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Celebrating Excellence at the APC Annual Symposium 2026
The APC Annual Symposium, held on Friday 4 September at Devere Hall, University College Cork, brought together researchers, collaborators and industry partners for a day of science, discussion and celebration.
This year’s symposium, Microbial Intelligence: From Discovery to Prediction, showcased research taking place across APC Microbiome Ireland, from fundamental discovery to innovation, alongside contributions from academic and industry partners.
A highlight of the day was the APC Awards Ceremony, where we recognised colleagues for their achievements in scientific excellence, research leadership, entrepreneurship and their contribution to the APC community. The format follows the awards focus of the 2025 Symposium, while this year’s recipients reflect a new range of achievements across APC.
Scientific Excellence Awards
Lisa Friess received the Postgraduate Scientific Excellence Award.
Lisa graduated with her PhD this year from the van Sinderen lab and has built a strong publication record. Over the past year, she has first-authored three papers, including two in Gut Microbes, and developed a CRISPR interference system for targeted gene regulation in bifidobacteria. The CRISPRi system provides a tool for selectively repressing genes and studying their function in these important members of the gut microbiome.
Lisa was also a co-author on a 2025 paper in Cell, produced with collaborators in the United States, entitled Genome-scale resources in the infant gut symbiont Bifidobacterium breve reveal genetic determinants of colonization and host-microbe interactions. The study developed genome-scale resources to investigate the biology of B. breve and the genetic factors influencing its growth and colonisation.
In the Postdoctoral/Fellow category, Natalia Rios Colombo, a postdoctoral researcher in the Ross and Hill group, received the Scientific Excellence Postdoc/Fellow Award.
Natalia was first author on two significant papers over the past year examining how defined microbial communities can be used to investigate interactions within the gut microbiome. Her 2026 Nature Protocols paper describes the Simplified Human Intestinal Microbiota, or SIHUMI, as a versatile in vitro gut microbiome model with qPCR-based tracking of individual bacterial strains.
She also led work published in Gut Microbes examining the effects of bacteriocins in the SIHUMI model, including their intended and wider effects across the microbial community.
Alongside her research, Natalia makes an important contribution to APC education and public engagement, including helping to introduce Transition Year students to microbiology through the APC TY programme.
APC Future Leader
The APC Future Leader Award was jointly presented to Des Field and Friederike Uhlig, recognising their growing research independence, leadership and contribution to the APC community.
Both have secured highly competitive Research Ireland Pathway Programme Awards. These awards support researchers as they move from postdoctoral positions towards establishing independent research programmes.
Des received €675,129 for his project Nisin in miCrobiome Editing (NICE). The project will develop new versions of the antimicrobial peptide nisin with improved ability to remain active in the intestinal environment. Using a model of the human colon, the team will investigate whether engineered forms of nisin can selectively target Clostridioides difficile while limiting effects on other members of the microbial community.
Friederike received €436,073 for GO-AHEAD: Gastrointestinal Oxytocin is importAnt in HEalth And Disease. Her research investigates hormones produced in the gut, including oxytocin, how their release is regulated and whether signals from gut bacteria influence gut oxytocin production. The award is supporting Friederike in establishing an independent research group focused on microbiome-derived signals, gut physiology and gut-brain communication. She also joined UCC’s Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in an academic role in 2025.
Industry and Entrepreneurship
Harriët Schellekens received the APC Industry & Entrepreneurship Award, recognising her continued commitment to research entrepreneurship and the development of a potential new APC spin-out company.
This is the second time Harriët has received the award, reflecting the sustained development of her research towards commercialisation. She recently secured an Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Award of more than €800,000 to further develop NourishMind, a project focused on microbiota-based products for weight maintenance.
The latest award builds on several years of work to develop the commercial potential of the research. Harriët completed UCC’s SPRINT programme through UCC Innovation and received an APC Entrepreneurship Bursary to support early development of the project. She also secured Enterprise Ireland feasibility funding to assess market demand and the commercial opportunity.
Harriët leads research at APC examining the microbiota-brain-gut axis, eating behaviour and the biological signals involved in appetite and metabolism.
APC Team Member Award
Lorraine Draper, APC Operations Manager, received the APC Team Member Award.
This year saw 12 nominations for the award, recognising colleagues who demonstrate APC’s core values of collaboration, inclusivity, integrity and respect.
Lorraine has been part of APC for many years and plays a central role in supporting researchers and the wider centre. During a particularly challenging year for APC operations, she stepped into additional responsibilities, supported colleagues across a wide range of areas and helped maintain continuity across the centre.
Her contribution extends beyond her operational responsibilities. Lorraine has played a leading role in APC’s Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing activities and in organising initiatives that strengthen connections across the APC community.
Her colleagues highlighted her reliability, approachability and willingness to advocate for others. One nominator captured this contribution particularly well:
What stands out to me most is Lorraine’s willingness to speak up and advocate for colleagues, even when doing so puts her herself in a difficult position because she genuinely believes it is the right thing to do. In doing so, she embodies the values that make APC a supportive and responsible research environment: respect and dignity at work, care for colleagues’ wellbeing and mental health, and a strong commitment to research integrity.
Her nomination also recognised her commitment to respect and dignity at work, colleague wellbeing and research integrity, values that contribute directly to a supportive and responsible research environment.
The 2026 Awards celebrate the different contributions that sustain APC Microbiome Ireland, from research excellence and emerging leadership to entrepreneurship, teamwork and community.
Congratulations to Lisa, Natalia, Des, Friederike, Harriët and Lorraine on their well-deserved awards.
