WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE RECEIVING THIS AWARD?
Prior to this award I was an Associate Professor in Pharmacology and had taken on senior roles as SBBS Head of Research and Innovation 2012-2015, SBBS Head of Teaching and Learning 2016-2019 and Co-Chair of AREC 2015-2017. Up to 2015 I had been awarded in excess of €3 million in research funding and was internationally recognised as a leader in cardiovascular research.
Changes in the national funding landscape in 2014 away from basic research was extremely challenging and limited the type of research my lab could do. The reduction in funding resulted in a loss of expertise in my lab and our ability to perform innovative research to maintain our international competitiveness.
YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT
Cardiovascular (CV) complications of Diabetes are the primary cause of mortality in affected patients. There is an increasing body of evidence which suggests that some of the newer hypoglycemic agents used for the management of Diabetes also protect against CV disease. However, no trial or study has addressed the effect of, or the mechanism through which these newer drugs impact on CVD.
This research identified the mechanisms through which the new hypoglycemic drugs, liraglutide and dapagliflozin alone and in combination reduces CV disease. The approach was innovative, where we established a novel more clinically relevant model of CVD, namely and ex vivo human atherosclerotic plaque model. Using this model we identified that the hypoglycemic agents impact on communication between vascular cells and inhibit vascular inflammation which is a hallmark of CVD progression. This now allows for more appropriate therapeutic intervention to reduce the development of CVD in patients with diabetes.
HOW HAS ISSF HELPED YOUR RESEARCH CAREER?
In June 2018 I was promoted to Professor. The ISSF award was critical in demonstrating that I was research active, supporting young researchers and engaged in high-risk research. My international visibility, collaborations and research outputs also increased significantly. In 2018 and 2019 I was invited to be Chair of the Scientific Advisor Board for the European Research Area Network in Cardiovascular Disease. Since this award I have published 12 peer reviewed articles. The work from this proposal has led to the development of a new collaborations with University College London, INSERM Paris and the Beacon and Mater Hospitals in Dublin.
TANGIBLE OUTPUTS AS A RESULT OF RECEIVING THE AWARD
- 12 Peer reviewed publications
- 7 Conference presentations
- 2 Invited oral presentations
- 3 PhD supervised to completion (2017-2021)
- Successful funding for a 4 year PhD Research scholar
WHAT DID THE AWARD MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY?
This award positively impacted on my career by providing preliminary data for funding opportunities, securing additional funding, developing collaborations and increasing my international visibility through high impact publications, international presentations and acting as Chair of the ERA-Net funding schemes. This work proposed also leveraged the excellent resources available in UCD specifically the UCD Conway Transcriptomic and Proteomic Core Technologies which is of strategic importance in attracting future funding and investment.