Prof Trudy Mackay, a prominent US geneticist, will be honoured with the 2018 Dawson prize tomorrow in Trinity.
The Dawson prize, awarded every two to three years, was established by the founder of Trinity’s Department of Genetics, Prof George Dawson. At the award ceremony, Mackay will give a lecture entitled “Comparative Genomics: Flies to Humans, Humans to Flies”. It will take place at 6pm, Thursday November 1st, in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI) on Pearse St.
In a press statement, Mackay said: “It is a great honour to receive this prestigious award and to join the outstanding scientists who have previously been awarded the Dawson Prize.”
Mackay is the Director of Clemson University’s Center for Human Genetics and a scientist of international prominence. Her research focuses on complex genetic traits and enhancing our understanding of human disease. Much of Mackay’s research has focused on the fruit fly, Drosophila, which has proved invaluable as a model species for investigating how key genes function.
In her lecture, Mackay will outline how geneticists are probing questions that underpin a range of human diseases with the aim of better understanding how these diseases function and, crucially, how we might prevent or treat them. She will provide case studies involving genes related to alcohol sensitivity, visual senescence, and the development of glaucoma, a visually-impairing disease that involves raised pressure within the eye.
Mackay will receive a gold miniature of the sculpture “The Double Helix” by the late Brian King and, after accepting the award, will give her public lecture and spend time in discussion with undergraduate and graduate students of the Smurfit Institute of Genetics.
“I am particularly pleased that the selection committee has recognised the pivotal role the Drosophila model system has played in our understanding of complex trait genetics. Future advances in understanding the genetic basis of human disease will increasingly rely on research utilising comparative genetics and genomics to understand the function of the many thousands of variants associated with disease in human populations.”
In a press statement, Trinity genetics professor Aoife McLysaght: “The Dawson Prize is a very special award. It encompasses George Dawson’s passion for genetics; his recognition that science needs to be shared with the public; and his placement of students at the heart of the Genetics Department – a tradition that happily continues to this day.”
“We are excited to honour the ground-breaking work of Trudy Mackay with the award of the Dawson Prize. Over the course of her distinguished career, Trudy has tackled one of the most difficult and challenging questions in genetics, namely the genetics of complex traits – the least predictable, but often most interesting traits including behavioural traits and disease risk”, she said.
