DCU wins at Irish Laboratory Awards
DCU has scooped three top honours at a special industry event to recognise and celebrate the best of Ireland’s laboratories. The Irish Laboratory Awards celebrate the very best organisations, laboratories and people in the industry.
Two labs within the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute were honoured in the Bio Science and Innovation of the Year categories. Professor Richard O’Kennedy’s Applied Biochemistry Group won the award for Bio Science Laboratory of the year.
Research in the Applied Biochemistry group focusses on the production and characterisation antibodies for various applications in diagnostics, health and food safety. The group collaborates with other academic institutions, industrial partners and commercial companies to utilise and promote their research in society.
Dr Paul Leonard and his team won the Innovation of the Year Award for their novel DiCAST technology. This technology can analyse millions of immune cells in parallel on a single cell basis to rapidly identify new biological drug candidates and has the potential to dramatically improve the efficiency of the drug discovery process.
Prof. Richard O'Kennedy, Scientific Director of the BDI, said "This is a wonderful tribute to the hard work of all involved in these awards and the excellent on-going research in these laboratories. "
Chemistry Laboratory XG28 in the School of Chemical Sciences also claimed the ‘Education Laboratory of the Year’ title. This award acknowledged the acknowledged the on-going innovative teaching methodologies and broad range of engaging experiments provided in a safe student-centred learning environment. The lab was commended for both applying and informing research in the area of chemical education. XG28 engagement with the wider community was also noted through such events as Leaving Certificate Chemistry workshops, national competitions such as crystal growing, transition year placements and preparing students for national and international chemistry competitions with notable success.
Pictured Dr. Pat O’ Malley, Dr. Odilla Finlayson, Vincent Hooper, Catherine Keogh, John McLoughlin, Veronica Dobbyn.
Other nominees shortlisted in the ‘ Education Laboratory of the Year’ 2014 category were CTVR, The Telecommunications Research Centre, School of Engineering, TCD; Physics Advanced Laboratory, UCD; BDI Education and Outreach Laboratory, Biomedical Diagnostics Institute, DCU; and Science Department, CBS Kilkenny.
Dr. Pat O’ Malley, DCU School of Sciences, said,
“The School is delighted to have received this award which acknowledges the dedication of all staff and also the postgraduates who assist undergraduate students in a lab setting through an extremely successful lab tutoring programme.”
For more information on the awards, visit www.labawards.ie.
