WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE RECEIVING THIS AWARD?
Prior to receiving this award I was lucky to have already obtained a permanent contract as a Lecturer In Large Animal Surgery in the School of Veterinary Medicine. However, as my career to this point had been focussed on my post graduate clinical specialist training, while I had been involved in a number of research projects I had not taken the opportunity to focus on building my own research portfolio. I was enrolled in a part time PhD programme, but again due to a high clinical workload and limited funding opportunities was finding it difficult to progress.
YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT IN LAY TERMS
This research project further optimises an equine model of synovial inflammation (lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation) and then utilises this model to test the potential of novel therapeutics, namely intra-articular mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and various formulations thereof. New treatments for joint inflammation – a hallmark of arthritis – in people and horses are needed because current therapeutics are not sufficiently effective. Testing of these therapeutics in appropriate animal models is an important step towards clinical development of these treatments for both the veterinary and human markets. This project establishes the use of repeated inductions of LPS within the same joint over different timepoints to allow for investigation of longer lasting effects of various therapeutics. Due to some limitations with the MSC alginate beads in a pilot safety study, we pivoted to focus on a different novel therapeutic – MSC secretome. This is an exciting potential therapeutic consisting of factors secreted by activated MSCs in a laboratory cell line that has shown potential in early rodent studies performed by our collaborators in Rotterdam. The results of this project have established that MSC secretome is safe for intra-articular use in horses, and shows equivalent effects of MSCs themselves in this model of joint inflammation.
HOW HAS ISSF HELPED YOUR RESEARCH CAREER?
The ISSF award allowed me to progress my research projects and build on both internal UCD and external national and international collaborations. An example of direct result of these collaborations is that with my current post graduate (DVMS student) we will have funding to undertake a number of experiments this Summer which will form the basis of the students DVMS research thesis. The publications arising from the ISSF award have also allowed me to finalise my PhD thesis, again placing me in a better position to supervise the research of my post-graduate students. Through the contacts made and experience gained with these projects I have now also been involved with a number of large national (EI) and international grant applications, and so am gaining experience in this area also and would hope to be in a position to lead a large funding application in the near future.
TANGIBLE OUTPUTS AS A RESULT OF RECEIVING THE AWARD
- Four journal articles (two first author, two others) in published and two further completed (first author, one under revisions, one under review )
- Successful seed funding application (¤10,200 euro) for further work with this model
- Further studies planned with collaborators from this project (investigation in effects of PrP in equine model of synovitis to take place in 2022 (postponed last two years due to COVID staffing issues) with Prof Gerjo van Osch ‘s group from UMC Rotterdam)
- New collaborations with researchers in Ireland and abroad established and funding being sought for further projects
WHAT DID THE AWARD MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY?
Successfully gaining this award gave me confidence in my own abilities as a researcher, and allowed me to recognise that I had potential in this area, rather than seeing myself as “a clinician who tried to do some research sometimes”. While I still find it difficult to balance research with the demands of clinical work, the experience I have now gained has opened many new opportunities and has shown me that I can grow a significant research career and how rewarding the research component of my work can be.