School of Microbiology Technical Officer mentors secondary student in research for the Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2026

Caoimhlin Duggan represented her school at this year's Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition with guidance from teachers at St. Brogan's, Michael Connern and Sara Hurley, and Mary-Jane Lynch, Technical Officer in the School of Microbiology at University College Cork, in an exciting project on the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. 

When the 4th year student read about an outbreak of listeriosis (Listeria infections) in Ireland last summer she was curious to find out more about this important foodborne pathogen. Caoimhlin carried out an extensive survey of 389 people aged between 12 and 61 years of age and found that 41% had never heard of Listeria suggesting that greater public awareness of food safety is needed, particularly when it comes to this dangerous pathogen. Research carried out by Caoimhlin with the expert help of Mary-Jane Lynch, utilised the non-pathogenic species Listeria innocua to model growth of the bacterium in spinach and chicken (two of the foods included in the ready meals implicated in the recent listeriosis outbreak). Her work highlighted the importance of maintaining proper refrigeration conditions (the cold chain) in reducing outgrowth of Listeria and therefore helping to reduce risk of infection. Caoimhlin represented her school with a project entitled “Does Refrigeration Reduce Bacterial Contamination? A Simulation of Listeria Testing Using a Safe Surrogate and the Social Impact of Shopping & Food Storage”. 

Well done to Caoimhlin, her teachers and our colleague Mary-Jane Lynch on this collaboration.