Research Newsletter - Issue 97: Good News
Cancer Clinical Research Trust
Congratulations to Dr Naomi Walsh, School of Biotechnology, who has secured funding from the Cancer Clinical Research Trust to further investigate important findings in the field of cancer research. The funded project is entitled "Centromere amplification as a biomarker for therapeutic response in cancer.
Badminton Ireland
Congratulations to Dr Sarah Meegan and Dr Hannah Goss, both School of Health and Human Performance, who secured funding from Badminton Ireland. The project will involve carrying out an evaluation of the current provision and identification of barriers and facilitators to playing badminton for people with disabilities and will focus on Badminton Ireland clubs who have signed up to the Sports Inclusion Disability Charter.
Royal Society of Chemistry Research Fund 2024
Congratulations to Dr Hasim Ibrahim, School of Chemistry, on his success in the Royal Society of Chemistry Research Fund 2024. Dr Ibrahim's project is titled " Arylation of Methionine Residues” and will build on work currently on-going as part of an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship.
SFI Frontiers for the Future Projects Award
Congratulations to Prof. Alan Smeaton (School of Computing/INSIGHT) who secured the SFI Frontiers for the Future Projects award for the project “Using collar-worn accelerometers on assistance dogs for signalling the early detection of the onset of epileptic seizures in humans (ADSA)."
Epilepsy is life-limiting, affecting 45,000+ people in Ireland. Symptoms are spontaneous and unpredictable seizures though recovery is quick with no lasting damage. Recent science has discovered that prior to a seizure, subjects secrete a volatile organic compound, a chemical, through the skin which trained assistance dogs can detect. The awarded project will use assistance dogs to detect and signal impending seizures by movements such as repeated spinning. These are detected by a sensor on the dog’s collar, and the subject and his/her carers are alerted. This gives time to move to a safe place, reducing the chances of self harm before the seizure.