141104-Newsletter - University College Cork

VOLUME 2
ISSUE 1
NOVEMBER 2014
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND CELL BIOLOGY NEWSLETTER
Message from Head of School
You are very welcome to the first edition of our School
e-Newsletter for academic year 2014-15.
This has been a very busy period as we finally moved
to a semesterised system in September and we have
been very busy with welcoming new students and
getting our courses off the ground. We must welcome
a new cohort of 45 Science III students into our BSc in
Biochemistry programme. In addition, this year we have
42 students in our MSc (Biotechnology) and 17 in our
MSc (Molecular and Cell Biology). Of these, we welcome
13 new non-EU students to our School. Great credit is
due to Drs Justin McCarthy, Kellie Dean and Maryanne
Donovan for their stalwart efforts in marketing and
administering these hugely successful programmes.
I hope all of the students joining us will have a great
time and find your experience here very positive and
enjoyable.
Biochemistry class of 2014 as well as three PhDs. You
can find some pictures and more news of these events
inside.
In this issue
Research Team of the Year Award
On the research front, Professor John Atkins and Dr
Pasha Baranov of this School received a team research
award from the President recently in recognition of
their world-class research achievements. We are all very
proud of John and Pasha and we salute this recognition
of their achievement in a hugely competitive arena.
Research Highlights
I hope you find this e-Newsletter interesting and
informative.
Upcoming Events
BSc in Biochemistry Conferrings
The Art Champlin Gold Medal winner
SCHOOL
At the other end of the spectrum, we this week
graduated forty students from our BSc (Honours)
BSc in Biomedical Science graduates
PhD Conferrings
People
People on the Move
Biochemical Society (Irish Area Section)
Open Day
MSc Biotechnology Information Seminar
Professor David Sheehan
Biograph
Hot Off the Press! Recent Publications
RESEARCH TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD
PEOPLE
IN THE
NEWS
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
NEWSLETTER
PAGE 2
Professor John Atkins and Dr Pasha Baranov
win a Team Research Award at the University
Staff Awards Ceremony
Photo by Gerard McCarthy
Professor John Atkins
and Dr Pasha Baranov
win Research Team of
the Year Award
Professor John Atkins, SFI Research
Professor in our School, and Dr
Pasha Baranov, College Lecturer in
our School, received the Research
Team of the Year Award from the
President, Dr Michael Murphy,
at the University Staff Awards
ceremony held in the Aula Maxima
on Thursday 9th October last. The
award was given in recognition
of their collaborative efforts in
the highly-competitive field of
RNA Recoding. The awards are
sponsored by Gilead Sciences
Ireland UC, a BioPharma company
based in Carrigtwohill, Co Cork.
John and Pasha’s collaboration
started in 1999 at the Human
Genetics School, University of
Utah, where Pasha’s bioinformatics
approaches productively
complemented John’s research.
The award citation read by
Professor Anita Maguire, Vice
President for Research, noted that
the Recoding Research Team have
been extraordinarily productive
with 46 publications over the
UCC President Dr Michael Murphy pictured at the UCC Staff Recognition
Awards with academic staff from the School of Biochemistry and Cell
Biology; Professor Tommie McCarthy, Dr Pasha Baranov, Professor David
Sheehan (Head of School) and Professor John Atkins
Photo by Gerard McCarthy
last three years in top journals
including Science, Nature and
PNAS (Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences). John was
a lead editor on RNA Worlds, a
seminal text launched by Nobel
Laureate Dr. James Watson at UCC.
The Recoding Research Team has
enjoyed sustained funding success
with 7 grant awards from SFI and
a major grant from the Wellcome
Trust.
Student wins UCC Strategic
Research Award
ucc Staff awards
Professor John Atkins, UCC President Dr Michael Murphy and Dr Pasha Baranov
at the UCC Staff Recognition Awards
Dylan O’Donovan
At the same awards ceremony, Mr Dylan
O’Donovan (BSc Biomedical Science) of this
School received a UCC Strategic Research
Award of a PhD studentship under the
supervision of Professor Mary McCaffrey
for a project entitled, “An investigation of
the MAP kinase phosphorylation of the
GRAB protein and functional consequences
thereof on its binding to Rab11 and Rab8
and muscle cell physiology”.
We wish Dylan all the best with his
research.
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
RESEARCH
HIGHLIGHTS
Dr Pasha Baranov
In September 2014, Dr Pasha Baranov
gave a talk at Cold Spring Harbor
Translation Control meeting and a
seminar in New York University School
of Medicine entitled “Ribosome
Profiling: The Dawn of Translatomics”.
Professor Dmitri Papkovsky and his
group made several presentations at
international conferences recently:
•
Papkovsky DB, Dmitriev RI,
Optical imaging of cell and tissue
Professor Dmitri Papkovsky
oxygenation by means of cellpenetrating phosphorescent probes, 42nd Meeting
of the International Society on Oxygen Transport
to Tissue, June 28 - July 3, 2014, London, UK. (oral
presentation)
NEWSLETTER
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
• Zhdanov AV, Collins F, Okkelman IA, Papkovsky
DB, HIF-independent inhibition of mitochondrial
function by DMOG: an immediate-early effect
and long-term consequences, 18th European
Bioenergetics Congress, 12-16 July, 2014, Lisbon,
Portugal. (poster)
• Papkovsky DB, Dmitriev RI, Imaging of oxygenation
in 3D tissue models by means of cell-penetrating
phosphorescent nanosensors, International
Microscopy Congress 2014, September 7-12, 2014,
Prague, Czech Republic. (oral)
• Zhdanov AV, Golubeva AV, Cryan JF, Papkovsky DB,
3D mapping of tissue oxygen in chronically inflamed
mouse bladder, International Microscopy Congress
2014, September 7-12, 2014, Prague, Czech Republic.
(poster)
• Papkovsky DB, O2 imaging in 3D tissue models
with phosphorescent probes and FLIM, Workshop
on Advanced Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging
Techniques, Bethesda, USA, October 20-21, 2014.
(invited talk)
A paper on the Clustal W programme
co-authored by Professor Des Higgins
(formerly a lecturer in this School and
now at UCD) was ranked tenth in a
listing of the top 100 most-cited papers
Professor Des Higgins, UCD
of all time. The Top 100 Papers list was
published recently in Nature.
Photo: http://www.sfi.ie/assets/media/files/downloads/News%20and%20Events/Press%20Releases/Des%20
higgins%202.jpg
PAGE 3
Career Development Award for
Dr Ken Nally
Dr Ken Nally
Research highlights
In August 2014, Professor David
Sheehan delivered a presentation
entitled “Effects of engineered metal
and metal oxide nanoparticles on
model aquatic organisms: Finding
Professor Dave Sheehan
protein targets by redox proteomics”
as a Keynote paper 4th International Conference on
Proteomics and Bioinformatics, Northbrook, Chicago,
USA and as an invited paper to the American Chemical
Society Meeting, San Francisco, USA.
NEWSLETTER
Dr Ken Nally has been awarded a Career
Development Award by Science Foundation
Ireland for his proposal: “Identification of the
Molecular Pathways that Mediate Cytokine
Induced Immunopathology of the Gut
Epithelium”.
This provides funding of €648,643.00 for four
years to help establish and consolidate a
research group of 2 postdoctoral researchers
and 3 PhD students.
PEOPLE
IN THE
NEWS
BSc in Biochemistry conferrings in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
BSC IN BIOCHEMISTRY CONFERRINGS IN THE SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND CELL BIOLOGY
Rachel Power, Sinead Kenealy, Edith Fosso, Jennifer Moloney and Hazel Murphy
NEWSLETTER
PAGE 4
BSc in Biochemistry
Conferrings
Forty of our BSc (Hons) Biochemistry
students graduated at a ceremony on
Tuesday, 28th October.
The guest speaker at the ceremony
was Sean Sherlock, Minister of State for
ODA, Trade Promotion and North/South
Cooperation and former Minister of State
for Innovation.
The staff in the School would like to wish
all the graduates every success in their
careers ahead.
Autumn Conferrings
BSC IN BIOCHEMISTRY CONFERRINGS
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
PEOPLE
IN THE
NEWS
NEWSLETTER
Congratulations to Aprille Duggan, Lara Farmer and Margaret
O’Sullivan
Niamh Ducey, Patrick Wiley, Fergus Collins (Gold Medal winner), Cara Robertson and Christy Casey
Margaret O’Sullivan, Michael Stack, Padraig Dunne, Professor David Sheehan, Stephen Dennehy, Micheal Hennessy, Patrick Wiley, Lara Farmer and Tomas McCabe
Shauna O’Connor and Sharon McMahon
PAGE 5
Autumn Conferrings
BSC IN BIOCHEMISTRY CONFERRINGS
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
PEOPLE
IN THE
NEWS
Niamh Ducey and Christy Casey
Valerie Power O’Callaghan and Dr Sinead Kerins
On 28 October 2014, forty students in the BSc in Biochemistry programme
were conferred with their degree.
Padraig Dunne, Michael Stack and Hazel Murphy
Padraig Dunne, pictured here with his sister Ciara who also
graduated with a BSc in Biochemistry in 2011. Ciara went on to do
the MSc in Biotechnology in this School and is currently working
for Janssen Ireland
NEWSLETTER
Patrick Wiley
Joanne Cronin, Shauna O’Connor, Conor O’Shea, Sharon McMahon and Niamh Ducey
PAGE 6
Autumn Conferrings
BSC IN BIOCHEMISTRY CONFERRINGS
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
PEOPLE
IN THE
NEWS
NEWSLETTER
The Professor Art Champlin gold medal is awarded
annually to the top student graduating BSc (Hons) in
Biochemistry
Dr Sinead Kerins, Professor Paul Ross, Junior Minister Sean Sherlock, Fergus Collins (Gold Medal winner), Professor David Sheehan, UCC President Mr Michael Murphy and Fergus’ parents,
Patrick and Jane Collins
2014 Gold Medal Award
Recipient Fergus Collins BSc
Mr Fergus Collins, 2014 Art Champlin Gold Medal winner,
pictured here with Professor David Sheehan, Head of
School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
The Professor Art Champlin Gold medal award
for academic excellence in Biochemistry, was
presented to Fergus Collins on October 28th by
Professor Dave Sheehan of this School.
Fergus graduated as the top student with a
first class honours degree in Biochemistry and
has commenced a PhD at Teagasc, Moorepark
under the supervision of Professor Paul Ross,
Head of SEFS.
Fergus has been an outstanding student and is
also the recipient of the Eil Lilly undergraduate
award for academic excellence in Biochemistry
in 2013 and 2014. In 2013, Fergus was also
awarded a UCC Academic Scholarship and a
Health Research Board Summer fellowship,
which enabled Fergus to conduct research
with Dr Ken Nally, School of Biochemistry,
analysing the expression and function of the
Type 1 Interferon pathway in irritable bowel
syndrome.
PAGE 7
Gold Medal Winner
THE ART CHAMPLIN GOLD MEDAL WINNER
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
PEOPLE
IN THE
NEWS
NEWSLETTER
2014 BSc in Biomedical Science Graduates
BSc in Biomedical Science
Conferrings
Professor David Sheehan, Head of School,
deputised for the Registrar at a conferring
ceremony for the BSc (Hons) Biomedical
Science class held in Cork Institute of
Technology on Monday, 20th October 2014.
Professor Sheehan and Dr Brendan Murphy
jointly presented parchments to graduates
from this successful course.
Professor David Sheehan, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Dr Sinead Kerins
Dr Sinéad Kerins (Director of BSc Biomedical
Science programme), Dr Brigid Lucey, CIT
(Deputy Director of BSc Biomedical Science
programme) and Dr Brendan O’Connell
(Head of Biological Sciences CIT) were also
in attendance at the ceremony and would
like to wish the BSc Biomedical Science
graduates every success in their future
careers.
PAGE 8
Autumn Conferrings
BSC BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE GRADUATES
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
PEOPLE
IN THE
NEWS
Dr Tom Moore, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Mrs Julia Dunne, new EMBL
scholar Dr Matthew Dunne (centre), Mr Stephen Dunne and Professor David Sheehan,
Head of School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the PhD Conferring ceremony.
Dr Patricia Collins, School of
Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Photo by Tomas Tyner, UCC
Photo by Tomas Tyner, UCC
PhD Conferrings
Three students from the School of
Biochemistry and Cell Biology were awarded
PhD degrees at the Autumn Conferring
ceremony held at UCC on October 29th last.
Patricia Collins, (supervised by Dr Ruaidhri
Carmody, University of Glasgow, and Dr
Cora O’Neill, School of Biochemistry and
Cell Biology) for her thesis: “An investigation
into the role of bcl3 in toll-like receptor
signalling”.
Matthew Dunne, (supervised by Dr Tom
Moore, School of Biochemistry and Cell
Biology and Dr R. Meijers, EMBL, Heidelberg)
NEWSLETTER
Three PhD students from
this School were awarded
PhD degrees
for his thesis: “A novel activation mechanism
for clostridial bacteriophage endolysins”.
Louise Foley, (supervised by Dr Eoin
Fleming, School of Biochemistry and Cell
Biology) for her thesis: “Characterisation of
the degradation of wild type and mutant
hfe proteins during stress signalling in the
endoplasmic reticulum”.
Heartiest congratulations to Dr Collins, Dr
Dunne and Dr Foley!
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
Dr Louise Foley, School of
Biochemistry and Cell Biology
NEWSLETTER
PAGE 9
People in the news
PHD CONFERRINGS
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
ON THE
MOVE
Dr Kellie Dean appointed to College Lectureship
Congratulations to Dr Kellie Dean who has been appointed to a College
Lecturership in this School.
Kellie will be working in particular on International Education and
diversification of our postgraduate offerings.
Kellie’s research interests include translational regulation, non-coding RNAs
and RNA-binding protein biochemistry, with a particular focus in investigating
the mRNA targets and biological influence of the RNA-binding protein, Smaug,
in Drosophila and human cells.
NEWSLETTER
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
PAGE 10
Emily Power
Congratulations to Shauna
O’Donovan and Emily Power who
completed their research projects
with the recoding group for the MSc
in Bioinformatics with Computational
Biology.
Dr Kellie Dean
NEWSLETTER
Neil O’Donnell MSc has recently
joined the lab Of Professor Dmitri
Papkovsky as a PhD student
Alina Kondrashina
Congratulations and best wishes also
to Alina Kondrashina, Biophysics and
Bioanalysis Lab on the safe arrival of a
baby girl on October 24th last.
People
Shauna O’Donovan
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
PEOPLE
ON THE
MOVE
Dr Maryanne Donovan
Dr Geraldine Kelly
Dr Maryanne Donovan on the
move
We are sorry to announce the departure of Dr
Maryanne Donovan who is moving to a new
position with Novartis.
Maryanne made significant contributions to
establishing the structured PhD in Molecular
Cell Biology and MSc (Molecular and Cell
Biology with Bioinnovation) which have been
outstandingly successful programmes. This
success is largely attributable to Maryanne’s
energy in establishing, publicising, marketing
and overseeing deliver of these courses.
We wish Maryanne every success in her
new role and we thank her for her key
contributions to our success.
NEWSLETTER
Dr Finola Fogarty
Dr Geraldine Kelly on the move
Dr Finola Fogarty on the move
Congratulations to Dr Geraldine Kelly
who commenced a Technical Services/
Manufacturing Science Laboratory
Representative role at Eli Lilly in September
2014. Prior to this Geraldine was a
Postdoctoral Researcher in the Cell Biology
Laboratory, conducting investigations into the
protective role of IGF-1 in the heart. Geraldine
completed her PhD research in 2011, on the
regulation of IGF-1R activation in cancer,
under the supervision of Professor Rosemary
O’Connor and graduated in 2009 with a BSc in
Biochemistry.
Congratulations to Dr Fionola Fogarty who
commenced a Bioassay Technical Specialist
role at MSD Brinny in May 2014. Fionola is
a BSc Genetics graduate, who commenced
the PhD Scholars Programme in Cancer
Biology, UCC in 2009. Fionola conducted
her PhD research, which focused on the
characterization of the Heme binding protein
HRG-1 in cancer cells, under the supervision of
Professor Rosemary O’Connor. On completion
of her PhD, Fionola worked with the Almac
group, Belfast identifying novel clinically
relevant biomarkers for IGF de-regulated
signalling in cancer and disease, until
commencing her role at MSD.
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
NEWSLETTER
Dr Ronan O’Riordan
Dr Ronan O’Riordan on the
move
Congratulations to Dr Ronan O’Riordan
who commenced a Technical Services/
Manufacturing Science Laboratory
Representative role at Eli Lilly in September
2014. Ronan is a BSc Genetics graduate.
Ronan was selected for the PhD Scholars
Programme in Cancer Biology, UCC in 2008
and commenced his PhD research in 2009,
under the supervision of Dr Tom Moore,
on Pregnancy-Specific Glycoprotein. On
completion of his PhD, Ronan worked as a
Research Assistant until commencing his role
at Eli Lilly.
PAGE 11
People on the Move
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
UPCOMING EVENTS
NEWSLETTER
PAGE 12
UPCOMING
Staff Christmas Party!
Its that time of year again and the Staff
Christmas Dinner is booked for the Kingsley
Hotel on Thursday 18th December at 6.00pm.
Have a look at the menu and contact Justin
McCarthy or Tricia Fowler if you would like to go.
Justin and Tricia will be collecting EUR 45.00 per
person to allow for a tip.
We really hope to see you there!
UCC Biotechnology and Biochemistry Society to host their
second MSc information seminar
Are you thinking about your future?
The Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society UCC are hosting an information seminar on MSc
Programmes, UCC on Tuesday evening next, 4th November from 6.00-7.00pm in Western
Gateway G01.
Dr Kellie Dean, School of
Biochemistry and Cell Biology
will discuss the structure and
entry requirements of both
the MSc Molecular Cell Biology
programme and Master of
Research in Biochemistry and Cell
Biology (MRes) programme.
Fairbanks Christmas Menu
€39.50 per person
Creamed Forrest Mushroom Soup with Herb Croutons, Truffle
Foam
Smoked Salmon, Baby Leaves, Pastis dressing and glazed
beetroot
Goats Cheese Tartlet, Creamed Spinach, Chunky Tomato
Fondue
************************
Seared 10oz Sirloin Steak, Sautéed Wild Mushrooms, Fondant
Potato, Jameson and Peppercorn Cream Sauce
Oven Roasted Turkey and Honey Glazed Bacon, Chesnutt and
Apricot Stuffing, Cranberry Glaze, Jus Roti
Grilled Fillets of Sea Bream, Sweet Potato Puree, Buttered
Asparagus Tips, Light Lemon Butter
Creamy Orzo Pasta, buttered broad beans, red onion Confit,
Granma Padano Sauvignon Cream
***************************
Kingsley Christmas Pudding, Brandy Anglaise, Bourbon
Vanilla Gelato
Raspberry and White Chocolate Parfait, Mulled Wine Fruits,
Almond Tuille
Spiced Gingerbread Cake, Salted Caramel, Honey Ambrosia,
Hazelnut Ice Cream
Served with freshly brewed Tea/Coffee
Katie Green, who is a past BSc
Biochemistry and MSc Molecular
Cell Biology graduate, will talk
about what it was like to do
the MSc Molecular Cell Biology
programme and discuss how she
secured her PhD position at the
University of Calgary, NW Calgary,
Alberta, Canada.
Dr Marcus Claesson, School
of Microbiology, UCC will
discuss the structure and
entry requirements of the MSc
programme in Bioinformatics
with Computational Biology.
Charity Cake Sale
UCC Biochemistry and Biotechnology will
host a cake sale and raffle for Pieta House in
the foyer of the Western Gateway Building
on Monday, 10th November between 10.00
and 15.00 hrs.
Upcoming Events
EVENTS
TH
BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETY MEETING 12 — 13
TH
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
NOVEMBER
NEWSLETTER
PAGE 13
UPCOMING
Irish Area Section of the Biochemical Society (IASBS) Meeting
UCD Conway Institute, University College Dublin
13th-14th Nov 2014
At-A-Glance Speaker Programme
Day 1: 8:15 -9.00 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:15 10:45 11:15 11:45 12.00 12:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:30 19:00 Thursday 13th November 2014
Registration, Conway Foyer
Session I Platelet and Vascular Therapy
Prof Paola Patrignani, University of Chieti, Italy.
Crosstalk between platelets and cancer cells and the effect of antiplatelet drugs.
Dr Simone Marconi, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Proteomic Signatures of Platelet Drug Response
Oral presentation selected from abstracts (TBA)
Dr Roger Preston, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Engineered super-enzymes as therapies for vascular disease
Coffee Break
Session II A focus on the Vascular Endothelium
Dr Phil Cummins, Dublin City University, Ireland.
The Blood-Brain Barrier: A Target for Proinflammatory Cytokines
Oral presentation selected from abstracts (TBA)
Dr Steve Kerrigan, Royal College of Surgeon‘s in Ireland, Ireland.
Platelets and bacterial infection of endothelial cells
Lunch & technical session. Sponsored by Medical Supply Company Ltd.
Session III Vascular Biochemistry & Disease I
Dr Orina Belton, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Immune cells- Signals and function in the resolution of atherosclerosis
Dr Maura Grealy, National University of Ireland, Galway
Title to be confirmed
Dr Patricia Maguire, University College Dublin, Ireland,
Platelets, plexosomes and their Wnt secretes
Poster Session I
Prof Meinrad Gawaz, Tuebingen University, Germany.
Platelet-derived CXCL12 (SDF-1α): basic biochemical mechanisms and clinical implications.
Followed by wine reception and poster viewing
Conference Dinner
Day 2: 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:15 10:45 11:15 11:45 12:00 12:30 14:00 15:00 Friday 14th November 2014
Session IV Platelet Biochemistry & Function.
Prof Alastair Poole, University of Bristol, UK.
Secrets of platelet exocytosis: how and why do platelets secrete?
Dr Niamh Gilmartin, Biomedical Diagnostics Institute, DCU
Development of a new platelet function assay: From lab to clinic
Oral presentation selected from abstracts (TBA)
Prof Cormac Taylor, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Regulation of gene expression by hypoxia.
Coffee Break
Session V Vascular Biochemistry & Disease II
Dr Fionnuala Ni Ainle, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Early onset preeclampsia: novel approaches to prognosis and therapy?
Oral presentation selected from abstracts (TBA)
Prof Louise Kenny, University College Cork, Ireland.
Screening for Pre-Eclampsia The Obstetric Holy Grail
Lunch & Technical session sponsored by Fluxion & Labtech.
Poster Session II
Prize Giving and Close of Meeting
More details are available from Dr Eoin Fleming, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Irish Area Section
EVENTS
IASBS 2014
OPEN
DAY
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
UCC OPEN DAY
NEWSLETTER
PAGE 14
regarding the joint UCC/CIT Biomedical Science
degree programme. Prospective students attended
a presentation from Professor Dave Sheehan
on Biological and Chemical Sciences and also,
a presentation on Biochemistry and Biomedical
Science from Dr Sinéad Kerins.
Dr Cora O’Neill , Vice-head of the School of Biochemistry and Cell
Biology discusses degree outlets with prospective Biochemistry and
Biomedical Science students during Open Day
UCC October Open Day
The UCC Open day was held on the 11th October
2014. Professor Dave Sheehan, Dr Cora O’Neill and
Dr Pasha Baranov from the School of Biochemistry
& Cell Biology were on hand to answer queries
relating to Biological and Chemical Sciences
and the Biochemistry Degree outlet. In addition,
Dr Paul Young, Dr Sinéad Kerins (School of
Biochemistry and Cell Biology), Dr David Clarke
(School of Microbiology, UCC) and Dr Collette
Hand (Department of Pathology, UCC) provided
information and dealt with student queries
Biochemistry graduate, Jamie Byrne provided
tours of the undergraduate teaching laboratories
in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
and demonstrated various Molecular Biology
techniques to the students. The students also got
some hand on experience in loading agarose and
SDS-PAGE gels. They really enjoyed this and were
very impressed with the teaching facilities at the
School.
The Open Day at UCC was a highly successful event
attended by over 5,000 potential students and
Professor Dave Sheehan would like to thank the
academic staff, technical staff and Jamie for making
our participation in this event such a success.
Biochemistry graduate, Jamie Byrne demonstrates loading a gel
to Rachel Nyhan, Bandon Grammar School
UCC Open DAy
Prospective Biochemistry students got
some hands-on experience with agarose
and SDS-page gels in the School’s
undergraduate lab at Open Day
MSC BIOTECHNOLOGY INFORMATION SEMINAR
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
NEWSLETTER
PAGE 15
Daniel Sheehan
Biochemistry and Biotechnology Society
UPCOMING
Dr Justin McCarthy
EVENTS
MSc in Biotechnology
information seminar
The Biochemistry & Biotechnology Society
hosted a seminar on Wednesday 8th October
last regarding the MSc Biotechnology
Programme, UCC. Speakers on the evening
were Dr Justin McCarthy, Director of the MSc
Biotechnology and Daniel Sheehan, a BSc
Biochemistry and MSc Biotechnology graduate.
Dr McCarthy provided information regarding
the structure and content of the programme
and Daniel discussed his career profile to date,
including information on his placement and
position with BioMarin, Shanbally and also his
current position with MSD, Brinny.
The seminar was extremely well attended
with over 120 students attending. The night
was a great success. The Biochemistry and
Biotechnology Society would like to thank
Daniel and Justin for staying past 9.00 pm in
order to answer student queries.
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
BIOGRAPH
NEWSLETTER
BIOGRAPHBIOGRA
BIOGRAPH BIOGRA
BIOGRAPH BIOGRA
BIOGRAPH BIOGRA
John Desmond Bernal,
Physicist (1901-1971)
JD Bernal was born near Nenagh, Co. Tipperary
in 1901. During his childhood, he made the
acquaintance of a local gentleman geologist who
sparked in interest in minerals. After school in
England, Bernal studied at Cambridge. He was
fascinated by X-rays and soon began a research
career in Physics exploring scattering of X-rays by
minerals and, eventually, biological materials.
In early research at the Cavendish Laboratory in
Cambridge, he was one of the first scientists to
confirm the “boomerang” shape of the water
molecule. Bernal was known as “Sage” by all who
knew him because, as Max Perutz said, “..he knew
everything”.
He became Professor of Physics at Birkbeck
College, London, in 1937 where he encouraged
the idea of applying X-ray diffraction to elucidating
biostructures. He mentored and befriended many
of the great names of Biochemistry who went
on to win Nobel Prizes – (William) Bragg, Perutz,
Kendrew, Wilkins, Klug and Pauling - as well as
many who did not – Ramachandran, Franklin and
many more. Some 17 Nobel prizes have been
awarded for use of X-ray diffraction techniques in
structure elucidation.
Bernal worked as a Scientific Advisor to the British
Government in World War II and became an expert
on effects of bombing and beach topography
amongst other things. His role was especially
important in preparing for the Normandy landings
of June 1944. He was a committed communist
and freethinker which did not endear him to the
Establishment and he worked tirelessly for greater
internationalization in Science.
The Bernal Professor of Structural Biology today in
Birkbeck is Professor Helen Saibil who delivered the
British Biophysical Society lecture in this School in
November 2009.
John Desmond Bernal (1901-1971)
Profile
This is a new feature where we will briefly profile a key
contributor to our discipline from the past highlighting also
their contributions to the future
PAGE 16
HOT OFF THE PRESS! RECENT PUBLICATIONS
SCHOOL OF BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL BIOLOGY
NEWSLETTER
PAGE 17
Sellami, B., Louati, H., Khazri, A., Mezni A., Dellali, M., Aissa, P.,
Ezzeddine M., Beyrem, H., Sheehan D. (2014) Effect of Permethrin,
Anthracene and mixture exposure on shell components, enzymatic
activities and proteins status in the Mediterranean clam Venerupis
decussata. Aquatic Toxicology IN PRESS.
Kondrashina, A.V., Ogurtsov, V.I., Papkovsky, D.B. (2014) Comparison
of the three optical platforms for measurement of cellular respiration.
Analytical Biochemistry IN PRESS, DOI:10.1016/j.ab.2014.09.001
RECENT Publications
HOT OFF THE
Recent Research Publications
from this School
Dmitriev, R., Borisov, S., Kondrashina, A., Pakan, J.P., Anilkumar, U.,
Prehnm J.M., Zhdanov, A., McDermott, K., Klimant, I., Papkovsky, D.
(2014) Imaging oxygen in neural cell and tissue models by means of
anionic cell-permeable phosphorescent nanoparticles. Cell Mol Life Sci
IN PRESS, DOI: 10.1007/s00018-014-1673-5
PRESS
Rainville L.-C., Varela, A.C., Sheehan, D. (2014) Application of the
redox-proteomics toolbox to Daphnia magna challenged with model
pro-oxidants copper and paraquat. Environmental Toxicology and
Chemistry. IN PRESS.
Loughran, G, Chou, MY, Ivanov, IP, Jungries, I, Kellis, M, Kiran, AM,
Baranov, PV, Atkins JF. (2014) Evidence of efficient stop codon
readthrough in four mammalian genes. Nucleic Acids Res, 42, 89288938.
Kelly, C.A., Toncelli, C., Kerry, J.P., Papkovsky, D.B. (2014) Discrete
O2 sensors produced by a spotting method on polyolefin fabric
substrates. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 203, 935-940.
Toncelli, C., Arzhakova, O.V., Dolgova, A., Volynskii, A.L., Kerry, J.P.,
Papkovsky, D.B. (2014) Phosphorescent oxygen sensors produced
by spot-crazing of polyphenylenesulfide films. Journal of Materials
Chemistry C 2, 8035-8041.
Dmitriev, R.I., Pestov, N.B., Shakhparonov, M.I., Okkelman, I.A. (2014)
Two Distinct Nuclear Localization Signals in Mammalian MSL1
Regulate Its Function. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry 115, 19671973.
Aigner, D., Dmitriev, R., Borisov, S.M., Papkovsky, D.B., Klimant,
I. (2014) pH-sensitive perylene bisimide probes for live cell
fluorescence lifetime imaging. Journal of Materials Chemistry B 2,
6792-6801.
Leedale, J., Herrmann, A., Bagnall, J., Fercher, A., Papkovsky, D., Sée,
V., Bearon, R.N. (2014) Modeling the dynamics of hypoxia inducible
factor-1α (HIF-1α) within single cells and 3D cell culture systems.
Mathematical Biosciences IN PRESS, DOI: 10.1016/j.mbs.2014.09.007
Bernardini, A., Brockmeier, U., Metzen, E., Berchner-Pfannschmidt, U.,
Harde, E., Acker-Palmer, A., Papkovsky, D., Acker, H., Fandrey, J. (2014)
Type I cell ROS kinetics under hypoxia in the intact mouse carotid
body ex vivo: a FRET based study. American Journal of Physiology-Cell
Physiology IN PRESS, ajpcell. 00370.02013.
Zhdanov, A.V., Waters, A.H., Golubeva, A.V., Papkovsky, D.B. 2014
Differential contribution of key metabolic substrates and cellular
oxygen in HIF signalling. Experimental Cell Research IN PRESS, DOI:
10.1016/j.yexcr.2014.10.005.
Any material for inclusion in the next
newsletter should be sent to the editor,
Professor David Sheehan.
EMAIL: hosbcandcb@ucc.ie