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Biosciences | FEATURE

Groundbreaking Research

THE ECZEMA GENE

(Photo of Alan Irvine)

In 2007 Nature Genetics Paediatric Dermatologist and TCD Associate Professor of Dermatology, Alan Irvine, in conjunction with Professor Irwin McLean of the University of Dundee's College of Medicine, published findings on the genetic mutations associated with childhood eczema, providing a potential major breakthrough in the treatment of eczema. "This new research now provides a target for direct intervention and the development of new therapeutic approaches," said Professor Irvine.

(Photo of Seamus Martin)

Seamus Martin, Smurfit Professor of Medical Genetics, and his research team within the Department of Genetics at Trinity have published a series of highly-cited papers in leading international journals on the topic of programmed cell death. Their work, profiled in a Nature Reviews article, explores how cells contrive to commit suicide when injured or infected and also how cancerous cells resist being killed by drugs aimed at their eradication. The Martin laboratory is consistently ranked within the top ten laboratories worldwide in this very competitive research area and they aim to use their research findings to improve current cancer therapies.

(Photo of Marina Lynch)

The research group led by Marina Lynch Ph.D., F.T.C.D. (1981) in Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience published a paper in The Journal of Biological Chemistry during 2008. It identified that atorvastatin (Lipitor), a drug used to lower cholesterol, has significant biological activity in the brain, where it acts as an antiinflammatory agent. The paper reported that there was evidence of increased inflammatory changes in the brain with age and that atorvastatin reduced the activity of the cells (microglia) which trigger the inflammation.

(Photo captioned: Dr Daniel Kelly, Science Foundation Ireland Director General Frank Gannon and Her Excellency Mrs. Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, M.A. (j.o.), LL.D. (2000 h.c.) (1985).)

Daniel Kelly B.A., B.A.I., Ph.D. (1999), is a lecturer in Biomechanical Engineering and a principal investigator of the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering. His research interests lie in computational and experimental mechanobiology, focusing on the applications of this discipline on cartilage repair and next generation medical devices. In 2008, Dr Kelly received the Science Foundation Ireland President of Ireland Young Researcher Award.