INFANT Centre News

Wednesday 21 November 2018 Our Phd researcher, Sonia Lenehan, was voted the winner of Neon Zone’s I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here! I’m a Scientist is an online STEM engagement event where students chatted and interacted with scientists through online chats and forums. The students then voted for their favourite scientist. Sonia was asked a variety of questions such as ‘what got you into brain development’, ‘what are you hoping to achieve with your eye-tracking assessments’, and ‘which do you prefer, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor’ (Gryffindor!!). The students were incredibly engaging and Sonia really enjoyed being a part of the event. The questions were incredibly thoughtful and insightful. Sonia had an amazing experience and would encourage scientist at all stages of their careers to consider taking part in this event. Sonia wins €500 to be used for a public engagement project of her choice. Sonia plans to work with the National Council for the Blind with the intention of setting up an interactive science programme for children with visual impairments or blindness.

Monday 19 November 2018 The world’s largest peanut allergy treatment trial, involving more than 30 Irish children, has found that a new oral treatment can successfully reduce senstivity to peanuts, and offers a real lifeline to those affected by the most common food allergy and the single cause of most food allergy deaths. Through his work as Principal Investigator at the INFANT Centre, Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at University College Cork, Jonathan Hourihane has been leading the revolutionary immunotherapy trial in Ireland, which has shown that more than two thirds (67%) of those on the treatment could tolerate peanuts after the trial. This tolerance gives peanut allergy sufferers real safety, and the ability to cope with accidental exposure in the community. “Up to now, without any treatment available, peanut allergy has put children and adults at risk of unpredictable and occasionally life-threatening reactions.  The AR101 immunotherapy is a real breakthrough for those affected by peanut allergy.  It works by introducing initially minute controlled amounts of peanut protein, with escalation over a sustained period of 6 to 12 months, building up a patient’s tolerance to peanut. We have seen patients go from being highly allergic to very small doses, like one tenth of a peanut, to being able to manage to eat the equivalent of 2 or 3 peanuts without a significant reaction. This is a game changer for anyone living with this allergy,” said Prof. Hourihane of the INFANT Centre. This industry-sponsored research and clinical trial has resulted in the publication of Prof. Hourihane’s co-authored paper [...]

Wednesday 07 November 2018 INFANT's preterm nutrition team last night received the Health and Social Care Professions Driving Quality and Improvement Award for their BabyGrow Project. The winners were announced at the Inaugural Best Practice and Innovation Awards hosted by the HSE’s Health & Social Care Professions Office in the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, on the 6th November. The National HSCP awards recognise and celebrate examples of best practice and innovation. Pictured L to R: Ms. Sarah Fenton, Senior Pharmacist; Dr. Ann-Marie Brennan, Clinical Specialist Neonatal Dietitian; Ms. Jennifer Wilkinson, Senior Neonatal Dietitian; Mrs. Annemarie Fanning, Dietitian Manager; Dr. Brendan Murphy, Consultant Neonatologist. BabyGrow: Translating Research into Improved Nutritional Care for Preterm Infants was a multi-disciplinary preterm nutrition project, led by Prof Mairead Kiely (Nutrition Scientist, INFANT Nutrition platform lead), Dr Brendan Murphy (Consultant Neonatologist) and Dr AnnMarie Brennan (Neonatal Dietitian). The collaboration in preterm nutrition between Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), University College Cork (UCC), industry and the HSE was initiated over a decade ago and continues to grow within the Nutrition platform at the INFANT centre. The goals of the BabyGrow study was to quantify nutritional support and growth rate in preterm infants in the NICU and to develop and deliver data driven innovations for improvement of nutritional support. Dr Brennan conducted her PhD on BabyGrow and her analysis of parenteral nutrition, the focus of the HSCP award, [...]

Friday 02 November 2018 As published in UCC, College of Medicine and Health "The Research Impact Anthology - Research for a Healthier Future". When babies are born it is usually a joyous occasion. In most cases it goes well, but some babies are born either too soon or very sick. They may not have grown well enough in the womb or may have suffered an injury during labour. When you consider that there are 65,000 babies born annually in Ireland - the highest birth rate in Europe - then it is not surprising that we need a research centre to explore how we can make pregnancy and birth safer for our mums and babies,and improve outcomes. Our dedicated perinatal translational research centre reaches out from the bench to the cotside - often little incubators - in a very real way, so that our innovations are put into clinical practice. Our centre is the first of its kind in the country. INFANT, the Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research, was established in September 2013 by Prof. Geraldine Boylan and Prof. Louise Kenny, two innovative academics in perinatal research at our college. They secured a starting grant from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) to develop a dedicated research centre in UCC. Geraldine’s speciality was in the neurophysiology of the baby brain and Louise’s expertise was in [...]

Wednesday 24 October 2018 Emma Snapes, INFANT’s Biobanking Manager received the National Standards Authority of Ireland award at the NSAI Annual Standards Forum in Dublin. The award was in recognition of Emma’s exceptional dedication to standards development. Emma is the Irish academic representative and International Expert to ISO TC276 for Biotechnology and was instrumental in the development of ISO 20387 (2018): EN, the first dedicated biobanking standard. Emma is continuing her work with ISO TC276 and is currently working on a technical report that will accompany the biobanking standard to help interpret the requirements for each unique set up. "I would likely to sincerely thank all the many individuals too numerous to mention in helping promote the Irish biobanking voice and in particular its expression in the horizontal biobanking standard. Encouragingly, this voice was one I often heard echoed back from other countries experts. It is my hope that those who undertake to fulfil the requirements laid out in the standard will realise the value in resultant high quality, reproducible results and timely achievement of research goals. Special thanks to my biobanking colleague and dear friend, Dr Aisling Doyle, who accompanied me to the award ceremony in Dublin. Aisling and I work closely together and together provide constant round the clock support for INFANT’s biobanking concerns. I remain ever grateful to INFANT directorship and UCC management for enabling [...]

Monday 22 October 2018 INFANT research matters   A huge thanks to everyone who contacted us or campaigned to raise awareness about INFANT over the last few weeks. Your generosity and support is extraordinary and we are immensely grateful. We want you to know that the INFANT team is determined to continue delivering high impact and vitally important research for the benefit of women and children in Ireland and worldwide.   Geraldine Boylan Director, INFANT Research Centre INFANT will continue delivering high impact and vitally important research

Thursday 11 October 2018 New Research by INFANT PhD candidate, Gwinyai Masukume has been published in Scientific Reports. The work is exploring the association between Caesarean Section (CS) and childhood obesity. Childhood obesity has been linked to CS via lack of exposure to vaginal microflora although the literature is inconsistent. The team investigated the association between CS birth and the risk of childhood obesity using the nationally representative Growing-Up-in-Ireland (GUI) cohort. There was insufficient evidence to support the link between CS and childhood obesity. The study recruited 11134 infants. The exposure was categorised into normal vaginal birth (VD) [reference], assisted VD, elective (planned) CS and emergency (unplanned) CS. After further analysis of the infants weight and height the team found insufficient evidence to support a causal relationship between elective CS and childhood obesity. FULL PAPER HERE: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-33482-z

Wednesday 10 October 2018 Our research partners, Incereb Ltd, manufacturer of the neon neonatal EEG electrode array, have been aquired by Lifelines Neurodiagnostic Systems, Inc., provider of neurodiagnostic equipment and services. Simon Griffin, CEO of Lifelines, noted, “We have been working with Incereb for several years in the US market, and their neon product is a perfect fit with our technology and growth plans. We are very excited not only to work with Jim Roche and Incereb on new product development but also with the INFANT Centre at University College Cork and the fantastic research being performed there under the stewardship of Professor Geraldine Boylan.” Jim Roche, CEO of Incereb, noted "We have worked with Professor Geraldine Boylan since the formation of Incereb, and as an industry partner in INFANT. With LIfelines as our partners, and with their technology fitting seamlessly with Incerebs technology, we are now able to offer a complete EEG monitoring solution for the ICU". Congratulations to Incereb Incereb will remain operating in Dublin as a subsidiary of the Lifelines group of companies. Plans are to increase R&D spending on a new product pipeline and grow the business by developing new markets and product lines. “This is a perfect fit for Incereb in terms of our product offering and Lifelines’ sales and distribution network,” says Incereb CEO, Jim Roche, of the acquisition. Incereb has been working with Lifelines since 2015 [...]

Monday 08 October 2018 Our PhD researcher, Rachel Williamson, won a Young Investigator Award from the Preeclampsia Foundation at the ISSHP European Conference in Amsterdam.   Eleni Tsiagas of the Preeclampsia Foundation and Rachel Williamson, winner of the Young Investigator Award, ISSHP 2018     Rachel's presentation at the conference is entitled Investigating the Therapeutic Effects of L-Ergothionine As A Treatment for Pre-eclampsia  Abstract: Pre-eclampsia is proposed to result from placental ischemia, explosing the placenta to elevated levels of oxidative stress. L-Ergothionine is a natural water-soluble compound derived from histidine and is a physiological antioxidant due to its preferential concentration in high oxidative stress organs. L- Ergothionine has been shown to possess antioxidant, cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects, establishing its potential as a treatment for preeclampsia. Objectives: To investigate the therapeutic effects of L- Ergothionine as a treatment for preeclampsia using the in-vivo reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat model. Methods: L- Ergothionine (25mg/kg/day) was administered on gestational day 11 (GD11). RUPP was induced by placing silver clips on the abdominal aorta and the ovarian arteries on GD14. Mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) and vascular function were measured in all four groups. Pup and placental weights were also measured. Data is presented using the mean ± SD. Results: L- Ergothionine reduced MABP in the group compaed to RUPP controls (134 mmHg  143 mmHg). There was a significant reduction in pup weight in RUPP control group compared to sham controls [...]

Tuesday 02 October 2018 As published in the Irish Examiner:    Prof Geraldine Boylan, INFANT co-founder and director, and Professor of Neurophysiology at UCC, says it is vital to continue research into maternal and child health. INFANT is Ireland’s only dedicated research centre spanning maternal and child health and has been recognised internationally as a world-leading organisation that is responsible for a number of research breakthroughs and life-saving science for mothers and babies. As director, I am very proud to lead this important research centre. We have made ground-breaking discoveries in neonatal seizure detection, pre-eclampsia, neonatal brain injury, maternal nutrition, and childhood allergy. INFANT has been at the heart of perinatal research and innovation for more than five years. Funding from Science Foundation Ireland in 2013 was catalytic to the success of the INFANT Centre, and once  it was established, it was quickly recognised as a global force for development in perinatal healthcare and research. Competitive research grants, collaboration requests and philanthropic funding from national and international sources supplemented the initial €6 million in start-up funding to grow to its €30 million portfolio today.   Prof Geraldine Boylan, INFANT Director    Over the last five years, the INFANT Centre has been a high performing SFI research centre and it will continue working in this important area. INFANT is maturing and has a new ambitious programme that will [...]

Monday 01 October 2018 Following an SFI Research Centre programme call for funding, the new proposal of the INFANT Centre at UCC has not been funded at this time but instead has been recommended to proceed to a national open call in 2020. The Centre opened in 2013 with initial funding from Science Foundation Ireland, which will end in May 2019. INFANT will continue its research work funded by a diverse range of national and international funding agencies, industry partners and philanthropic donors. INFANT’s mission is to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies by focusing on clinical and health research and innovation in pregnancy, birth and early childhood. The Centre has grown rapidly from its initial award of €6M to over €30M in five years comprising donations, competitive funding awards, and global partnerships with industry and academic researchers which  has enabled the development of INFANT to the point where it now has over 100 staff, a dedicated paediatric clinical research unit, an internationally recognised biobank, a world-leading data hub and other clinical research infrastructure in obstetrics and neonatology. The support from SFI for the Centre has, to date, been a significant catalyst for major growth and development. It has allowed INFANT to develop breakthroughs in seizure detection and in areas such as pre-eclampsia diagnosis, maternal and new-born nutrition and allergy. The Centre will continue to [...]

Monday 24 September 2018   Rhodri Cusack is the Thomas Mitchell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in Trinity College Dublin, and a world-renowned expert in his field. Prof Geraldine Boylan, Director of the INFANT Centre noted that “The appointment of Prof Cusack as an INFANT PI is very exciting, it expands the impact INFANT will have, and will enable us to gain even more momentum as a world-leading research centre, improving health outcomes for babies around the world”. The Vice President for Research and Innovation at UCC, Professor Anita Maguire welcomed the addition of this talented research leader to the INFANT Research Centre, noting that “Prof Cusack brings research expertise which is entirely complementary to the current expertise within INFANT, and as a result his addition will open exiting new research opportunities with potential to contribute to improved health outcomes”.   How does perinatal brain injury affect development? Prof Cusack is the Thomas Mitchell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and head of the Cusack Lab in the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. As a graduate of Cambridge and the University of Birmingham, he has worked in the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge and more recently was Associate Professor at the Brain and Mind Institute of the University of Western Ontario. His research has been funded by the IRC, MRC, Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, EPSRC, CIHR, and NSERC. Rhodri has recently received a prestigious ERC [...]

Wednesday 05 September 2018 An Post unveiled four €1 stamps on Wed 5 September titled "Irish Scientific Discoveries" at the international Schrodinger at 75 Conference in the National Concert Hall. The series of stamps highlight recent scientific discoveries made by scientists who work in pioneering research and development in Ireland. The science-based stamps represent new areas of research, which are generating new knowledge, cutting-edge technology, and competitive enterprise. The four topics are examples of innovative and impactful academic research being carried out in academic institutions around the country: these are new forms of light, fighting superbugs, emissions adsorption, and INFANT's seizure prediction algorithm.     Created by An Post in partnership with Science Foundation Ireland, the Irish Scientific Discovery stamps feed into Ireland’s rich scientific history, recognising its growing reputation for scientific excellence worldwide.  This standing is evidenced by Ireland’s ascent in global ranking of scientific citations – now the 10th most innovative country in the world (Global Innovation Index) and 11th for overall IMD World Competitive Ranking, 2017. A 2016 report into Opportunities and Challenges for European Tech Employers also showed 29% of Ireland’s population are now employed in science and technology. Science Foundation Ireland– an agency of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation – is the national foundation for investment in scientific and engineering research and contributes to societal and economic awareness of the value of science, technology, [...]

Friday 22 June 2018 MINISTER COVENEY OPENS NEW €5MILLION UCC PAEDIATRIC ACADEMIC UNIT   Ireland’s first integrated paediatric academic unit was officially opened on Monday 18th June by Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, T.D. Following a multi-million euro investment by University College Cork, Science Foundation Ireland, and a generous philanthropic donation, the new unit is located in an exceptional tri-location between Cork University Hospital, Cork University Maternity Hospital, and University College Cork. The first of its kind in Ireland, the new paediatric academic unit focuses on improving health outcomes for children, from infancy through to adolescence through teaching, research, and innovation. Home to more than 60 staff, including clinical and academic leaders, scientists, nursing staff and PhD researchers; the academic teams tackle clinical problems such as newborn brain injury, infant seizures, allergy, eczema, sleep, and explore ways of enhancing the long-term wellbeing and development of children. Collaboration between clinicians, scientists and families is at the heart of the unit Speaking at the official opening, Tánaiste Simon Coveney T.D. said, “This is a progressive and innovative step to improving children’s health in Ireland and internationally through academic research. The collaboration between clinicians, researchers, industry, trainees, patients and their families will yield enormously positive results to shape paediatric healthcare of the future. I would like to acknowledge the vision of UCC and the College of Medicine and [...]

Thursday 07 June 2018 New Research our Sphere Programme PhD candidate, Gillian Maher, has been published in JAMA Psychiatry. The work is exploring the association between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring. Exposure to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy is associated with a small increase in the odds Examining what the pooled estimates are from existing literature exploring the association between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring, the systematic review and meta-analysis of 61 studies suggested that exposure to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy is associated with a small yet statistically significant increase in the odds of autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in offspring compared with no exposure. Gillian and the team recommend increased developmental screening of infants who have been exposed to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, as this could allow for early intervention, which in turn may improve neurodevelopmental outcome.   FULL PAPER HERE: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2681643

Monday 21 May 2018 INFANT is pleased to announce that it has been awarded €800,000 under the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI2) to improve clinical trial infrastructure for children and infants in Ireland.  Part of this funding will be used to set up a new network, In4Kids, to facilitate the development of new drugs for children in Ireland.  In4Kids will be the Irish hub of the pan-European multidisciplinary network. CONECT4CHILDREN (C4C), comprising academia, medical institutions, industry, and affiliated partners.  The C4C consortium has been awarded €140 million by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI2) to improve clinical trial infrastructure for children and infants.  Partnership in the C4C network will provide In4Kids members with a gateway to access future funding from the network for Irish research. Children deserve innovative therapies and medicines developed specifically for them Speaking at the launch of In4Kids, INFANT Director Prof Geraldine Boylan said, “Children must have access to innovative therapies and medicines that have been developed with the same rigour and urgency as those developed for adults.  The C4C network with its Irish partner, In4Kids, will accelerate the availability of high-quality scientific data that will improve the safe and effective use of medicines in children.” With a budget of €140 million, C4C is one of the biggest awards funded through the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2, funded jointly by the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovative programme as well as the European Pharmaceutical Industries [...]

Wednesday 16 May 2018 We were delighted on Friday 11 May to launch the B-BEST START LifeMatters for Mums, Dads and New Born Babies handbook on Friday with author Dr Margaret O’Rourke, and alongside our Principal Investigator Prof Eugene Dempsey and Director, Professor Geraldine Boylan.     The B-BEST START Programme is part of the Infant Centre’s NeoView Programme, which aims to improve the outcomes of babies in the neonatal unit (NNU) by empowering parents to build their own health, well-being and resilience so that they can be active, informed and emotionally engaged with their new born babies, infants and children.   The focus of the day was on the Neonatal Unit (NNU). The NNU is a unit in the hospital that specialises in the care of babies, particularly those who are born too soon, who have a low birth weight, who have medical conditions that require additional care, and those recovering after surgery. In Ireland, approximately 1 in 10 babies will visit the NNU for at least a few days. The length of stay in the NNU will depend on baby's size, prematurity, and medical circumstances. The first 1000 days of baby's life are critical Speaking at the event, Dr Margaret O’Rourke noted that the book helps to empower parents, “Babies need their mums and dads, and the programme is about making them central [...]

Monday 23 April 2018 A collaboration between INFANT, the Embedded Systems group in the Dept of Engineering in University College Cork, and engineers in Tyndall National Institute has won a prestigious Collaboration Award from the Irish Laboratory Awards group. The Irish Laboratory Awards has established itself as the premier event in Ireland for benchmarking those that demonstrate excellence, best practice, and innovation in Ireland’s laboratories.   The Brain Stethoscope Design The award-winning work is centered on the Brain Stethoscope Design, which is a low-cost and portable device that can acquire and interpret EEG signals (a measure of electrical activity in the brain). The device will provide easy-to-use EEG recording hardware, and software that will give a visual, sound-based and Artificial Intelligence-assisted interpretations to assist in healthcare decision making.  

Monday 29 January 2018 The loss of a baby has a profound effect on the family. Twelve families bereaved by stillbirth took part in a research study by the Pregnancy Loss Research Group at the INFANT Centre and UCC, the results of which have been published today. Each of the parents detailed the events and experiences leading up to, surrounding and following the diagnosis of a life-limiting condition or stillbirth of their baby. Stressing the importance of good communication and sensitive care from healthcare professionals, the study supports the need for the HSE National Standards for Bereavement care following pregnancy loss and perinatal death to be implemented nationally. The twelve families were cared for at CUMH and they took part in interviews, detailing the profound impact their experience had on their lives. The diagnosis of stillbirth is devastating and traumatic news. All parents spoke of the relationships they had with the staff who cared for them during their pregnancies and birth of their babies. The interactions with staff left a lasting impression on the family, and in an Irish context where termination of pregnancy is currently not  permissible, this study sheds an important light on the importance of the option of a perinatal palliative care approach for babies and their parents following a significant antenatal  diagnosis.. For parents who receive a life-limiting diagnosis that is likely to result [...]

Tuesday 07 November 2017 We are delighted that our Dr Deirdre Twomey has won the Cure and Care award at the jENS 2017 Conference in Venice on 1 November. The jENS 2017 conference is a joint meeting of all the European Neonatal societies, the largest European Neonatal Research meeting to date. BiHIVE’s Psychology Postdoctoral Researcher Deirdre Twomey was chosen to present her research abstract from the >800 submitted to the jENS conference and she was nominated for the Young Investigator Award. Nine nominees presented their research during a special session at the conference and Deirdre won the Cure and Care Award for her presentation “Touchscreens for cognitive assessment of toddlers”. The presentation allowed Deirdre to engage with key stakeholders and world leaders in the field of neurology, brain injury, and neurodevelopment and will lead to collaborations and future research.

Friday 20 October 2017 This Research Day will share, promote and facilitate discussion on cutting edge, best practice perinatal research from international experts and early career researchers on how to improve health outcomes for pregnancy, infancy and childhood. The event will take place in the Clayton Hotel, Lapps Quay, Cork.    Registration Opens at 08:15.    Our Programme begins at 08:45 with a Welcome Address. A poster session will take place at the break time. Lunch will be provided to all attendees. INFANT Research Day 2017 Programme Pregnancy/Pre-eclampsia Session Chair: Prof Louise Kenny   09:00 - KEYNOTE: Prof Richard McManus Self-Monitoring of Blood Pressure to Detect and Manage Hypertension During and After Pregnancy: Can Women Do It Better?   09:45 – Dr Cathal McCarthy - Mitochondrial superoxide scavengers mediate endothlelial dysfunction in pre-eclampsia 10:00 - Eoin Roche - Analysis of comparable home / clinic blood pressure readings in the LEANBH population 10:15 - Sinead Flanagan - Periconceptual Maternal Alcohol Consumption and Subsequent Behavioural Outcomes at 2 and 5 Years of Age   Birth & Pregnancy Loss Session Chair: Dr Keelin O’Donoghue   10:45 - KEYNOTE: Prof Anna David Novel treatments for fetal growth restriction using gene therapy and other innovative approaches​   11:30 - Indra San Lazaro Campillo - Ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage hospital admission in Ireland: incidence, type of management and morbidity indicators 11.45 - Maeve O’Connell - Prevalence and associated risk factors [...]

Thursday 12 October 2017 WMB held its 11th annual Women Mean Business Conference & Awards in Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel on 2nd October. The event recognises the achievements of businesswomen and entrepreneurs across Ireland. Prof Louise Kenny of the INFANT Centre was honoured with the WMB Woman in Technology Award for 2017 for her work as founding director of Metabolomic Diagnostics, a medical diagnostics company. Working with UCC, they are developing a breakthrough technology to provide predictive diagnosis of pre-eclampsia in early pregnancy. This technology has the potential to revolutionise prenatal care globally and save lives. In addition, it will dramatically reduce overall healthcare costs around the world. Opening the event, An Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise & Innovation, Frances Fitzgerald TD said: “With the variety of awards here today, we can see the breadth of women’s ingenuity and ability to perform at a high level in the business world... As Minister for Business, Enterprise & Innovation, I am now in a job where I will seek to ensure that women in business are the leaders in business”.  

Wednesday 04 October 2017   A blog post from Sophie Casey:    I was recently awarded the Irish Research Council’s Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship for a 4 year PhD project. My work will investigate the downstream targets and effects of microRNA alterations in neonatal hypoxic encephalopathy (HIE) – a leading cause of infant mortality and lifelong disability. I will examine the circulating microRNA alterations over time in a well-established animal model of HIE and research the proposed target pathways of these microRNAs. This allows insight into the genes which may be involved in the mechanisms of action behind the neuronal injury. Future plans involve investigation into the effects and targets of microRNA alterations in cell models of hypoxia. As the investigation of microRNA alterations was performed during the BiHIVE study, the goal of this project is to identify potential cross-species bridging biomarkers of HIE. Other research interests include autism spectrum disorders and their links to circulating cytokine alterations. This work will be carried out under the supervision of Dr. Deirdre Murray, Dr. Gerard O’Keeffe and Prof. Geraldine Boylan.   Huge congratulations, Sophie!  Related Links https://www.okeeffelab.com/

Tuesday 03 October 2017 A  Service of Remembrance will be hosted by Cork University Maternity Hospital on   Friday 13th October 2017 at 7.30pm   Sacred Heart Church, Western Road, Cork   All who have experienced or been affected by pregnancy loss or infant loss are very welcome to attend.                            

Monday 21 August 2017 Infant Welcomes Dr. Peter Barrett The Wellcome-HRB Irish Clinical Academic Training Programme (ICAT) has welcomed its first intake of fellows at an induction event, held recently at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. We are delighted to announce that Dr. Peter Barrett, ICAT fellow, has been appointed to UCC and will begin a year of academic and specialist training with Infant with Dr. Ali Khashan. Research Excellence Prof. Louise Kenny's presentation at the induction event highlighted Infant's commitment to developing the careers of talented young researchers. Peter will work with Dr. Ali Khashan in the Epidemiology research team and will also be mentored by Dr. Deirdre Murray, who was selected by ICAT as a model of research excellence. Peter will take part in a diverse educational scheme which includes project work and clinical training. Emerging Science The ICAT programme supports emerging science excellence in Ireland by guiding ICAT fellows towards a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training. Infant are proud to support the growth of clinical expertise in Ireland and we look forward to working with Peter! Posted in: News Related Links Read More: The ICAT Programme