Wellcome-HRB ICAT Fellows

Dr Graeme Greenfield graduated from the University of Oxford in 2013 following completion of his medical degree and BA in medical sciences. During his BA he undertook a project investigating mechanisms of genome stability in fission yeast. Following completion of his initial stages of postgraduate training, he entered Haematology Specialist Training in 2017 as an Academic Clinical Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast. In this role, Graeme has been investigating how epigenetic changes in myeloproliferative neoplasms occur in response to therapy.

Dr Stephanie Bollard is a Specialist Registrar in Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery. She received her medical degree (2015) and Masters in Surgery (2017) from NUI Galway, before her appointment to the Higher Surgical Training Scheme. Through the ICAT Programme, Stephanie hopes to develop her interest in translational oncology, specifically in the field of melanoma.

Dr Cathal O'Connor graduated from University College Cork in 2013. Having completed Basic Specialist Training in Paediatrics and Adult Medicine, he entered Higher Specialist Training in Dermatology. His research interests include atopic dermatitis, inflammatory dermatoses, and genocutaneous disease. Cathal looks forward to expanding his research interests in preventative dermatology and novel therapeutic strategies for atopic dermatitis.

Dr Claire Potter graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 2013 and entered Psychiatry training in 2015 obtaining her MRCPsych in 2017. She is currently a Specialty Trainee in dual General Adult and Old Age Psychiatry in Northern Ireland. As an ICAT Fellow with an interest in neuroscience and neurodegenerative disorders, Claire will explore longitudinal cohorts of ageing in Ireland examining the biological and psychological basis of cognitive disorders.

Dr Conor Grant graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2013. After obtaining a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2016 at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, he worked with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). In 2018, Conor commenced Higher Specialist Training in Infectious Diseases. His goals are to address the global health challenges caused by infectious diseases. Specifically, Conor’s research interests are in finding novel diagnostics and host-directed therapies for Tuberculosis by studying TB immunometabolism.

Dr Dearbhla Doherty graduated from University College Dublin in 2014 and commenced Higher Specialist Training in Haematology in 2019. Her area of research interest is in haemostasis and vascular biology. As an ICAT Fellow, Dearbhla hopes to further investigate the molecular and genetic basis of Low Von Willebrand Factor levels.

Dr Helen Fogarty received her medical degree (2013) and MSc in Molecular Medicine (2016) from Trinity College Dublin. Her MSc project into NOTCH1 mutation status in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia gave her an insight into laboratory research methodology and reinforced her ambition to become an academic clinician. Helen is a first year Haematology SpR in St James’s Hospital and is currently exploring her research interests in coagulation and vascular biology, including investigation of novel roles for von Willebrand factor in cancer-associated thrombosis and sickle cell disease.

PhD research area: Investigation of the role of the VWF-ADAMTS13 axis in the pathogenesis of sickle cell vasculopathy in children

PhD Supervisors: Prof. James O'Donnell, RCSI; Dr Corrina McMahon, Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin; Dr Michelle Lavin, RCSI

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI)

After studying Radiography Dr Brendan Kelly entered Graduate Entry Medicine, graduating in 2015. He was appointed as a Specialist Registrar in Radiology in St Vincent’s Hospital in July 2017 and received an MSc in Radiology from NUI Galway in 2017. His research interests are in the fields of molecular imaging, especially in its application to personalised medicine and cognitive imaging / dementia, and in potential applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence to radiology.

PhD research area: Clinical ApplicatioN of DEep Learning and Intelligent Vision in Radiology:CAN DELIVeR

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Ronan Killeen, UCD; Prof. Aonghus Lawlor, UCD

University College Dublin (UCD)

Dr Anita Lavery is currently completing higher specialist training in Medical Oncology. She graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 2011 and undertook early clinical training in London, including a one-year medical oncology fellowship at Guy’s Hospital. She returned to Belfast for specialty training in Medical Oncology in 2016. Her clinical and research interests are in upper GI and urological cancers, including cancer genomics and developing new targeted treatment strategies. She is looking forward to developing these interests further through the ICAT programme.

PhD research area: Understanding the DNA Damage Driven Immune Response in Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma (OAC): Opportunities for Improved Stratification and Treatment

PhD Supervisors: Dr Richard Turkington, QUB; Dr Jaine Blayney, QUB; Dr Kienan Savage, QUB

Queen's University Belfast (QUB)

Dr William Martin graduated from NUI Galway in 2014 and completed an MSc in Preventive Cardiology at NUI Galway in 2015. His postgraduate medical training was conducted at University Hospital Galway and Mayo Clinic, before joining the Higher Specialist Training programme in Nephrology in 2018. He has contributed to studies examining renal functional trends in patients with diabetes, mesenchymal stem cell therapy for diabetic kidney disease, and immunological aspects of chronic kidney disease progression.

PhD research area: The Impact of Intensive Lifestyle, Medical and Surgical Control of Diabetes on Human and Experimental Rodent Diabetic Kidney Disease (LIMIT-DKD Study Group)

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Carel le Roux, UCD; Dr Neil Docherty, UCD

University College Dublin (UCD)

Dr Mark Gurney graduated from NUI Galway in 2013. He completed basic specialist training in general internal medicine, and further developed a clinical and research focus on malignant haematology while a visiting medical resident at Mayo Clinic in 2016. Mark commenced Haematology higher specialist training in 2017 at University Hospital Galway. As an ICAT fellow Mark will explore his primary interest in the field of natural killer cell biology, and the application of natural killer cells as a cell-based cancer immunotherapy.

PhD research area: The Development and Optimization of Anti-CLEC12A Targeted Umbilical Cord Blood Derived CAR-NK Cells in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Michael O'Dwyer, NUIG; Prof. Clair Gardiner, TCD

National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG)

Dr Karen McCarthy graduated from University College Cork in 2013 and is a specialist registrar in General Paediatrics. Through her clinical training she has developed a sub-speciality interest in Infectious Disease and is completing a Master’s in Paediatric Infectious Disease at the University of Oxford. Having had an interest in research from undergraduate level she has developed broad-ranging research interests, particularly in the areas of antimicrobial resistance and stewardship.

PhD research area: Respiratory immune responses and their interaction in control of nasal colonization with Bordetella pertussis and Staphylococcus aureus in humans. Local immune responses to respiratory infection in the nasal tract

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Rachel McLoughlin, TCD; Prof. Kingston Mills, TCD

Trinity College Dublin (TCD)

Dr Jennifer Scott is a graduate of NUI Galway (2013). She is a specialist registrar in Nephrology and has completed postgraduate clinical training in Galway University Hospital, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Australia and the Mayo Clinic, USA. Through the ICAT programme, Jennifer is looking forward to delving into big-data and advanced data analytics, to explore the pathophysiology, detection and treatment of autoimmune disease, with ANCA Associated Vasculitis as the exemplar disease.

PhD research area: VAPRE: Exploring the Relapse Prodrome of ANCA associated Vasculitis

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Mark Little, TCD; Prof. Cathal Walsh, University of Limerick; Prof. John Kelleher, Technological University Dublin; Dr Arthur White, TCD

Trinity College Dublin (TCD)

Qualifying in Undergraduate Medicine in Belfast (2012), Dr Gerard Walls obtained MRCP (2015) whilst completing general medical training in London, including Royal Marsden rotations. He secured Specialty Training in Clinical Oncology in Northern Ireland (2016) and took up an Academic Clinical Fellowship at QUB in 2017. He is in the final stages of an MSc in Clinical Education and is preparing for Final FRCR examinations. Before joining ICAT, Gerard published and presented research on a range of topics including advanced radiotherapy and immunotherapy. Through the ICAT Fellowship Gerard aspires to transform care for patients with lung cancer using impactful translational research.

PhD research area: Radiotherapy-Related Adverse Cardiac Events In Lung Cancer (RACING)

PhD Supervisors: Dr Karl Butterworth, QUB; Dr Suneil Jain, QUB; Dr Aidan Cole, QUB

Queen's University Belfast (QUB)

Peter graduated from University College Cork with First Class Honours. He has undertaken Masters degrees in Global Health from Karolinska Institutet, and in Public Health from the University of Cambridge. He has worked clinically and in Public Health Medicine in the UK and Ireland, and is currently a third year Specialist Registrar in Public Health Medicine. Through the ICAT programme, Peter hopes to develop his interest in large-scale epidemiological research, and to gain practical experience in implementing research findings into evidence-based policy.

PhD research area: Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and the Risk of Kidney Disease in Women: A Nationwide Cohort Study

PhD Supervisors: Dr Ali Khashan, UCC; Dr Fergus McCarthy, Cork University Maternity Hospital; Prof. Ivan Perry, UCC

University College Cork (UCC)

Dr Delia Bogdanet is an SpR in Diabetes and Endocrinology. She is a graduate of ‘Carol Davila’ University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Romania. She has a Masters in Diabetes and Endocrinology from Queen Mary University of London. Delia is an emerging clinician scientist. Her main research is in the field of gestational diabetes where she has presented nationally and internationally and published in a wide range of journals. She also has a keen interest in rare diseases epidemiology research and part of her work has focused on this topic.

PhD research area: Plasma glycated CD59 (gCD59), a Novel Biomarker for the Diagnosis, Management and Follow up of Women with Gestational Diabetes (GDM)

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Fidelma Dunne, NUIG; Dr Paula O'Shea, Galway University Hospital; Prof. Jose Halperin, Harvard Medical School

National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG)

Conor is currently completing his Higher Specialist Training in Nephrology. Prior to medicine, he completed an honours degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering. Being on the boundary between academic disciplines he has sought unmet clinical needs that can be translated into software engineering solutions. His current interest is novel software solutions for large-scale clinical research.

PhD research area: SMART Trials - Investigation of technology-enabled adaptive clinical trial methodologies for more efficient and effective clinical research

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Martin O'Donnell, NUIG; Dr Martin O'Halloran, NUIG

National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG)

Sarah graduated from NUI Galway in 2014. As an undergraduate she participated in research related to complications of diabetes and the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Sarah completed three years of postgraduate clinical training in Galway University Hospital and Beaumont Hospital. As a postgraduate medical trainee Sarah became involved in research concerning accelerated atherosclerosis in chronic kidney disease, recurrent glomerular disease after renal transplantation and the prevalence of genetic kidney diseases in Ireland.

PhD research area: The pathophysiological role of intermediate monocyte sub-populations in progression of chronic kidney disease and its cardiovascular complications

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Matthew Griffin, NUIG; Prof. Laurence Egan, NUIG

National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG)

Dr Kapil Sharma graduated from The National University of Ireland Galway in 2011. He commenced the general adult psychiatry higher specialist training scheme in 2016, dual training in forensic psychiatry. He is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Irish College of Psychiatrists. His research interests are in the area of neuroscience and mental health, especially the biological basis of major mental disorders.

PhD research area: The effects of antipsychotics on human glial cells, neuroinflammation and demyelination

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Kumlesh Dev, TCD; Prof. Aiden Corvin, TCD

Trinity College Dublin (TCD)

Roisin is a graduate of NUI Galway and completed 4 years vocational General Practice Training through the Trinity College Dublin /Health Service Executive Training Programme in 2012. She is a dermatology specialist registrar in St Vincent’s University Hospital and her research interests include hidradenitis suppurativa and chronic inflammatory skin disease such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

PhD research area: Immunological pathways in Hidradenitis Suppurativa and potential therapeutic targets

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Brian Kirby, UCD; Prof. Walter Kolch, UCD; Prof. Jean Fletcher, TCD; Dr Rosalind Hughes, St Vincent's University Hospital; Prof. Peter Doran, UCD

University College Dublin (UCD)

David graduated in Medicine from Queen's University Belfast in 2012 and has been working in Psychiatry since 2014. His clinical and research interests lie in the aetiology and prevention of mental disorders such as psychosis, and how insights in these fields might aid early intervention.

PhD research area: An inflammatory biomarker study of psychosis: a longitudinal study in an at risk population

PhD Supervisors: Prof. David Cotter, RCSI; Prof. Mary Cannon, RCSI

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI)

Dr Liam Townsend is an Infectious Disease trainee, with interests in premature ageing and the effects that inflammation, social factors, and chronic disease have on the ageing process.

PhD research area: Autophagy and Mitophagy in Ageing and HIV Infection: Novel Markers and Possible Predictors of a Frailty Phenotype

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Cliona O'Farrelly, TCD; Prof. Colm Bergin, TCD; Dr Clíona Ní Cheallaigh, TCD; Dr Nollaig Bourke, TCD

Trinity College Dublin (TCD)