Trinity student wins Allergan Innovation Award

Posted on: 14 March 2019

Prestigious award to further bowel cancer research

Ms. Aisling Heeran, a Ph.D. Student with Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI), has been announced as the winner of the Allergan Innovation Award for her work in bowel cancer research. Aisling received this award Friday March 8th, along with a bursary of €8,500 at Trinity College Dublin’s annual TTMI Scientific Symposium, the focus of which centred on Cancer Precision Medicine. Aisling’s winning research project seeks to develop a companion diagnostic test to predict treatment response in rectal cancer patients.

Rectal cancer is cancer in the lower part of the bowel and has a poor survival rate. The treatment for rectal cancer is chemotherapy and radiotherapy before surgery. Despite this, treatment will only completely remove the tumour for about 30% of patients, and currently, there is no understanding of the biology underpinning this. Patients receiving radiotherapy are also at higher risk of developing another cancer near the area that has received radiation which also requires further investigation.

L-R Francis Bates (Allergan Plant General Manager), Professor Jacintha O’Sullivan (TCD), Aisling Heeran (Innovation Award winner) Ken Finnegan (TCD Tangent), Dr. Daniel Rogers (TCD Tangent)

Speaking at the ceremony, Allergan Innovation Award recipient, Aisling Heeran outlined: ‘This project will help us to understand what happens to rectal tumours after they receive radiotherapy. Results from this study will help us to develop a test allowing us to predict which rectal tumours will or will not respond to treatment. This award will be an invaluable addition to my Irish Research Council postgraduate scholarship, as it will provide funding to expand the scope of my research, and I am deeply grateful to Allergan for their support with this bursary.’’

Prof. Orla Sheils, Director of TTMI commented: “The calibre of applications received for the Allergan Innovation Award was impeccable and an almost impossible task for the Committee to adjudicate.’’

Francis Bates, Vice President Global Solid Oral Dosage Manufacturing at Allergan & Plant General Manager at the manufacturing facility in Dublin commented: “We are delighted that the Allergan Innovation Award Programme will allow researchers, such as Aisling, to further advance their studies in the field of Life and Health Sciences. For a company such as Allergan, scientific research and innovation are essential to the future of our industry, so we hope that this Innovation Award will inspire the next generation of pioneering researchers. Collaborating with a prestigious institute, such as Trinity College Dublin, is an exciting initiative for all involved, and we look forward to the positive results and experiences it will bring for students and our industry.”

Aisling Heeran was also awarded the ‘Jane Grimson Medal of Excellence’ by the Irish Research Council in 2017 for being the top-ranked postgraduate researcher in the STEM category.

Ms Heeran’s research is co-supervised by Prof. Jacintha O’Sullivan and Dr Niamh Lynam-Lennon.