News
Researchers in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics nominated for the Bridge Network 2018 Invention of the Year Award
Congratulations to Professor Thomas Walther on being shortlisted for the Bridge Network 2018 Invention of the Year Award. Members of Professor Walther's team, Andrew Moore and Maura Naughton have also been acknowledged for their role in collecting data in support of Professor Walther's research.
Bridge Network is the largest technology transfer consortium in Ireland and comprises the techology transfer offices from University College Cork, Cork Institute of Techology, Teagasc and the Institute of Technology Tralee. This award celebrates and recognises excellence in innovations and inventions whose benefits add significant impact to the economy and to society.
Announcing the 2018 Invention of the Year Awards Shortlist, Vice President of Research & Innovation, University College Cork and Chair of the Bridge Network Governance Committee, Professor Anita Maquire said " ... Outputs from our research in UCC, CIT, Teagasc and IT Tralee not only lead to breakthrough innovations and pioneering technologies across all industry sectors, but in addition through our knowlege transfer activities, we support our researchers on the journey of commercialisation ensuring the potential economic and societal impact of their work is optimised by the technology transfer capabilties of consortium member institutions."
The judging panel is comprised of Irish and international experts in research, innovation, commercialisation, knowlege transfer and industry.
The nomination for the award for Professor Walther and his team is based on 3 principle discoveries in relation to the Angiotensin II Type 2 (AT2) Receptor Agonist:
- The team confirmed that Ang II is not the endogenous agonist for the AT2 receptor
- The team discovered the endogenous agonist for the AT2 receptor hereby named "EA" (European Patent Application Number: 18177878.8)
- The team also discovered and claimed the first antagonist based on EA
The team is now involved in the development of two intellectual properties namely, the development of non-peptidic compounds of EA and secondly, the identification of the best diseases to target with treatment options. Recent research has focussed on how the AT2 receptor determines susceptibilty to Cerebral Malaria in mice.