News and Events
Medical Research at Queens : Discovery to Recovery : Local Talent, Global Impact
An event was held recently at QUB on 30th January 2013 which comprised of short presentations by four leading medical researchers to impart first-hand knowledge of their ground-breaking work and its impact on patient outcomes locally and globally.
One of the researchers was Professor Danny McAuley who is a Consultant and Professor in Intensive Care Medicine in the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Centre for Infection & Immunity at Queen's University Belfast. He is Director of the Wellcome Trust Wolfson NI Clinical Research Facility and the NI Clinical Trials Unit. He is Co-Director of Research for the UK Intensive Care Society and Chair of the Irish Critical Care Trials Group. His major research area is acute lung injury (ALI).
Congratulations to Professor Stuart Elborn, Director of the Centre for Infection and Immunity, who has been awarded the CBE for services to Healthcare in Northern Ireland.
More information is available at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust press release http://www.cftrust.org.uk/pressoffice/news/elborn_cbe
I+I TRG Young Scientist Symposium 2013
Young researchers throughout Northern Ireland will be coming together on the 22nd February to present their work in the area of infection and immunity. This event has been organised by students and postdocs and aims to encourage collaboration between different institutes.
This one day symposium will include delegate talks and a poster session. There will also be a careers session with invited speakers and a keynote lecture from Prof. Paul Moynagh (NUI, Maynooth).
Abstract deadline for this event has been extended to February 8th2013. If you are interested in attending this event please follow link.
Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast are aiming to help counteract the threat of bioterrorism by undertaking new research to develop a vaccine against anthrax.
Dr Rebecca Ingram from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s is working with scientists from Cardiff University, the Republic of Georgia, Turkey and the USA in a €255,000 NATO funded project to tackle the potential misuse of anthrax. The research project is expected to take three years to complete.
Dr Ingram is based in Queen’s Centre for Infection and Immunity which, last year, developed the first ever drug to treat the ‘Celtic Gene’ in Cystic Fibrosis sufferers. Speaking about the research, she said: “Currently the majority of the world’s population is susceptible to infection with Bacillus anthracis the bacterium which causes anthrax. The US postal attacks in 2001 highlighted the vulnerability of civilian populations and brought home the need to develop effective, rapid, robust medical countermeasures to combat the threat posed by terrorist use of this organism.
“We at Queen’s will be working with lead investigator Professor Les Baillie from Cardiff University and colleagues in the US, Turkey and Georgia to develop effective vaccines to tackle the problem.
“Within the study we will be testing the antibodies and immune cells from the blood of people who have been exposed to anthrax. Either people known to have been previously infected who live in endemic regions of Turkey and Georgia, or people who have been vaccinated with the licensed UK, US or Georgian vaccines. This research will allow identification of key protective targets for the immune system on the bacteria helping to underpin the development of future vaccines capable of conferring broad-spectrum, rapid, robust protection following minimal dosing.”
Professor Les Baillie from Cardiff University and who leads the multi-national research collaboration said: “It is the growing concern over the threat posed by bioterrorism that has prompted world authorities like NATO through its Science for Peace and Security Programme to support efforts to develop more effective vaccines and medical countermeasures.
“Such vaccines would impact on two levels, locally they would directly improve the lives of workers at risk of contracting anthrax such as farmers in Georgia and Turkey, and globally they would contribute to the protection of citizens from the use of anthrax as an agent of bio-terrorism.”
An additional benefit of this work will be the establishment of a vaccine research centre in Georgia. Scientists from the research institute in Georgia will spend a period of time training at Queen’s in order to learn the cellular immunology techniques required in this project. This capacity building will support infectious disease research and ultimately improve the lives of all of the people in the region.
Dr Denise Fitzgerald
£425K Queen’s study could lead to new treatments for reversing symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
A novel study at Queen’s University Belfast which could eventually lead to new treatments for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has been awarded £425K by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
Currently some 100,000 people in the United Kingdom have MS which affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain, spinal cord and eye, to communicate with each other effectively.
The new study, based in Queen’s Centre for Infection and Immunity, will investigate how parts of the immune system can help repair the damage caused by MS attacks.
The project is being led by Dr Denise Fitzgerald, who herself experienced a condition similar to MS, called Transverse Myelitis when she was 21. As a result of inflammation in her spinal cord, she was paralysed in less than two hours.
Dr Fitzgerald had to learn to walk again as the damage in her spinal cord repaired itself over the following months and years. It is this natural repair process that often becomes inefficient in MS, a chronic life-long condition, and this failure of repair can lead to permanent disability.
Boosting this natural repair process in the brain and spinal cord is the next frontier in treating MS, as currently there are no drugs that are proven to do so.
Speaking about the importance of the new study, Dr Fitzgerald said: “The central goal of our research is to identify new strategies to treat MS and other inflammatory and demyelinating disorders.
“Nerve cells communicate by sending signals along nerve fibres which are contained within a fatty, insulating, protective substance, known as Myelin. In MS, Myelin is attacked and damaged (demyelination) which can lead to either faulty signalling by nerves, or death of the nerve cells. As a result, patients experience loss of nerve function in the area of the brain/spinal cord that has been damaged. This research project centres around understanding Myelination, a process of insulating the nerve fibres with Myelin, and Remyelination, a natural regenerative process that replaces damaged Myelin.
“We already know that the immune system is implicated as a potential culprit in MS, as the damage is thought to be caused by inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS; brain, spinal cord and optic nerve). But in recent years we have learned a great deal about how the immune system also supports tissue repair in the CNS.
“In particular, there is a group of immune cells called T cells which have recently been shown to support remyelination. There are different subsets of T cells, however, and little is still known about which subsets are beneficial in this process. In our study we aim to discover if these different T cell subsets influence remyelination of the CNS, and if ageing of the T cells impairs remyelination in older individuals.
“The outcomes of this study will include new knowledge of how the immune system, and T cells in particular, influence remyelination in the Central Nervous System. We will also learn a great deal about how ageing affects the ability of T cells to help tissue repair.
“Given the profound neurological impairments that can accompany ageing, and our growing aged population, is it imperative that we understand how normal CNS repair can become impaired with age.
“By understanding this process of CNS repair in detail. we will also gain an insight into other inflammatory and demyelinating disorders.”
Further information on Dr Fitzgerald’s research group within the Centre for Infection and Immunity at Queen’s University Belfast can be found online at http://go.qub.ac.uk/FitzgeraldGroup
Media inquiries to Lisa McElroy, Senior Communications Officer. Tel: +44(0)28 90 97 5384 or email lisa.mcelroy@qub.ac.uk
Some of the Cii team taking part in the NICHS Causeway Trek
Staff and studentsfrom the Centre for Infection and Immunity (plus a few friends) took part in the Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke Causeway Trek on 12th May 2012.
Well done to the Cii team and their friends, not only did they all make it round the 10 mile walk, they also raised over £1,000 for NICHS.
The 41st Annual Meeting of the European Histamine Research Society, held jointly with COST Action BM0806 in Belfast on 2nd - 5th May 2012
This meeting, organised by Madeleine Ennis, was attended by 130 delegates from 28 countries, including well known European countries (!) such as Argentina, Australia, Japan, United Arab Emirates and USA. Before the meeting, Rob Thurmond of Janssen, San Diego gave a talk in the Centre for Infection and Immunity entitled: “The role of the histamine H4 receptor in allergy and inflammation”, which made many of our local scientists realise that there is life in the old mediator.
The conference covered all aspects of histamine research from synthetic organic chemistry, through immunology, neurobiology to clinical work. There were 7 invited talks, 27 oral presentations and 40 poster presentations. Dr. Tomas Perecko won second prize in the Young Investigator’s award based on the work he had performed with Madeleine Ennis and Karim Dib during a 3 month placement in Belfast.
Overall it was a great success, with comments such as: “Thank you for a wonderful conference and thank you for allowing me to squeeze in a poster on such short notice...I really appreciate all your help. It was a terrific venue and I had a chance to meet and interact with some terrific potential collaborators." (Ed Holson, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard).
Arthritis Research Group Publish Results in Top Rheumatology Journal – June 2011
Dr Sorcha Finnegan, a member of The Arthritis Research Group funded by Arthritis Research UK has recently had her work published in the top international peer-reviewed journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
The group, lead by Dr Madeleine Rooney carry out research into juvenile arthritis. One in every thousand children in the UK are affected by this illness and it can cause chronic pain, joint damage and disability.
In the paper entitled “Synovial membrane immunohistology in early untreated juvenile idiopathic arthritis: differences between clinical subgroups” Dr Finnegan was able to demonstrate that at very early disease stages before the initiation of any disease modifying treatment there were significant immunohistological differences in the synovial tissue between three different subgroups of the disease. The most important finding was that in one of these disease subgroups, known as extended oligoarticular JIA there were early changes in the synovial membrane cell infiltrate that could possibly be used to predict the extension of this disease, this is important as at present there is no reliable way of predicting disease extension in this particular JIA subgroup.
Dr Finnegan was also chosen to present her work at this prestigious international Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in London this year.
Two of the papers authors Dr Sorcha Finnegan and Dr David Gibson, under the guidance of Dr Madeleine Rooney, are carrying out research which involves discovery and validation of biomarkers from synovial fluid and tissue of children with newly diagnosed JIA, with the ultimate aim that these biomarkers will help clinicians to predict which course the disease might take so that appropriate treatments can be given.
The article can be accessed online at http://ard.bmj.com/content/early/2011/06/16/ard.2010.148635.abstract
Please contact Dr Finnegan at s.finnegan@qub.ac.uk with any queries
Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke Association Conference 2011
Dr. Jeremy Parker (CII, QUB) was awarded the Roger Lowry medal for his presentation at this years NICHSA conference. His presentation covered a recently completed study looking at the role of IL-9 and IL-9 combined with IL-13 (two key cytokines implicated in causing an increase in mucus producing cells and mucus overproduction in asthma) in paediatric well differentiated cultures of bronchial asthmatic epithelium. The findings suggest that the central role attributed to IL-9 in terms of the above characterisitics may not actually be the case. In the study presented, IL-9 was found to have no evident effect on the numbers of goblet cells or mucus production in either normal or asthmatic epithelium. Instead the study suggests a role for IL-9 in the inhibition of differentiation to ciliated cells in the epithelium, another important characteristic of asthma.
PhD Student Wins Award
Dr Donal O'Kane has recently won the prestigious Everett C. Fox, MD award for best presentation of laboratory research at the American Academy of Dermatology 69th Annual Meeting in New Orleans. He also won the best poster presentation at the meeting. Donal presented his research on 'The role of epithelial to mesenchymal transition in scleroderma'.
Scleroderma is an untreatable progressive fibrotic disease of the skin and often internal organs. Donals results support EMT as a pathogenic mechanism for fibrosis in scleroderma and highlight the SMAD signalling pathway as a key therapeutic target. Donal is currently a 2nd year PhD student supervised by Dr Cecilia O'Kane, Prof Danny McAuley, and Prof Stuart Elborn. His work is funded by the Health and Social Care, Research and Development Division.
A £1.7m cystic fibrosis study is being carried out at Queen's University in Belfast to help improve the quality of life of sufferers.
Read more about it at the link below
http://www.u.tv/News/Belfast-study-into-cystic-fibrosis/dc6dc91d-5e44-4426-a324-b28ab91af1d2
watch the video below
http://www.u.tv/utvplayer/everywhere/player.aspx?vidid=134747&chapid=110041&arti_id=dc6dc91d-5e44-4426-a324-b28ab91af1d2&clientid=100000
Dr. Hani’ah Abdullah a postdoctorial fellow funded by Asthma UK has won the prestigious ‘Michael B.A.Oldstone Neurovirology Lectureship award’ at the USA based ‘International Society for Neurovirology’ (ISNV), held in Milan from 12th -16th October 2010. This was for her oral presentation on work on ‘the effect of virus infection on cough receptors on airway sensory nerves’. This is a collaborative research project with Professor Louise Cosby, Dr. Lorcan McGarvey and Dr. Liam Heaney in the Centre for Infection and Immunity at Queen’s. The work has important implications for the understanding of the mechanism of viral induced cough in diseases such as asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
The presentation was made at the Society Gala dinner. One photograph shows Dr Abdullah (centre) with the president of the ISNV Professor Lynn Pulliam (Professor of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco) (right). The second photograph shows Dr. Abdullah (third from left with her engraved plaque) and Professor Louise Cosby (4th from left) along with winners of other awards and their mentors.
Meningitis research breakthrough could save children’s lives
Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust have developed a groundbreaking test for meningitis which could help save lives.
A rapid diagnostic test for meningococcal bacteria that can produce results within an hour has been developed by scientists from Queen’s Centre for Infection and Immunity and the Trust. The speed of this new test is a vital factor in the treatment of young children with meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia who become very ill over a short period.
This research has been supported by the Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF).
Professor Mike Shields, of Queen’s University and the Belfast Trust, explained: “The first symptoms of meningococcal infections are the same as a simple viral infection, making it difficult to diagnose in the early stages. Parents often use the ‘tumbler test’ on their children’s bodies, but the non-blanching rash that is associated with a positive outcome of this test is a late sign and is not always present in children who have meningitis.
“Currently doctors will admit and treat with antibiotics any child that they suspect of having meningococcal disease while they await the traditional test results that take between 24 and 48 hours. Some children are not diagnosed in the early stages while others are admitted and treated ‘just in case’ when they don’t actually have the disease.
“With the development of a small piece of equipment, which resembles a portable home printer, a sample of blood or a secretion such as saliva, can be tested quickly by the machine. This produces a colour reading that determines if the patient has meningitis or not.”
Alongside saving lives, early detection can potentially improve outcomes for meningitis patients who are often left with life-altering conditions such as deafness and cerebral palsy.
The machine is now being trialled in the A&E Department of the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast.
Professor Shields explained how the breakthrough is a great example of research benefitting patients.
“There is no other rapid test that can confirm the diagnosis in such a short time. The current tests are expensive and take up to two days to obtain. Speedy identification of the cause of infection can enable doctors to make life-saving decisions about the treatment of patients. If we have the results within an hour we will be able to start the appropriate course of treatment right away.”
The new test is very different to standard culture based detection methods that have been used up until now.
Professor Shields: “In recent years molecular diagnostic tests, that use the DNA finger print from ‘bugs’ for diagnosis, have been developed, but they still require the specimen sample to be transported to the laboratory and takes a considerable time to get the result back to the doctor. This means that doctors have to make clinical decisions before results are available.
“The new test called ‘loop mediated isothermal amplification’ also utilises a molecular method to detect genes that are common to all strains on the meningococcus. The real advantage of the new LAMP test is that it has the potential to be a simple bedside test that is rapid, cheap, easy to use and doesn’t require laboratory trained staff.”
Currently there are 1,200 to 1,500 laboratory confirmed cases of meningococcal disease in the UK each year and it is thought that actual numbers could be higher.
The medical team behind this breakthrough was recognised for its work in June of this year when they won an Elevations Diagnostics idea of the year award, organised by HSC innovators, a panel of experts from industry, healthcare and business support organisations.
Ends.
Media inquiries to Donna McCullough 0044 (0) 28 9097 5391 or 07980013362
Notes to the Editors
Professor Mike Shields is available for interview.
The Research Team:
Professor Shields is Professor of Child Health at Queen’s and Consultant Paediatrician at the Royal Belfast hospital for Sick Children. He is a member of the Centre of Infection & Immunity Research Group and has research interests in childhood respiratory disorders and the rapid diagnosis of infection in children.
Dr Peter Coyle, Head of Virology & Microbiology, Belfast HSC Trust
Dr Derek Fairley, Scientist, Belfast HSC Trust
MRF’s research programme is made possible through charitable donations.
The 2010 recipient of the
lecture award is Prof. James Johnston (CII)
A Web-Cast of his talk is available on the RDS Website at the link below
http://www.rds.ie/cat_webcast_detail.jsp?itemID=353696