Supervisor Database Search
Guidance for ICAT Supervisors
The ICAT Supervisor list is reviewed annually by the partner universities and updated online in March/April each year.
You can read about the ICAT supervisor selection process and eligibility criteria below:
Terms of reference/guide to supervising ICAT Fellows.
You can read the terms of reference for supervisors actively supervising ICAT Fellows below:
Supervisor Database
Full NameDr Adam Byrne
School of Medicine
University College Dublin
Webpage:people.ucd.ie
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- infectious disease and the immune system
- cell and developmental biology/regenerative medicine
- physiology and non-communicable disease
- Medicine
- Respiratory Medicine
My research programme seeks to understand the molecular mechanisms and pathways that dictate immune responses in the lung at homeostasis and during chronic lung diseases. I aim to explore these processes using primary patient samples (from patients with interstitial lung diseases, asthma and COPD), complex ex vivo culture systems and clinically relevant preclinical animal models. My work aims to answer three fundamental questions;
1. How does airway macrophage (AM) ontogeny, phenotype and metabolism contribute to lung homeostasis throughout life?
My group has explored AM ontogeny, metabolism and phenotype throughout the life-course (e.g. Byrne et al, J Exp Med 2020).
2. Do changes in AM metabolism influence the severity of chronic lung disease (CLD)?
Immunometabolism examines the interaction between immune cell function and cellular metabolism. Our work has uncovered that during chronic lung disease there are profound alterations in AM metabolic processes in the lung (e.g. Albers et al, Clin Exp Immunol 2021; McErlean et al, AJRCCM 2021, Allden et al, AJRCCM, 2019).
3. Can targeting cellular metabolism lead to new treatments for lung disease?
I am investigating a wide range of currently available drugs and delivery mechanisms to directly target immune cell metabolism in chronic lung diseases such as asthma, COPD and IPF. (e.g. Ogger et al, Science Immunology, 2021).
Funded by a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award my lab is investigating;
1. Single cell metabolic profiling of chronic lung diseases (eg ILD/asthma)
2. The role of stroll:immune cell nutrient competition during ILD
3. Investigations into the role of immune cell/immunometabolism in children's interstitial lung disease
4. The role of obesity in severe asthma