Three Trinity researchers have been announced as the recipients of the 2017 Investigator Awards in Science, winning over €5.5 million in funding for their respective biomedical research projects.
Granted by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) along with the Wellcome Trust and the Health Research Board, researchers Dr Rachel McLoughlin, Prof Daniel Bradley and Prof Mani Ramaswami were chosen as the 2017 recipients.
The Investigator Awards are one of the most coveted awards presented by the partnership and aim to help independent researchers explore important questions in science. The funding will help support McLoughlin’s aim to develop treatment strategies for the antibiotic-resistant superbug MRSA.
Bradley will focus on an exploration of Irish genetic history with a focus on the genetic aspects of disease, while Ramaswami will conduct an investigation into how the brain accesses memories. Ramaswami’s research has particular clinical implications as issues with memory encoding and recall are generally associated with psychiatric conditions.
McLoughlin, in a press statement, said that she was “honoured to be supported by the programme” and that the grant will allow her to provide training to a team of postgraduate and postdoctoral trainees.
In a press statement, Prof Mark Ferguson, Director General of SFI, highlighted the exclusivity of the award and its importance in enshrining Ireland as a key biomedical research hub: “The SFI-HRB-Wellcome partnership recognises the most outstanding biomedical researchers and the most innovative research programmes. Today’s investment will progress the discoveries by Dr Rachel McLoughlin, Prof Daniel Bradley and Prof Mani Ramaswami and their teams, while also embedding world-class biomedical research here in Ireland.”
Dr Mairead O’Driscoll, Interim Chief Executive at the HRB, echoed the attractive nature of the award, and the achievement of the three researchers in receiving it. In a press statement, she said that the researchers were “competing with some of the world’s best” and that the recognition of their work was a “ringing endorsement”.
The SFI-HRB-Wellcome Biomedical Research Partnership has funded biomedical research in the Republic of Ireland since 2010 and is part of Wellcome’s aim to improve and develop treatments for a range of illnesses.
