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Recent Funding Successes

Recent Funding Successes
APC awards in SFI Frontiers for the Future Programme
May congratulations to APC Investigators and associated faculty who have been awarded more than €2.6m via SFI Frontiers for the Future Programme
“Mechanisms underpinning the interplay between chronic neuroinflammation and exercise on cognitive function during middle age”; Dr Yvonne Nolan, UCC
“Bacterial Microcompartment Engineering: building them up and knocking them down”; Prof Mike Prentice, UCC
“Exploring miR-21 in the dialogue between the microbiome and immunity to decipher mechanisms of disease”; Dr Sinead Corr, Trinity College Dublin
“INSPIRE DMD: Interventional strategy to protect and increase respiratory efficacy in Duchenne muscular dystrophy”; Prof Ken O’Halloran, UCC
“Defining the potential of HDAC5 and HDAC9 as novel therapeutic targets for Parkinson’s disease”; Dr Gerard O’Keeffe, UCC.
International Human Microbiome Coordination and Support Action
APC is one of 17 partners receiving funding through the International Human Microbiome Coordination and Support Action (IHMCSA) led by Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique et l’Environnement (INRAE) via European Commission Health societal challenge (H2020-SC1-BHC-2018-2020). The IHMCSA brings together a strong EU partnership and broad stakeholder group involving all the actors along the innovation chain, including citizens, to i) map the current scientific state-of-play ii) identify the path and actions required to achieve impact iii) build consensus on the priorities and means as part of a roadmap for EU microbiome science and its translation.
Further COVID-19 Research Funded Via Rapid Response Research and Innovation Programme
Four additional APC projects were funded under the SFI led COVID-19 Rapid Response Research and Innovation Programme. Funding focused on supporting projects which respond to the immediate and pressing needs of society arising from the pandemic. The following APC-led projects were funded:
Microbial clues to illness risk in COVID-19; Professor Colin Hill and Professor Paul O’Toole.
COVID-19, immune reactions and the gut connection; Professor Liam O’Mahony.
Sniffing out the COVID-19 virus in the air; Professor Michael Prentice.
Using saliva to diagnose and monitor COVID-19; Dr John MacSharry.
iED Hub funded under Irish Government’s Human Capital Initiative 3 (HCI 3) Pillar funding
€8.7 million of funding has been awarded to University College Cork (UCC), CIT and nine industry partners to develop the next generation of graduates for the Health & Life Sciences industry sector. The iED Hub project is being led by Professor Helen Whelton, Head of the College of Medicine and Health at UCC and Dr Mark Tangney, APC Faculty member and a senior researcher in the College.
SFI Public Service Fellowship
Dr Mary O‘Connell Motherway has been awarded an SFI Public Service Fellowship Award with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland for a project ‘Assessment of the Safety of Probiotic Foods on Sale targeted at vulnerable groups in Ireland’