WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE RECEIVING THIS AWARD?
Prior to this award, I had recently joined UCD as an Ad Astra fellow. I had taken a four year break from research (2014-2018) to complete a degree in veterinary medicine, followed by a period working as a veterinary pathologist for the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Weybridge, UK, conducting high containment large animal infectious disease studies. Therefore, I had a significant break since last being in full-time research, and my publication record and research profile reflected this. I believe the ISSF award was critical to allow me to re-establish my research profile and to conduct research that made me competitive for larger externally funded grants
YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT IN LAY TERMS
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the leading cause of hepatitis in humans. Infection is thought to occur mainly as a result of consuming pork from infected pigs. However, some human infections are different to those found in Irish pigs, raising the possibility that there are further undiscovered animal reservoirs of HEV. We investigated the prevalence of HEV in human sewage samples, and also environmental samples to determine the extent of HEV in the environment. We also developed liver models to culture HEV, which willprovide a system to evaluate novel therapies and screen food for the presence of infectious virus.
HOW HAS ISSF HELPED YOUR RESEARCH CAREER?
ISSF has been critically important in allowing me to establish new collaborations in the area of hepatitis E research, develop model systems and strategies for investigating the prevalence of the virus in the environment and study the biology of the virus in animal and human liver models. I have been able to generate preliminary data that has been used to successfully secure a SFI Frontiers for the Future grant, using a One Health approach to investigate hepatitis E. I have also secured an EU Horizon 2020 grant to use soft x-ray microscopy to investigate viral infection of cells, including hepatitis E. I am project co-ordinator on this grant, CoCID.
TANGIBLE OUTPUTS AS A RESULT OF RECEIVING THE AWARD
In addition to the grants, I have hired two PhD students, a postdoctoral researcher and a research technician, all working on hepatitis E virus. This would not have been possible without the ISSF award.
WHAT DID THE AWARD MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY?
I feel this award was critically important for me to re-establish my research career, and to gain critical data to allow me to successfully apply for a larger award. Without the ISSF, I would not have been able to optimise cell culture models and establish collaborations with Prof Wim Meijer to generate preliminary data that it is possible to detect HEV in environmental samples. Importantly, I also think that writing a successful ISSF application gave me the confidence to build on this application and successfully write an EU H2020 and an SFI Frontiers for the Future proposal. As I re-started my research career as a veterinary surgeon with a passion and drive to conduct clinically relevant zoonotic infectious disease research, I feel that this award has helped me immeasurably.