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• infectious disease and the immune system
• cell and developmental biology/regenerative medicine
• physiology and non-communicable disease
• Other - please suggest keyword(s):

• Medicine
• Surgery
• Ophthalmology
• Paediatrics
• Pathology

• Clinical Trials
• Endocrinology
• Haematology
• Immunology
• Nephrology
• Pharmacology
• Physiology
• Vascular Medicine
• Other

Transplantation

With a clinical background in Nephrology and Transplantation and a long-standing laboratory focus on the immune system, my current research programme is particularly driven toward research that impacts on kidney and immune-mediated diseases through better understanding of inflammation. I am supervising several researchers in the area of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) including clinical projects that are retrospectively and prospectively tracking the course of renal functional change over time, translational projects that are investigating the role of biomarkers in improving DKD management and basic projects that are investigating the underlying mechanisms of diabetes-driven inflammation. Along with this, I am co-investigator of an EU-funded project which will perform a multi-site Phase I clinical trial of immunomodulatory stem cells in patients with progressive DKD (Curr Diab Rep, May;16(5):42, 2016 and www.nephstrom.eu). Another current research theme for my group is the analysis of extracellular vesicles (?exosomes?) as disease-related biomarkers, mediators and potential therapeutic vehicles in kidney disease and regenerative medicine (PLOS ONE, 8:e74801, 2013). Finally, I am coordinating an EU-funded multi-site study that is profiling the immune responses associated with corneal transplantation and developing a stem cell-based therapy to prevent corneal transplant rejection in high risk recipients (Am J Transplant, 14:2023-36, 2014 and www.visicort.eu).

I have several areas of interest and on-going projects that encompass both clinical and basic research approaches. I also have a strong collaborative network within NUI Galway, at other Irish institutions and in several leading centres in Europe and the US. For ICAT applicants, I can offer flexibility on project selection as long as there is a shared area of interest and we can develop an exciting research plan that fits well with the funding, resources, time and expertise that we both bring to the table.
As an exemplar, I would be very interested in developing a translational project with an ICAT applicant that will build upon recently-generated preliminary data indicating that the cytokines interferon gamma (IFN-g) and interleukin 18 (IL-18) are increased in the serum of adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and correlate with circulating numbers of a monocyte subtype referred to as ?intermediate monocytes?. Because these two cytokines are co-regulated and have been linked with atherosclerosis, our observation may provide a clue to pathogenic nature of chronic inflammation in CKD and to how it may be modulated. Among the aspects of this observation that would be interesting to develop further are: (a) The potential to investigate the relationship between IFN-g/IL-18 levels and rate of change of renal function over time in a new cohort of people with CKD (clinical observational and laboratory approaches). (b) The opportunity to identify cellular sources of IFN-g and IL-18 in CKD and to investigate their influence on monocyte phenotype and function (human cellular immunology and molecular biology techniques). (c) The potential to directly observe the impact of neutralising IFN-g and/or IL-18 in the setting of CKD (human cellular immunology and/or animal model-based research). (d) The opportunity to determine the role of IFN-g-regulated gene products in CKD progression (systems biology approaches).