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News 2023
ERC funding for UCC Project on Gut Bacteria
Dr Hilary Browne is to receive funding of €1.5m from the European Research Council (ERC) to study spore-forming gut bacteria as a tool to target harmful pathogens.
The ERC Starter Grants are awarded to early-career researchers, with 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD, to lead innovative research.
Dr Hilary Browne is a Senior Staff Scientist in Dr. Trevor Lawley’s team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute based outside Cambridge in the UK and will be joining the School of Microbiology and APC Microbiome Ireland in UCC to lead his project entitled SYNergize – Understanding spore-forming gut bacteria biology to target pathogens.
The project SYNergize will study how beneficial gut bacteria transmit between people. Transmission of bacteria in our gut microbiome is constantly occurring, initially from our mothers when we are born and then later in life with the people that surround us. Despite most gut bacteria dying rapidly when exposed to air, some can make dormant structures called spores that are oxygen tolerant and can re-form a new actively growing bacterial cell when they reach the gut. SYNergize will develop an understanding of these spore-forming gut bacteria as a tool to target harmful pathogens.
Dr Hilary Browne said: "I am excited to conduct my ERC funded project alongside leading experts in gut microbiome research at UCC and APC Microbiome Ireland. This funding allows me to understand how spore-forming gut bacteria transmit between people and how this impacts their evolution and functions."
Dr Dónal Hassett, Department of French, UCC has also been awarded €1.2m in funding from the ERC for his work on the post-war impact that the First World War had on colonial subjects.
Congratulating both on their awards, Professor John Cryan, UCC Vice President for Research and Innovation said: "Congratulations to both Hilary and Dónal on securing highly competitive and prestigious ERC awards. These awards will offer both researchers the opportunity to expand their research teams in research areas that align with our UCC Futures programme – Food, Microbiome and Health and Future Humanities. I look forward to hearing about the impactful outcomes from these projects in due course."