Four Trinity researchers have been awarded a combined total of over €6 million from a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) scheme that recruits and retains emerging early career researchers.
Ten recipients were honoured today by President Michael D Higgins – as part of the President of Ireland Future Research Leaders Programme – including three from University College Dublin (UCD), two from Maynooth University and one from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS).
The researchers’ fields include lung disease, ageing, traumatic brain injury, bowel and gastrointestinal diseases and sensors. The four Trinity researchers are Dr Suzanne Cloonan, Dr David Loane, Prof Neasa O’Connor and Prof Roman Romero-Ortuno.
In a press statement, Prof Linda Doyle, Trinity’s Dean of Research, said: “The SFI President of Ireland Future Research Leader Awards are crucial in attracting talent to Ireland. We are incredibly proud of the four academics who have come to Trinity through this scheme.”
The four awardees, Doyle said, “have already demonstrated strong leadership in their fields. The research they do will have real impact on people’s lives and I am excited to see what they will accomplish as a result of the support of this scheme”.
“Programmes like this”, she added, “are an essential part of creating a balanced research ecosystem, and the broad range of projects that have been supported this year shows the need to ensure that more funding continues to be made available to individual researchers. I extend my sincere congratulations to all this year’s Future Research Leaders”.
In a press statement, Cloonan, whose research is focused on lung and respiratory diseases, said: “I am delighted and honoured to receive this prestigious award. It has allowed me to develop a cutting-edge interdisciplinary research programme at Trinity College Dublin, to understand and develop new treatment approaches for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a debilitating chronic lung disease that remains the fourth leading cause of death in Ireland.”
“This work”, Cloonan said, “will not only place Ireland on the map for world-class COPD research but will also raise much needed awareness for COPD and COPD-related research”.
O’Connor, an assistant professor of zoology in Trinity, said that “I am truly honoured to receive this award and immensely excited to continue our work with a growing team at Trinity College. We will use ecological knowledge to unlock the potential of Ireland’s marine resources”.
She continued: “By cultivating seaweed to harness products for bioengineering and biofuels, we will be helping to develop new tools for the treatment of debilitating diseases, such as osteoarthritis, while also combating climate change by enhancing carbon sequestration and also enriching local coastal habitats.”
Romero-Ortuno is an associate professor in Medical Gerontology, and works closely with The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), which is Trinity-based. He said: “I am delighted to have received this SFI President of Ireland Future Research Leaders award.”
“As a clinician scientist, this award will enable me to build the human and computational capability to investigate a highly complex issue that is of immense importance to our ageing society”, he added.
