Clinician Scientists Win Molecular Medicine Ireland Research Prizes
Posted on: 13 July 2011
Clinician scientists pursuing research training at Trinity College Dublin won three of the prizes for research presentations at the Molecular Medicine Ireland Clinician Scientist Annual Meeting recently.
The TCD winners included Molecular Medicine Ireland (MMI) Clinician Scientist Fellow Dr Jane McGrath, who was awarded second prize for her presentation, ‘Neural Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorders’. Dr David Pritchard was awarded third prize and Dr Alan Gaffney was awarded second prize in the research poster category for their presentations*. The overall winner was Dr Sanjay Chotirmall, based in RCSI, who received the MMI Medal.
The meeting was part of the tercentenary celebrations marking the foundation of Trinity College’s School of Medicine. The keynote speaker, Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania, Garret FitzGerald, was awarded the Tercentenary Medal by Vice-Provost of Medical Affairs and Head of TCD’s School of Medicine, Professor Dermot Kelleher.
Professor Dermot Kelleher presents the Tercentenary Medal to Professor Garret FitzGerald during the MMI Clinician Scientist Annual Meeting.
Speaking at the event Professor Dermot Kelleher said: “The presentations today were of very high quality, and the cohort of MMI Clinician Scientist Fellows now concluding their PhD studies will play key roles in patient-directed research. They are an excellent demonstration of the value of a collaborative systematic training programme supported by PRTLI funding.”
Dr McGrath and Dr Pritchard were awarded Fellowships in the MMI Clinician Scientist Fellowship Programme in 2008; Dr McGrath’s research supervisors are Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr Louise Gallagher; Associate Professor of Psychology, Hugh Garavan, and Research Associate, Dr Katherine Johnson. Dr Pritchard’s research supervisors are Senior Lecturer in Molecular Medicine, Dr Aideen Long, and Head of the School of Medicine and Vice-Provost for Medical Affairs, Professor Dermot Kelleher. Dr Gaffney’s co-authors are Research Fellow in Chemistry, Dr Amro Satti; Director of Research at the School of Chemistry, Professor Yurii Gun’ko, and Head of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Professor Marek Radomski.
Twenty two medical graduates are pursuing or have recently completed PhDs in five academic institutions (TCD, RCSI, NUI Galway, UCC and UCD) as part of the MMI Clinician Scientist Fellowship Programme, funded through PRTLI Cycle 4. The third MMI Clinician Scientist Annual Meeting took place in Trinity College’s Science Gallery on July 1st last where MMI Fellows came together to present their research in short talks.
* Dr David Pritchard’s presentation was entitled ‘Integrin Expression is Modulated by Deoxycholic Acid in Squamous Oesophageal Epithelium and May Have a Role in the Aetiology of Barrett’s Oesophagus’. Dr Alan Gaffney’s presentation was entitled ‘Carbon Nanotube Surface Modification Increases Blood-Surface Interactions in Cardiopulmonary Bypass’.
