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Minister for Education & Science, Ms Mary Hanafin, TD recentlyannounced the latest cycle of HEAPRTLI funding and awarded UCD€29.838 million; €17.547 millioncapital infrastructure funding for thedevelopment of the UCD ScienceCentre and €12.291 million recurrentfunding for projects in the humanitiesand sciences. Within the sciences,UCD Conway Institute was involved intwo of the four main collaborativeprogrammes to receive recurrentfunding.

Complementing existing researchprogrammes in both the Conway andCSCB (Centre for Synthesis & ChemicalBiology), the new (Bio)pharmaceutical& Pharmacological Sciences programmebuilds on the €72m National Institutefor Bioprocessing Research and Training(NIBRT), which is being established bythe IDA at Belfield campus.

Together, these landmark initiatives willconcentrate on providing trainedresearchers for Ireland’s emergingbiopharmaceutical industry (e.g. Wyeth,Amgen). There will be a particular focuson the production of biologicaltherapeutics - molecules produced bycells that can be used to treat commonhuman diseases such as arthritis, kidneydisease and inflammatory boweldisease.

The second programme involving UCDConway is the Biomedical ScienceNetwork, which will facilitate nationalconsolidation and co-ordination ofresearch and training activities in thebiomedical sciences. In particular, theprogramme will support thedevelopment of clinical-scientistprogrammes. It is hoped this networkwill be instrumental in delivering acoherent information portal andnationally accessibly platform for

molecular/ translational medicine andbiomedical sciences.

Overall, the UCD programmes includecollaboration with twelve universitiesand institutes: UCC, Trinity CollegeDublin, DCU, NUI Maynooth, Universityof Limerick, RCSI, Queens University,Cork Institute of Technology, ESRI,Dublin Institute of Technology, IT Tallaght, NUI Galway.

Announcing the awards the Ministersaid that the PRTLI has helped create acore physical and human foundation for research excellence. “To date, thePRTLI has awarded some €605 millionto innovative research andinfrastructural projects across thehigher education sector”.

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As Director of UCD Conway Institute ofBiomolecular & Biomedical Research,I am delighted to welcome you to theinaugural issue of ‘Conway Focus’.Through this publication, we lookforward to highlighting the researchachievements of Conway scientistsand the events that shape the identityof this Institute on the national andinternational stage.

In recent months, we have beendefining research strategy andidentifying the platforms for futuredevelopment within the Institute. Theannouncement by Minister Mary Hanafinin relation to the 4th round of PRTLIfunding was particularly welcome. Theaward through the Biomedical SciencesNetwork will enhance the Institute’smission of translational sciences, inparticular giving an opportunity to fundclinician-scientist PhD posts. The awardin (Bio) pharmaceuticals and

Pharmacological Sciences furtherstrengthens the links of the Conway andCSCB with NIBRT in this important areafor Ireland.

Congratulations to Dr Orina Belton, Dr Patricia Maquire, Dr John Crean andDr John Baugh on their recentappointments as lecturers and to Dr Antonio Campos-Torres and Dr Barry Boland on their temporarylectureships.

My thanks to the seminar committee forthe superb programme of the 7thannual UCD Conway Festival ofResearch, a showcase for the researchactivity of the Institute. I hope youenjoy the day!

Director’s Message

Conway secures HEA PRTLI 4 funding

Janet Allen

UCD CONWAY INSTITUTE OF BIOMOLECULAR & BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH

Professor Suzi Jarvis and her nanoscalefunction group recently joined UCDConway Institute. Her multidisciplinaryteam has a skills base that includesphysics, electrical and mechanicalengineering, materials science,mathematics, chemistry, biology andphycology.

Using atomic force microscope (AFM)techniques, Professor Jarvis investigatesthe nanometre-scale functionality oforganic and biological molecules. AFM usesa probe or tip under controlled conditionsto build a 3-dimensional image of asample. Frequency modulation AFM (FM-AFM) is an extension of the techniquefor extra sensitive measurements that isused extensively in ultra-high vacuum.

Professor Jarvis pioneered theimplementation of this technique in liquid,which means that it can now be used forstudying biological materials underphysiological conditions. Her own grouphave used the technique to study modelmembranes and the membrane-fluidinterface on a sub-molecular scale.

One aspect of this research focuses on themechanical properties of biologicalmembranes that act as a wall, either insideor surrounding a cell. The strength ofthese walls is important in understandinghow viruses or drugs can enter cells. Suzi

Jarvis’ group have used AFM to feel theindividual molecular bricks that constitutethese walls.

Water and ions are always present inbiological systems and the group foundthat the ions are attracted to multiple‘bricks’ thus joining them together andstrengthening the wall.

The group are also using AFM to pull apartthe individual amyloid fibrils in an effort tounderstand these self-assembled proteinstructures. Amyloid has long beenassociated with a range of debilitating andincurable human diseases but there is nowgrowing evidence to suggest thatphysiological amyloid exists in a diverserange of organisms. The Jarvis group hasidentified amyloid structures in theattachment adhesives of five species ofalgae and an invertebrate organism. Theyhope to discover what triggers amyloidformation in a range of physiologicalcontexts and also how it can be controlledso that it does not give rise to disease.

Professor Suzi Jarvis joins UCD Conway with her nanoscale function group

An international workshop entitledEpigenetics: From Mechanisms toMedicines took place in O’Reilly Hall, UCD from 24th-26th June 2007. Underthe auspices of the Dublin MolecularMedicine Centre, UCD Conwayinvestigator Dr Amanda McCann wasinstrumental in the organisation of thesuccessful event.

Epigenetics describes mechanisms andphenomena that affect the phenotype of acell or an organism, but do not involvechanges in the DNA sequence. Themodifications of the protein and DNA

components of chromatin that constituteepigenetic changes can be transmittedthrough multiple generations. Thishereditable information system in additionto DNA sequence (epigenome) can accountfor the complexities of humandevelopment and disease causation, andcan be affected by environmental factors.As we delve into the causes of disease atthe molecular level, the importance ofepigenetics is increasingly evident.

The first day of the conference, entitled Epi-Mechanisms, encompassedepigenetic mechanisms and research

techniques. There were presentations frominternational speakers including Prof WolfReik, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK;Dr Carole Charlier, University of Liège,Belgium; Prof Stuart Schreiber, BroadInstitute of Harvard & MIT, USA and thekeynote lecture, sponsored by AIB, wasgiven by Prof Marcus Pembrey, UCLInstitute of Child Health, UK.

The second day of the workshop entitledEpi-Therapeutics concentrated onepigenetics in development and diseaseand included speakers such as Dr JoyceEllen Ohm, Johns Hopkins University, USA; Prof Michael Skinner, WashingtonState University, USA and Dr Dana Dolinoy,Duke University Medical School, USA. The keynote lecture sponsored by the Irish Cancer Society was given by ProfPeter Jones, USC / Norris ComprehensiveCancer Center, USA.

The winner of the best poster talk ‘Loss of IGF2 imprinting in breast andcolorectal cancer is a somatic epimutationrather than a congenital event' was DrAdele Murrell, University of Cambridge, UK and the best poster prize went to MsAngela O'Gorman, National University ofIreland, Galway for the poster entitled ‘I B- as a target for epigenetic silencingin colon cancer’.

International workshop on epigenetics takes place in UCD

Prof Suzi Jarvis

Speakers and organisers pictured at the workshop: (L-R), back: Prof Eamonn Maher, Prof Peter Jones, Dr Patrick Corley (Irish Cancer Society), Dr Amanda McCann, Dr Steven Gray, Prof Kevin Sullivan, Dr DanaDolinoy, Dr Joyce Ellen Ohm, Dr Mark Watson. (L-R), front: Prof Allen Yang, Dr Hoon Ryu, Prof Michael Skinner.

Novel research collaboration between UCD scientists andAstraZeneca to target diabetes

A research collaboration to developtherapeutic strategies to combatdiabetes has been establishedbetween AstraZeneca and UCDConway Institute investigator Dr. Philip Newsholme. The newventure is the result of novel findingsby Dr Lorraine Brennan and Dr.Newsholme on cell metabolism andthe regulation of insulin secretionpublished recently in the journalsDiabetologia and Diabetes.

Nearly 200,000 people in Ireland arethought to have diabetes, one of thethree major killers in this country alongwith heart disease and cancer. Altered

metabolism is thought to be common toall three diseases.

Stress at cellular level causes metabolicdysfunction of the cell and it can affectmany different cell types such as thosefound in the muscle, liver, endothelial,kidney and the pancreas. The pancreaticbeta-cell is of particular interest to Dr. Newsholme as the metabolicdysfunction of the cell results inreduction in appropriate levels of insulin secretion.

Major sites of metabolic dysfunction areenzymes and proteins associated withthe mitochondrion and the plasma

membrane. Working with scientists atthe University of São Paulo in Brazil, Dr Newsholme and his team discoveredthat the plasma membrane associatedenzyme NADPH oxidase can, undercertain conditions associated with thepathogenesis of diabetes, contribute tomitochondrial dysfunction leading tobeta cell dysfunction and demise.

Having identified novel sites ofdysfunction, Dr. Newsholme hopes that,in collaboration with AstraZeneca, hewill be able to develop a number oftherapeutic strategies to target diabetesin the coming years.

UCD Conway principal investigator,Professor Ciaran Regan received theNovaUCD 2007 Innovation Award inrecognition of his successes in theestablishment of key strategic andcollaborative links with industry and in the commercialisation ofneuroscience research.

Professor Regan's achievements includesecuring €10 million in funding fromWyeth Discovery and Science FoundationIreland to establish the AppliedNeurotherapeutics Research Group at UCDConway Institute. This group, which aimsto identify novel neurotherapeutic targets,has already generated eight inventiondisclosures. This link was of criticalimportance in Wyeth’s later decision toestablish a €13 million bio-therapeuticdrug discovery research facility at theInstitute.

On presenting the NovaUCD 2007Innovation Award to Professor Regan, UCD President Dr Hugh Brady said, “Ciaran is one of those special individualswho combines excellence in teaching andin research with a commitment tocommercialise the resulting research-generated intellectual property and inestablishing key strategic links withindustry.”

Professor Regan’s research focuses onunderstanding mechanisms of brainplasticity and in exploiting thesemechanisms as novel drug targets. He is anamed inventor on six UCD patents andalso co-founded a successful UCD spin-outcompany, Berand Neuropharmacology in2004. Berand is developing noveltherapeutics for the treatment of autismand obesity.

NovaUCD 2007 Innovation Award

Proteinaceous infectious particles(prions) are known to cause a number of diseases that affect the brain andnervous system in both animals andhumans. Bovine spongiformencephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and itshuman equivalent, Creutzfeldt-Jakobdisease (CJD) are the most well-knownprion diseases.

Both these diseases are inevitably fatal andcharacterised by severe neuronal loss andspongiform degeneration. Anotherhallmark is the presence of deposits in thebrain known as amyloid plaque.

There is some similarity between priondiseases and neurodegenerative diseasessuch as Alzheimer's, which affects nearly35,000 people in Ireland today. There is noknown treatment for either prion diseaseor Alzheimer’s at present. However, UCDConway principal investigator, ProfessorMichael Scott hopes to change this.

In collaboration with other researchgroups, Professor Scott hopes to identifysome commonality between prion andother neurodegenerative diseases. In order to advance his research, he isestablishing the first transgenic laboratoryin UCD. Located in the specific pathogen

free (SPF) facility of UCD Conway InstituteBiotechnical Services, it will open inSeptember 2007.

Professor Scott led the establishment ofthe transgenic laboratory in order tofacilitate his prion research and alsoprovide support to other research groupswithin the university. By investigatingmodified prion genes in animal models, he hopes to understand the method ofpropagation of prions, to identify noveltargets for therapy and elucidate howprions cause disease.

Leading scientist set to advance prion research in UCD

Professor Ciaran Regan

‘Celtic Twilight,’ a six-metre high rod andtubular stainless steel sculpture createdby renowned Irish artist Edward Delaneyin 1974 has been donated to UniversityCollege Dublin by developer Mr DavidArnold in memory of his father.

The sculpture, which was originally located in the American Airlines Buildingon Baggot St, Dublin, will be on permanentdisplay in the courtyard of the UCD ConwayInstitute.

Edward Delaney was born in Mayo in 1930. He studied at the National Collegeof Art and Design in Dublin and, with thesupport of the Arts Council, studied castingin Germany. In 1959 and 1961, herepresented Ireland at the Paris Biennale.

His best known works are two famousDublin landmark monuments: the 1967statue of Wolfe Tone and famine memorialat the northeastern corner of St Stephen’sGreen, Dublin, and the statue of ThomasDavis in College Green, Dublin. In 1979, his statue of Wolfe Tone was blown up byloyalist terrorists, but the head survivedundamaged and the statue was fullyreconstructed.

Celtic Twilightsculpture unveiledin Conwaycourtyard Fourteen secondary school teachers got a

taste of the common techniques used inthird level research during the summerin UCD Conway Institute’s ResearchSurvival Skills workshop.

The teachers were all participants in the2007 Science Foundation Ireland STAR(Secondary Teacher Assistant Researcher)programme, which aims to help teacherslearn new skills and knowledge that theywill be able to pass on to their students inorder to cultivate and promote an activeinterest in science and science projects.

This workshop was the first of a five weekseries being delivered by education andoutreach officers (Treo*) in researchinstitutes across Dublin. The scheduleincluded an NMR workshop in the Centrefor Synthesis and Chemical Biology, ademonstration of superconductivity by the Physics department and concludedwith a DNA workshop held in the UCDConway Institute.

The DNA workshop investigated thedifferent methods by which DNA can bevisualised in the classroom. This involvedrunning gel electrophoresis, purifying DNAfrom a banana using common household

materials and building a physical model ofthe double helix.

Further workshops were held as part of the series in the Royal College ofSurgeons in Ireland, Dublin City Universityand University of Dublin, Trinity College.These looked at areas such as using theinternet as a resource for teaching science,activity based learning in science subjectsand examining outreach initiativesavailable to second level students.

*Treo - Irish network of education and outreachpersonnel involved in science promotion activities in thirdlevel research institutes

Elaine QuinnCommunications & Education Officer,

UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research,University College Dublin,

Belfield, Dublin 4Ireland

E: elaine.quinn@ucd.ieT: (+353-1) 716 6706F: (+353-1) 716 6701

W: www.ucd.ie/conway

STARs 'Research Survival Skills' workshops support secondary teachers

STAR Edel Morrow from Hartstown CommunitySchool pouring a DNA gel

On July 18th 2007, UCD Conway Institute launched the first phase of theUCD Conway intranet, which has beendeveloped in an effort to streamlinebusiness processes and improvecommunication among the 600 membersof the Institute located on campus and inoff-site locations.

The intranet has been designed withinteractive and informative features.Information about seminars, educationcourses as well as funding and jobopportunities that were being circulated toresearchers on a fortnightly basis by emailwill now be available in a more timelyfashion on the intranet.

Other features of the intranet includeaccess to online forms that will allowresearchers to report faults, set up andmodify Labstore accounts and provideinput to the intranet content. It is hoped tofurther expand this set to includeregistration and abstract submission toConway conferences such as the annualFestival of Research and postgraduatesymposium.

The directorate have been working with Shared Perspective, an IT solutionsprovider on this project. They alsodeveloped the Labstore system, a custom-made, on-line shopping facility forresearchers within the Institute.

UCD Conway launches intranet for 600 researchers

Funded through the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions, administered by the HEA.