2009 Press Releases
SFI Funding for UCC Researchers
28.07.2009
Dr Louise Kenny and Professor John Atkins are set to share in research funding awards of €20.7million announced recently by Conor Lenihan TD, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation.
28.07.2009
Dr Louise Kenny and Professor John Atkins are set to share in research funding awards of €20.7million announced recently by Conor Lenihan TD, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation.
The awards are among 22 world-class research projects under the Science Foundation Ireland Principal Investigator Programme.
Making the announcement, Minister Lenihan said “This Government investment will enable crucial research to be carried out in Ireland over the next three to five years. The successful 22 projects include medical research into cancer, stroke and brain injury, Alzheimer’s Disease, asthma, cystic fibrosis, salmonella, meningitis, pre-clampsia, genetics and medical devices, while other areas to be funded include greenhouse gas emissions, web personalization, cloud computing, cyber security, digital media and semi-conductors.”
In congratulating the award winners, the Minister added “The Government remains firmly committed to developing the “Smart Economy”. It is research projects such as these that will support the next phase of Ireland’s economic development. We must never lose sight of the fact that research and development is primarily about people - the individual and collective talents of our skilled personnel. We must continue to support the best researchers to bring about long-term economic benefits and with the assistance of support structures such as SFI, IDA and Enterprise Ireland, we can studiously bring these concepts to that next level, and through exploitation and commercialisation ensure economic and societal benefits for Ireland.”
Speaking at the announcement, Chairperson of SFI, Professor Pat Fottrell said: “To date, the academic and commercial outputs stemming from previous PI funding have been promising, which bodes well for today’s recipients under this programme. By subjecting all funding applications to a high level of scrutiny and review by 28 distinguished international scientists, SFI has illustrated its meticulous and exhaustive approach in rewarding ground-breaking research with the greatest potential for commercial and societal benefits.”
UCC Awards:
Dr Louise Kenny, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, UCC
Title: The development of a metabolomic biomarker based screening test to identify uteroplacental insufficiency in pregnancy
Synopsis: Pre-eclampsia is a common condition, affecting about 5-8% of all pregnancies. It is a leading cause of death of both pregnant mothers and their unborn babies–particularly in the developing world. This research focuses on trying to understand the cause of this condition, and developing a test that will predict women who are at the greatest risk. Early detection of pre-ecalmpsia would greatly reduce the number of mortalities caused by this condition.
Professor John Atkins, BioSciences Institute, UCC
Title: Altered Genetic Code Readout
Synopsis: Altered Genetic Code Readout - the research proposed by Professor Atkins is important, as it looks at how different proteins can be produced from what could seem like one gene sequence. This is important, for instance when studying and understanding viral infection. Having a better understanding of this phenomenon would be beneficial in not only preventing diseases caused by viruses but also in establishing new anti viral therapies.
For full details visit: http://www.sfi.ie/content/content.asp?section_id=226&language_id=1&publication_id=1861
Pictured at the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) funding announcement were (L-R): Professor Pat Fottrell, Chairman, SFI, Professor John Atkins, UCC, Conor Lenihan TD, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation and Professor Stephen Simpson, Director, Life Sciences, SFI.
Making the announcement, Minister Lenihan said “This Government investment will enable crucial research to be carried out in Ireland over the next three to five years. The successful 22 projects include medical research into cancer, stroke and brain injury, Alzheimer’s Disease, asthma, cystic fibrosis, salmonella, meningitis, pre-clampsia, genetics and medical devices, while other areas to be funded include greenhouse gas emissions, web personalization, cloud computing, cyber security, digital media and semi-conductors.”
In congratulating the award winners, the Minister added “The Government remains firmly committed to developing the “Smart Economy”. It is research projects such as these that will support the next phase of Ireland’s economic development. We must never lose sight of the fact that research and development is primarily about people - the individual and collective talents of our skilled personnel. We must continue to support the best researchers to bring about long-term economic benefits and with the assistance of support structures such as SFI, IDA and Enterprise Ireland, we can studiously bring these concepts to that next level, and through exploitation and commercialisation ensure economic and societal benefits for Ireland.”
Speaking at the announcement, Chairperson of SFI, Professor Pat Fottrell said: “To date, the academic and commercial outputs stemming from previous PI funding have been promising, which bodes well for today’s recipients under this programme. By subjecting all funding applications to a high level of scrutiny and review by 28 distinguished international scientists, SFI has illustrated its meticulous and exhaustive approach in rewarding ground-breaking research with the greatest potential for commercial and societal benefits.”
UCC Awards:
Dr Louise Kenny, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, UCC
Title: The development of a metabolomic biomarker based screening test to identify uteroplacental insufficiency in pregnancy
Synopsis: Pre-eclampsia is a common condition, affecting about 5-8% of all pregnancies. It is a leading cause of death of both pregnant mothers and their unborn babies–particularly in the developing world. This research focuses on trying to understand the cause of this condition, and developing a test that will predict women who are at the greatest risk. Early detection of pre-ecalmpsia would greatly reduce the number of mortalities caused by this condition.
Professor John Atkins, BioSciences Institute, UCC
Title: Altered Genetic Code Readout
Synopsis: Altered Genetic Code Readout - the research proposed by Professor Atkins is important, as it looks at how different proteins can be produced from what could seem like one gene sequence. This is important, for instance when studying and understanding viral infection. Having a better understanding of this phenomenon would be beneficial in not only preventing diseases caused by viruses but also in establishing new anti viral therapies.
For full details visit: http://www.sfi.ie/content/content.asp?section_id=226&language_id=1&publication_id=1861
Pictured at the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) funding announcement were (L-R): Professor Pat Fottrell, Chairman, SFI, Professor John Atkins, UCC, Conor Lenihan TD, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation and Professor Stephen Simpson, Director, Life Sciences, SFI.