercialisation of the product or service. The SPRINT programme is sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, Bank of Ireland and Cork City LEO and Cork City Council.

The state-of-the-art incubation programme at GatewayUCC provides a uniquely supportive ecosystem for start-ups through its programme of business supports. Such supports include mentoring and business coaching, access to financial advice and start-up funding, specialist seminars, workshops, introduction to venture-capital opportunities, business angel networks and access to UCC’s network of researchers and academic departments. Office and wet-lab incubation facilities are also available.

Photo: Professor John Cryan Vice President for Research & Innovation at UCC speaking at the recent SPRINT awards ceremony

Vice President for Research & Innovation at UCC, Professor John Cryan said: “Congratulations to the SPRINT award winners for 2023, and the fantastic contribution to the programme made by female researchers and entrepreneurs this year. Today we see a sample of innovative research at UCC, resulting in potentially game changing impacts that aligns with the strategic plan of the University. SPRINT accelerates the movement of research out of the laboratories and into commercial application. Our ambition in the University is to create an Innovation Culture and Entrepreneurial Campus, underpinned by an ethos of creativity and discovery.”

Photo: Recipients of the SPRINT Accelerator Programme Awards 2023. Photo l-r : Dr Julie O’ Sullivan, APC Microbiome Ireland; Dr Siobhain O’ Mahony, APC Microbiome Ireland, Dr Brenda Long, UCC School of Chemistry, Environmental Research Institute & Tyndall National Institute; Dr Shivani Pathania, Teagasc

Related Links

UCC NEWS: Women entrepreneurs take top awards at UCC’s SPRINT Awards

ECHO: Female researchers take top awards

Teagasc News: Women researchers won all accolades at the 2023 GatewayUCC’s SPRINT Awards

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Photographs Evening Echo

News item B. Riedewald