A blog post from Sophie Casey: 

I was recently awarded the Irish Research Council’s Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship for a 4 year PhD project. My work will investigate the downstream targets and effects of microRNA alterations in neonatal hypoxic encephalopathy (HIE) – a leading cause of infant mortality and lifelong disability.

I will examine the circulating microRNA alterations over time in a well-established animal model of HIE and research the proposed target pathways of these microRNAs. This allows insight into the genes which may be involved in the mechanisms of action behind the neuronal injury.

Future plans involve investigation into the effects and targets of microRNA alterations in cell models of hypoxia. As the investigation of microRNA alterations was performed during the BiHIVE study, the goal of this project is to identify potential cross-species bridging biomarkers of HIE.

Other research interests include autism spectrum disorders and their links to circulating cytokine alterations.

This work will be carried out under the supervision of Dr. Deirdre Murray, Dr. Gerard O’Keeffe and Prof. Geraldine Boylan.

Huge congratulations, Sophie! 

A  Service of Remembrance will be hosted by Cork University Maternity Hospital on

Friday 13^th October 2017 at 7.30pm

Sacred Heart Church, Western Road, Cork

All who have experienced or been affected by pregnancy loss or infant loss are very welcome to attend.

Infant Welcomes Dr. Peter Barrett

The Wellcome-HRB Irish Clinical Academic Training Programme (ICAT) has welcomed its first intake of fellows at an induction event, held recently at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Peter Barrett, ICAT fellow, has been appointed to UCC and will begin a year of academic and specialist training with Infant with Dr. Ali Khashan.

Research Excellence

Prof. Louise Kenny’s presentation at the induction event highlighted Infant’s commitment to developing the careers of talented young researchers. Peter will work with Dr. Ali Khashan in the Epidemiology research team and will also be mentored by Dr. Deirdre Murray, who was selected by ICAT as a model of research excellence.

Peter will take part in a diverse educational scheme which includes project work and clinical training.

Emerging Science

The ICAT programme supports emerging science excellence in Ireland by guiding ICAT fellows towards a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training.

Infant are proud to support the growth of clinical expertise in Ireland and we look forward to working with Peter!

Promising Research

Infant is proud to congratulate Dr. Cathal McCarthy and Dr. Jane English, who have both won an Emerging Investigator Award from the Health Research Board.

The HRB Emerging Investigator Awards supports researchers in the middle of their careers to build sustainable research programmes. With an investment of €8.3 million, the HRB are rewarding 11 successful researchers for their “diversity and ability to multitask”.

Dr. McCarthy and Dr. English will now contribute groundbreaking research towards improvements in general health, policy and practice. They will also act as mentors to the next generation of researchers.

Rare Blood Samples

Dr. English’s research focuses on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a complex disorder of brain development. By identifying blood biomarkers in the blood at birth, Dr. English hopes to diagnose ASD at an early stage and maximise the effectiveness of therapy and treatment.

The Emerging Investigator Award will allow Dr. English to access rare blood samples from several international birth cohorts including the Danish National Birth Cohort, the Aarhus Birth Cohort, and Cork’s own BASELINE Birth Cohort (http://www.baselinestudy.net/). This makes it the largest Autism Biomarker Discovery programme undertaken to date.

Common Complications of Pregnancy

Dr McCarthy’s research interest is in the area of pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes, two common complications of pregnancy becoming more prevalent in Ireland. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been identified for its possible influence on both conditions, with Dr. McCarthy’s study investigating the therapeutic potential of targeting mitochondrial function. It is hoped that this treatment could improve long-term outcomes for mothers and babies.

On the award, Dr. McCarthy noted the significance of the HRB’s support:

“The funding provided by the Health Research Board Emerging Investigator Award will provide me with the opportunity to investigate the shared and separate pathophysiologies of Pre-eclampsia and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, ultimately helping researchers and clinicians to optimise diagnostic potential and improve treatment modalities for both pregnancy complications.”

The International Stillbirth Alliance Annual Conference will be held in Cork, Ireland from 22-24th September 2017 at the University College Cork campus. The Conference will take place over two days, Saturday and Sunday, with a mixture of plenary and concurrent sessions from invited speakers and selected presentations from conference abstracts.

10 CPD points will be awarded to delegates of the ISA Conference.

Pre- conference, an IMPROVE workshop will be held on Friday 22nd September (https://sanda.psanz.com.au/clinical-practice/improve/).

On 4 June, the amazing Jane O’Sullivan ran in the Cork Marathon – all 26 miles and 385 yards of it – in aid of the research in the INFANT Centre.

We are overwhelmed by Jane’s efforts and generosity, and of all the people who donated to her. We are so thankful for your support and generosity.

When asked why she ran the marathon, Jane noted “I decided to fundraise for INFANT because I wanted not only to raise money for a worthwhile cause but also to taise awareness in the public domain about the great work that is undertaken in their research for women and babies. Many people are unaware of the progress that has been made and is continuing to be made, thanks to the tireless efforts of those who work at INFANT. I wanted to help in some way to promote such a worthy cause“.

We thank Jane, and everyone who donated so generously, from the bottom of our hearts. The donations will have a huge impact in our research efforts to combat pregnancy loss.

Professor Louise Kenny wins Guaranteed Irish Science Hero award

Professor Louise Kenny, Director of INFANT, has just been named as the Guaranteed Irish Science Hero for 2017. Prof Kenny was selected for the award following a public nomination process and received the award at the INFANT Research Centre, a world-leading Science Foundation Ireland research centre in University College Cork and Cork University Maternity Hospital, Cork City.

CEO of Guaranteed Irish, Brid O’Connell said: “Professor Kenny is a true ambassador for Ireland so it is with great pleasure that we name her as the very first Guaranteed Irish Science Hero today. Whilst we received hundreds of very strong nominations from the public, Professor Kenny had by far the strongest support and was the clear winner of the Guaranteed Irish Science Hero Award for 2017.”

Pioneer

“Professor Kenny’s research group has pioneered the use of metabolomic technology, helping to reduce infant and mother fatalities. It is because of this commitment to pregnancy research and in developing innovative technologies to improve the treatment and care available to mothers and babies that she has been awarded this accolade. I would like to wish Professor Kenny and all her team at INFANT the very best for their continued research in this area!”

Perinatal and Neonatal Research Growing in Ireland

On receiving the Guaranteed Irish Hero Award for Science, Director of INFANT research center, Professor Louise Kenny, today said: “I am thrilled and honoured to be the named as the Guaranteed Irish Science Hero for 2017. As perinatal and neonatal research continues to grow in Ireland, it is terrific that it is being recognised in this way.

“I am passionate about the importance of our work in INFANT- but our efforts are reflective of a wonderful team- and I’d like to accept this award on behalf of them. Everyone in my team is a hero in my eyes”, continued Professor Kenny.

Professor Kenny is the third of six Guaranteed Irish Heroes to be awarded, with artist Maser and Women’s Rugby Captain, Niamh Briggs named as Guaranteed Irish Heroes for art and sport, respectively. The remaining three Heroes will be awarded across music, technology and food later this year.

About Guaranteed Irish

• Guaranteed Irish (GI) is a business membership organisation that promotes businesses that provide goods and services originating from Ireland, with a long-term commitment to jobs and the community in which they are based.
• Follow Guaranteed Irish on Twitter: @GuaranteedIrl , Instagram: @guaranteed_irish and on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/GuaranteedIrishOfficial. The official campaign hashtag is: #GIhero

The paper is entitled “V2Hz: Music Composition from Wind Turbine Energy using a Finite-State Machine” and will be published on IEEEExplore.

The paper explores the spatial sonification of distributed information sources based on an algorithmic approach to music.

By developing an algorithm that adopts the rules of music theory, it was possible to sonify random information sources in a manner which sounds similar to western music (i.e. the generated music is in a specific key, and forms chord progressions based on the solely on the data of the raw information sources). As test data we used the output voltages of wind turbines. The next stage will be to use this algorithm to sonify more complex EEG voltage signals in real-time.

Advancing Neonatal Care

Infant trial data has shown that Incereb’s Neon EEG device can improve treatment for babies in neonatal care. As a world-renowned pregnancy research centre, Infant played a key role in securing Incereb’s funding and distribution.

Significant Collaboration

Incereb’s CEO Jim Roche called their collaboration with Infant “enormously significant” in attracting US distribution. Clinicians in the United States, Mr. Roche noted, recognised Infant as a leader in the field, proving the marketability of the Neon EEG device.

Life Changing Research

Infant are very proud of their collaboration with Incereb, which shows the power of research to change the lives of mothers and babies worldwide.

To read The Business Post’s full article on Incereb’s success, click here (subscription required). 

At Infant, we are comitted to making science interesting and accessible to young learners. When our Outreach team visits schools, our clever robot friend Cubetto is always eager to join us!

Recently, Cubetto paid a visit to junior and senior classes from St. Patrick’s Infants National School in Cork.

What is Cubetto?

Cubetto is a robot toy which introduces children to the art of coding. Suitable for ages three to seven, Cubetto is an interactive, fun way for children to code without the need for a screen.

Coding is a language, and just like a new language, an early experience with coding open doors for children later in life.

The Worskshops

Our ‘workshops’ include a number of fun activities which teach young learners how to program Cubetto. Using code, Cubetto can draw, navigate obstacles and travel across maps and mazes.

Cubetto’s deceptively simple design shows how we can use search algorithms, functions and loops to solve problems and learn about the world.

To Infinity and Beyond!

Another great activity we brought along to St. Patrick’s Infant NS was Rocket Mouse. Using paper, an empty bottle and a little imagination, learners can see how forces like air and pressure help to move objects.

Rocket Mouse encourages children to design and experiment, so that they can launch their mice into the stars!