The conferring ceremony for our BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Genetics students was held on campus on Sunday 21st November 2021.

The School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at University College Cork (UCC) invites applications for two new Lectureship positions to support the School’s established and expanding research in areas of modern biochemistry and molecular cell biology.

Congratulations to our 4th year BSc Biochemistry students who received their degree results today!

One proposal to improve global vaccine distribution is to waive the patent restrictions on Covid vaccines and medicines. 

The School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) met on Monday, 19 April to select the third awardee of the Professor Tom Cotter Medal for the 2020 Publication of the Year from a postgraduate research student in the School. Three entries were submitted, with full citations shown below.

Congratulations to Amy O’Reilly (4th year Biochemistry) and Katie O’Brien (4th year Biomedical Science) who were awarded Johnson and Johnson WiSTEM2D 4th year bursaries.

Dr Anne Moore, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology will talk on January 12th, 1pm-2pm next week at the upcoming seminar on the Covid-19 vaccine hosted by the School of Public Health, UCC.

A summer vacation placement information seminar was held by the Biochemistry & Biotechnology and Biomedical Science societies on Wednesday 2nd December 2020.

On Thursday 19 November 2020 we celebrated the conferring of our BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, Biomedical Science, Biotechnology and Genetics students, and also, our PhD students.

MSc Biotechnology students Sarah Hannon, Alice Kenrick and Ian O’Shea were presented with the “Regeneron Ireland College Awards” on 19th November 2020.

The Professor Art Champlin Gold Medal Award for academic excellence in Biochemistry was won in 2020 by Niamh Casey.

In 2019, James graduated from University College Cork and Cork Institute of Technology with a first-class honours degree in Biomedical Science.

A research article from the School was published in the prestigious journal Science Signaling and is also featured in a focus article and on the journal cover.

Congratulations to our 4th year BSc Biochemistry students who received their degree results today. 

School of Biochemistry staff member Dr Anne Moore talks to RTE's Sean O'Rourke on radio, and on television to Anne Cassin on RTE's Nationwide, about the Coronavirus. 

The direct links to three interviews are below.

BCL-G, a hitherto ‘orphan’ member of the BCL-2 protein family of cell death regulators, regulates inflammatory responses and not cell death in dying intestinal epithelial cells – finds a study led by Dr Ken Nally and published recently in Cell Death & Disease.

This year, five scholarships were available to UCC students, one of which was awarded to our final year Biochemistry student Natasha Steidel.

At the College of SEFS Annual Awards Ceremony on the 9th March 2020, Professor Sarah Culloty presented 24 Quercus College Scholarships to undergraduate students who demonstrated an exceptional level of academic excellence, based on academic results in the University exams in the previous academic year.

The 2019 Eli Lilly Awards ceremony for Academic Excellence in Biochemistry and Biotechnology was held on Tue 4th February 2020.  Dr Deirdre Buckley, Team Leader, Downstream Operations IE43 at Eli Lilly presented the students who achieved the highest grades in the MSc Biotechnology programme and in the undergraduate Biochemistry programme with their award.

On Thursday the 16^th January fifty 5^th year students taking Leaving Certificate Biology from Christ King Girls Secondary School attended our ‘DNA Workshop’.

Congratulations to Professor Tommie McCarthy who was one of sixteen staff appointed to the UCC Internal Coaching Panel. 

Congratulations to Chloe Sigerson, a third year Biochemistry student and a Cork senior camogie player, who was awarded a Quercus Sports Scholarship 2019 for outstanding sporting achievements.

The Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society hosted an information seminar on Tuesday 12th November 2019 on the MSc in Molecular Cell Biology with Bioinnovation, the MRes programme and MSc in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.

The conferring ceremony for the BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science class was held in Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), on Friday 1st November 2019.

MSc Biotechnology students Kevin Russell, Róisín O’Connor and Kevin Lally were the “Regeneron Ireland College Award” winners from UCC.

The UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society hosted a careers seminar on Tuesday 22nd October 2019 in WGB. 

Placement seminars by fourth year Biochemistry, Biomedical Science and Genetics students were held on Tuesday 8th and Tuesday 15th October for third year students.

Congratulations to all the postgraduate students conferred at the Autumn conferring on Tuesday 15th October.

Forty BSc (Hons) Biochemistry students were conferred at a ceremony on Tuesday, 15th October.

The Professor Art Champlin Gold Medal Award for academic excellence in Biochemistry, was presented to Caoimhe Lynch on 15 October 2019 by Professor Patrick O'Shea, President of University College Cork (UCC); Professor Sarah Culloty Head of College, College of Science, Engineering & Food Science (SEFS), UCC; and Professor Rosemary O'Connor, Head of School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, UCC

UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society Charity event 2019.

Congratulations to Anna Scanlan on her recent award of the NUI Dr Mary L Thornton Prize in Education 2019.  Anna’s research in UCC is jointly supported and supervised by Professor Tommie McCarthy in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, and Dr Declan Kennedy in the School of Education.

Research led by led by Professor Rosemary O’Connor and Dr Orla Cox, involving input from researchers in Ireland, the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, have discovered a protein that gives hopes to future breast cancer patients.

Over the Summer of 2019 Biochemistry, Biomedical Science and Genetics students secured an array of competitive scholarships enabling them to conduct independent research projects and gain significant laboratory experience.

Congratulations to the Final Year BSc in Biochemistry (Honours) students who completed their exams in May.

Dr Anne Moore was honoured to attend a reception hosted by Uachtaráin na hEireann, Dr Michael D. Higgins and Sabina Higgins to celebrate International Womens’ Day “Women In The Sciences”  at Áras an Uachtaráin on Friday, 8th March, 2019.

Professor Tom Cotter has worked in Biochemistry since 1995, when he was appointed as Chair and Head of Biochemistry.

Professor John Atkins, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology was one of the twelve recipients of an Irish Research Council Advanced Laureate Research 4-year grant.

Twenty six students from twenty four different Schools completed the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology Transition Year programme from the 8th-12th April.

The Transition Year programme in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology is a very well-structured and organised programme. It showed us all the different aspects of the job that biochemists must do on a daily basis. The programme had great diversity from DNA testing to pH and buffer analysis. 

The annual Eli Lilly undergraduate and postgraduate awards for academic excellence were held on Tuesday 26th February. The students who achieved the highest grades in the MSc Biotechnology programme and in the undergraduate Biochemistry programme were presented with their award by Dr Deirdre Buckley, TSMS Team Leader at Eli Lilly.

RNA Worlds: New Tools for Deep Exploration. eds. T.R. Cech, J.A. Steitz, J.F. Atkins.  559 pages. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

The contents of individual chapters to be published in the journal “Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives”.

Regeneron, in collaboration with University College Cork, has announced its new “Regeneron Ireland College Awards”.

The Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society UCC hosted an information seminar on MSc Programmes at UCC in the Life Science area on Tuesday, 22 January 2019.

• €73.22 million funding secured for Ireland, Northern Ireland and United States of America research collaborations
• 49 R&D projects approved in last 12 years
• Latest phase focuses on agri-food challenges with €1million issued to 3 successful projects

Tuesday evening November 6th, saw the UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology’s sole breakout event of the year – a riveting postgraduate seminar, hosted by our chairs Claire Cronin and Maeve O’ Sullivan.

For me, putting in all that hard work and effort throughout my four years as an undergrad, was so well worth it! Read more of Róisín’s story below...

On Thursday, 18th of October, Dr Sinéad Kerins hosted an event for third year Biochemistry, Biomedical Science and Genetics students where 4th year Biochemistry students delivered presentations about placements they had obtained during the summer between 3rd and 4th year. These ranged from industry placements to research internships within UCC. 

A careers event held by Johnson and Johnson was collaboratively organised between the UCC Biochemistry & Biotechnology society and WiSTEM society. The careers workshop was presented by personnel from Johnson & Johnson.

The conferring ceremony for the BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science class was held in University College Cork, on Wednesday, 17th October. Thirty BSc (Hons) students graduated from the Biomedical Science programme, which is run jointly with Cork Institute of Technology.

Forty-three of our BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry students graduated at a ceremony on Tuesday, 16th October 2018.

A Book, Review, Paper, Conference and Funding.

Science writer with UC Davis, Greg Watry, reports on the UC Davis science student undergraduate experience on the Ireland programme directed by Dr Kellie Dean, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology UCC.

Summer placements opportunities at Eurofins and on the Amgen Scholars Programme...

Congratulations to Dr Justin McCarthy who has been awarded a School of Medicine Teaching Award (Outstanding First Year Lecturer, FM modules). 

On Friday, 15 June 2018, Dr Stephen Heaphy, Dr Romika Kumari and Dr Jennifer Moloney from the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology were conferred with their PhD degrees and Conor Dolan and Begona Zapateria Gomez from the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology were conferred with their MRes (Master of Research) degrees.

Congratulations to the Final Year BSc in Biochemistry (Honours) students who completed their exams in May.

Transiton year participant and Overall winner of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2018, Simon Meehan of Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig, Co Cork, describes his experience in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

The School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology facilitated experiments by BT Young Scientist competitors, Aisling O'Connor and Aisha Ghori from Christ King Girls Secondary School, Douglas, Cork. Aisling and Aisha tell us about their experience.

On Tuesday 26th February, a group of 50 UCC students from third and fourth year biochemistry, 3rd year microbiology and the biotechnology masters, travelled to the Janssen (Johnson&Johnson) plant down in Ringaskiddy. This was as part of an event organised by the UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology society.

The UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society hosted the annual Eli Lilly undergraduate and postgraduate awards for academic excellence on Tuesday 20th February 2018. 

The conferring ceremony for the MSc Biotechnology and MSc Molecular Cell Biology and Bioinnovation class was held in University College Cork on Thursday 22 February 2018.

On Friday, 23 February 2018, Dr Patrick O’Connor was conferred with his PhD degree and Mr Jayanth Anantha was conferred with a Master of Research. 

The UCC  Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society hosted an information seminar on MSc Programmes in UCC on Tuesday, 30 January 2018.

The fourth year BSc in Biochemistry students, Lorcan Bannon, Orla Brosnan, Denise Burns, Emer Cantillon, Roisin Cassidy, Kevin Foley, Klaudia Juda, Cora Steemers, Peter Townsend and Erika Vasiliauskaite demonstrated a DNA Workshop to secondary school students attending Christ King Secondary School. They all did an excellent job explaining the experiments to the students, demonstrating how to use the equipment and answering the students questions.

The current Biochemistry, Biomedical Science and Pharmacy fourth year students presented their experiences to the third year students on their summer work placements on Wednesday 11 October 2017.

Congratulations to the Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society who raised €2000, by running DNA workshops for secondary school students in order to raise money to assist their fellow classmate Éabha Wall.

Some materials, when they get a billion times smaller than size of a human body, acquire principally new and often unexpected features. Miniscule but powerful nanoparticles (from Greek word “nanos” meaning “dwarf”) drive the modern technical progress and shape the way we live. Computers and smartphones, medical scanners and spacecrafts, CCTV cameras, telescopes and the cosmetics are just a few examples of devices that exist thanks to the advanced nanomaterials.

An article published in the Irish Times newspaper today highlights the acquisition of Luxcel Biosciences by Agilent Technologies.

Researchers from the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology discovered a molecular timer in the human gene AMD1.

The first seminar, hosted by the Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society this academic year, was held on Wednesday 15th November at 6.00 pm in Western Gateway Building G01.

An article published in the Irish Times newspaper today highlights the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology's, Professor Tom Cotter's, research on age-related degenerative eye conditions.

Professor Rosemary O'Connor of this School was awarded an investigator award for her research programme on “Targeting the regulators of cellular metabolism to promote healthy ageing”. 

Science, Engineering, Technology and Maths Entrepreneurship Excellence Masters Program (ESTEEM) at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.

The Professor Art Champlin Gold medal award for academic excellence in Biochemistry, was presented to Carolyn Murray on Thursday October 19th by Professor Rosemary O’Connor of this School.

Forty of our BSc (Hons) Biochemistry students graduated at a ceremony on Thursday, 19th October.

The BSc Biomedical Science class of 2017 were conferred with their awards at the joint UCC-CIT conferring ceremony on Friday October 20^th hosted by CIT.

Dr Ruslan Dmitriev has been recently appointed as the Society Ambassador, secured a travel grant from the Society and was selected for a Microsymposia talk.

Dr Ruslan Dmitriev edited the book 'Multi-parametric live cell microscopy of 3D tissue models', recently published by Springer publishing house (eBook available from 30-Oct-2017, printed version available from Nov-2017, ISBN 978-3-319-67357-8), as part of renown Advances on Experimental Medicine and Biology series (vol. 1035). 

Professor Dmitri Papkovsky from our School received an invitational Fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. 

The UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society hosted a careers seminar on Tuesday 17th October 2017 entitled “Understanding the Irish Biopharma & Medical Device Sector.

The School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at University College Cork has established a new science outreach programme, Cell EXPLORERS UCC, for primary or post-primary schools located in the Cork area.

Congratulations to the Final Year BSc Biomedical Science (Honours) students who completed their exams in May. 

Congratulations to the Final Year BSc in Biochemistry (Honours) students who completed their exams in May.

The UCC Open Day held over two days, 16 and 17 May 2017, offers a fantastic opportunity to prospective students to find out more about facilities and course details before making a decision on what to study.

The School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology run their Transition Year Programme in April each year since 2005.

A Transition Year Student's experience in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology by Conleth Aspel. The placement at the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology was the most interesting and enjoyable placement I could have done!

Congratulations to Dr Justin McCarthy on his appointment to the position of Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, College of Science, Engineering and Food Science.

The College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS) held a presentation ceremony on Friday, 31 May 2017 to celebrate the accomplishments of undergraduate students, who have been awarded a Quercus College Scholarship.

Julia Samson, a first-year PhD student supervised by Dr Kellie Dean, recently attended a hands-on training course at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, from 27 – 30 March 2017. 

Rahel Fitzel, a student at the Universität Ulm in Germany, completed a 10-week Erasmus+ research traineeship, under the supervision of Dr Kellie Dean in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology

With students and staff from the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Team Mad Scientists participated in their fifth UCC Relay for Life, on 3 and 4 March 2017.

The UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society hosted the annual Eli Lilly undergraduate and postgraduate awards for academic excellence on Thursday, 2 March 2017.

Dr Sarah Roche delivers invited research lecture at the National Eye Institute in Washington DC on her research on the role of inflammation in degenerative conditions of the eye.  

Congratulations to Drs Charlotte O'Donnell, Ioanna Tzani, James Jenkins, Caroline Ann Kelly, Anita Murphy & Alice Wyse Jackson who were conferred with their PhD degrees.

The conferring ceremony for the MSc Biotechnology and MSc Molecular Cell Biology and Bioinnovation class was held in University College Cork, on Thursday, 23 February 2017.

The UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society hosted a seminar “Evolution in Biologics at Janssen” on Wednesday, 1st February. 

The Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society UCC hosted an information seminar on MSc Programmes, UCC on Tuesday, 24 January 2017. 

The Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society UCC hosted a careers seminar on Wednesday 9th November at 6.00 pm on the MSc in Biotechnology, as well as an insight into the roles of Biochemistry and Biotechnology Graduates in BioMarin and Janssen. 

The conferring ceremony for the BSc (Honours) Biomedical Science class was held in University College Cork, on Friday, 28 October 2016.

Forty eight of our BSc (Honours) Biochemistry students graduated at a ceremony on Monday, 24 October 2016. 

Elaine O'Brien graduated as top student, with a first class honours degree in Biochemistry and received the Art Champlin Gold Medal Award  in 2016. 

Shannon Quilty (4th year Biochemistry, UCC) received a Wellcome Trust Biomedical Vacation Scholarship and Grace O’Mahony (4th year Biomedical Science, UCC & CIT) received a HRB Summer Studentship Award to spend 8 weeks during the past summer in the research group of Dr Ken Nally, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and APC Microbiome Institute, UCC. 

Shona Cronin (4th year Genetics, UCC) received a 2016 Biochemical Society Summer Vacation Studentship to spend eight weeks in the research group of Dr Kellie Dean, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

A new Masters Programme in Entrepreneurial Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology (MESBB) has just been launched in UCC.

A crucial event of immune system activation, in response to infections, is elicited by T-cells. The work has just been published online in the EMBO Journal and features as the cover image of the Journal’s current printed edition

Congratulations to the Fourth Year BSc in Biochemistry (Honours) students who completed their exams in May. 

The UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society, as their charity event this academic year, ran two DNA workshops during Cork Science Festival week, in aid of Cork Penny Dinners. 

The annual Eli Lilly undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships for academic excellence were recently presented to students from this School at an event hosted by the UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society on 2nd March last.‌

UCC MSc in Molecular Cell Biology student, Blaine Doyle, won the top prize of €20,000 investment for his company GlowDX under the ‘Best New Idea’ category at the finals of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition. Additionally he won €10,000 investment at his Local Enterprise Office competition on the way to the finals.

UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology students demonstrate for charity at DNA workshops for Christ King Girls’ Secondary School, Bandon Grammar School and Presentation Brothers College.

The third seminar, hosted by the Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society, was held on Tuesday 10 November 2015 at 6.00 p.m. 

Current BSc in Biochemistry and BSc in Biomedical Science 4th year students gave presentations to the 3rd year Biochemistry and 3rd Year Biomedical Science students on their Summer work placement experiences last year.

Keep up-to-date with recent Research publications from this School - they are published in our monthly newsletter.

The Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society hosted a seminar on Tuesday 20th October entitled “An Insight into BioMarin and roles in the Biotechnology Sector”. 

The Professor Art Champlin Gold Medal Award for academic excellence in Biochemistry, was presented to David O’Sullivan on 19 October 2015 by Professor Dave Sheehan of this School. 

Thirty five of our BSc (Hons) Biochemistry students graduated at a ceremony on Monday, 19 October 2015. 

The conferring ceremony for the BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science class was held in University College Cork, on Monday, 19 October 2015. 

Dr Justin McCarthy, and Dr Michael W. Bennett have recently been awarded a Translational Research Access Programme (TRAP) grant from the School of Medicine. 

Seven students from UCC brought home a gold medal this year in a prestigious synthetic biology competition held in Boston, USA from Sept 24th – 28th. 

Fourth Year Biochemistry students discuss with Third Year Biochemistry students about the elective modules they took last year.

On 18 June 2015 at a joint SEFS/Medicine and Health conferring, four students graduated from this School with PhD degrees; Drs Alina Kondrashina and Alicia Waters (Professor Papkovsky’s lab), Dr Joanna Stannika (Professor Cotter’s lab) and Dr Siti Nurtahirah (Tahirah) Jaafar (Professor Sheehan’s lab).

Researchers in UCC’s School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology have published important new research on a medically-important phenomenon - ischemia - which occurs when cells are deprived of oxygen and glucose due to a blocked blood-supply. This is commonly associated with heart attacks and strokes.

Dylan O'Donovan has been one of the top students in the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS) over the past four years, having obtained a SEFS undergraduate award on each consecutive year since his registration.

The MSc in Biotechnology was profiled in today's Irish Times and ranked 3rd in the top 5 postgraduate courses in UCC. 

With students and staff from the MSc in Molecular Cell Biology with Bioinnovation programme, Team Mad Scientists participated in the third “UCC Relay for Life” held on 27–28 February 2015 in support of the Irish Cancer Society.

The University has sanctioned the appointment of two new Adjunct Professors to the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

A UCC submission led by Dr Cora O’Neill, Director of the Cork NeuroScience Centre, has led to the Cork NeuroScience Centre being designated as a “Centre of Excellence in Neurodegeneration” (CoEN) after a national and international review process. 

The annual Eli Lilly undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships for academic excellence were recently presented to students from this School at an event hosted by the UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society on 18^th February last.‌ 

UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society present a cheque for EUR 2300 to Pieta House representative, Mr Pat Duffy.

Dr Susan Joyce has just joined our School as a part-time College Lecturer.

Nine students from UCC were the first Irish team to participate in a prestigious synthetic biology competition held in Boston, USA from Oct 31st – Nov 3rd.  The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition saw 245 teams from leading universities all over the world compete based on a synthetic biology research projects conducted over the summer.

A regular feature: People on the move to and from the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology

Hot Off the Press! Recent Publications from this School.

Congratulations to Dr Kellie Dean who has been appointed to a College Lecturership in this School.

Three students from the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology were awarded PhD degrees at the Autumn  Conferring ceremony held at UCC on October 29th last. 

Forty of our 2014 BSc (Hons) Biochemistry students graduated at a ceremony on Tuesday, 28th October. 

The Professor Art Champlin Gold medal award for academic excellence in Biochemistry, was presented to Fergus Collins on October 28th by Professor David Sheehan of this School. 

Professor John Atkins, SFI Research Professor in our School, and Dr Pasha Baranov, College Lecturer in our School, received the Research Team of the Year Award from the President, Dr Michael Murphy, at the University Staff Awards ceremony held in the Aula Maxima on Thursday 9th October last. 

It has been an exciting time for Dr Meghan Coakley, a recent PhD graduate from Dr Cora O’ Neill’s lab in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology. The week after her PhD graduation ceremony at UCC, Meghan was a featured exhibitor at the White House Maker Faire in Washington DC as part of the official launch of the NIH 3D Print Exchange.

UCC Leads the Way in Synthetic Biology- Students awarded venture capital to form SynBio start-up and compete in international competition.

Hot Off the Press! Recent Publications from this School.

The O’Neill lab with first author Ciara O’Flanagan have discovered a totally new function for PINK1, as a regulator of the cell cycle published in Oncogene (advance online March 31 2014).

You can keep up-to-date with recent Research publications from this School - they are published in our monthly newsletter.

The 2013 Eli Lilly Postgraduate and Undergraduate Scholarships for Academic Excellence in Biotechnology and Biochemistry were recently awarded to students in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

Hot Off the Press! Recent Publications from this School.

Hot off the Press! Recent Publications from this School.