Latest News
Latest News
Queen’s scientist to target Cystic Fibrosis superbug
Queen’s University Belfast is to lead a £139,000 study into the way cystic fibrosis patients are affected by a superbug that destroys lung function. The research, funded by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust will investigate how the immune cells of cystic fibrosis patients are infected when they contract Burkholderia Cepacia (B.cepacia). The superbug can colonise in people with cystic fibrosis causing serious lung damage. The two-year study will be coordinated by Professor Miguel Valvano, Chair of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Queen’s Centre for Infection and Immunity. There are around 500 people living with cystic fibrosis in Northern Ireland, and the B.cepacia bug affects around six per cent of people with the illness. Professor Valvano said: “We have reached a point in which it may be possible to directly identify molecules that can help immune cells, especially those that engulf bacteria to deal with the intracellular B.cepacia. Our research effort will be focused on developing the appropriate procedures that will enable us to screen libraries of chemical compounds to find molecules that can help cystic fibrosis patients’ immune cells clear invading bacteria.” Professor Valvano aims to develop a better understanding of how cystic fibrosis affects the normal functioning of cells and how B.cepacia disrupts cell breakdown in people with cystic fibrosis. The second stage in the project will involve developing a quick and efficient way of testing large numbers of compounds with a view to finding a drug that can effectively treat B.cepacia. Dr Janet Allen, Director of Research at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said: “Professor Miguel Valvano is one of the world’s leading experts in this field. His molecular research aimed at dissecting key bacterial components that directly interact with host cells to cause infections is internationally recognised. “A key part of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust’s research strategy is supporting research aimed at finding new ways to treat chronic infection and inflammation in people with cystic fibrosis. In people with cystic fibrosis certain bugs are able to turn the body’s immune system against itself by disrupting the normal processes for dealing with invaders and causing harmful levels of inflammation. They are also very difficult to treat because they are able to block conventional antibiotics.” Media inquiries to Anne-Marie Clarke at Queen’s Communications Office Tel: +44(0)28 9097 5320 or email a.clarke@qub.ac.uk or Louise Banks at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on +44(0)208 290 7912 / +44(0)7989 436 204 or email: louise.banks@cysticfibrosis.org.uk
Queen’s lecturer wins national teaching prize
A Queen’s University lecturer has been named the 2013 Economics Network Best New Lecturer. Dr Chris Colvin, a lecturer in economics at Queen’s University Management School, won the national teaching prize in recognition of exemplary teaching practice that encourages understanding of and interest in economics. The award, judged by the Conference of Heads of University Departments of Economics, is designed to recognise the best economics lecturer working in the UK who is less than three years in first post. Speaking about his award, Dr Colvin said: “I am honoured to have received such recognition for my work. Queen’s is devoted to excellence in teaching and learning and I am delighted that my contribution to that has been recognised in this way. I intend to continue to deliver world-class economics education here at Queen’s.” Professor Rob Gilles, Head of the Queen’s University Management School, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Chris’s excellent work in the classroom has been formally recognised in this way. Through his innovative teaching and assessment methods, Chris has really made economics come alive in the classroom. Students have been very receptive to the approaches he has taken and to his overall enthusiasm and passion for the subject area.” The Economics Network supports the higher education economics community and aims to enhance the quality of learning and teaching in economics higher education. It does this by developing and disseminating teaching resources, undertaking research into economics education, running training events and conferences and recognising outstanding teaching though an annual awards scheme. Dr Alvin Birdi, Undergraduate Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law at the University of Bristol, who coordinates the Economics Network, said: “The judging panel was impressed by how well-thought out Chris’ industrial economics module was both in terms of teaching and assessment. In particular, Chris stood out compared to the other nominees because of the range of innovative teaching methods he uses, making an exceptionally engaging and effective economics module, worthy of an award.” Chris teaches second-year and final-year undergraduate students at Queen’s University Management School as part of its rigorous up-to-date economics programmes which have a proven track-record of preparing students for graduate study and careers in areas such as management, consultancy, financial services, teaching and public service. For more information about Dr Chris Colvin and Queen’s University Management School visit http://www.qub.ac.uk/mgt/ Media inquiries to Claire O’Callaghan, Queen’s University Communications Office, Tel: +44 (0)28 9097 5391 email: c.ocallaghan@qub.ac.uk
Queen’s University takes top honours at 25k Awards 2013
A Queen’s University Belfast team which is developing a range of novel medical diagnostic tests has been named the overall winner of the 25k Awards 2013. In addition to being named overall winner Queen’s also won three out of the four individual categories on the night. The prestigious annual 25k awards, which are sponsored by Bank of Ireland, are made under the NISP CONNECT entrepreneurship programme, which is based at the Northern Ireland Science Park in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter. The Queen’s University team, ProAx-SiS, won the overall 25k award for the development of their test which will enable routine monitoring of patients with chronic conditions such as cystic fibrosis, either within the clinic or at home. ProAx-SiS has developed small molecule, peptide-based inhibitors (Protease-Tags), which serve both as a means to trap active proteases and to provide a visual readout of their presence in biological samples, with applications to protease biomarker identification. Category winners in the Bank of Ireland UK sponsored 25k Awards, were: Bio Tech: ProAx-SiS, Queen’s University, sponsored by Warner Chilcott. Clean Tech: ADFerTech, Queen’s University, sponsored by Dow. Software & Digital Media: Liopa, Queen’s University, sponsored by Intel. Hi-Tech: Eye-C-3D, University of Ulster, sponsored by IBM. The awards, were presented last night at a packed VIP gala ceremony in the iconic Titanic Belfast building, next to Northern Ireland Science Park in the city’s Titanic Quarter. Scott Rutherford, Director of Research and Enterprise at Queen’s University Belfast, said: “We work closely with our partners in the region, including the NISP Connect team, to support the commercialisation of our world-leading research and to deliver impact within Northern Ireland and beyond. Once again, I am delighted with the number of teams from Queen’s who secured places in the 2013 finals and to have secured our third winner in a row at these prestigious awards. It illustrates clearly that Queen’s has huge breadth and depth in its research base and I offer my warm congratulations to the ProAx-SiS team in securing the top honours”. Steve Orr, Director of NISP CONNECT, said: “Congratulations to ProAx-SiS for an innovation which shows great commercial potential - this is an exciting time for the team, and for all the category winners and finalists. “The £25k Awards offer a showcase for regional research talent to display world-class innovations, as well as providing a valuable training and development process as they move beyond the initial stages of business development. “NISP CONNECT programmes are designed to inspire, encourage and nurture local technology entrepreneurs during conception, growth and improvement stages, and to continue that process to help them reach their goals.” Ciaran McGivern, Head of Business Banking Northern Ireland, Bank of Ireland UK, added: “Developing innovative ideas that have market potential is at the core of Northern Ireland’s mission to create a more vibrant private sector. “If we are to make this mission a reality we not only need academia and industry to collaborate but we need commerciality to be part of the equation - to ensure that ideas with real potential can be developed into success stories. “Bank of Ireland UK is proud and delighted to support the NISP Connect 25k Awards again this year. We wish this year’s winner, ProAx-sis and all the finalists every success in the future and look forward to working with them all closely.” Other finalists in the 25k Award included: Jenarron Therapeutics (University of Ulster); Digitease (University of Ulster), Inkintelligent (Queen’s University), Columbus (Queen’s University), Xpress LF (Queen’s University), Nite Rider (University of Ulster). Media inquiries to Claire O’Callaghan, Queen’s Communications Office. Tel: +44 (0)28 9097 5391 or email c.ocallaghan@qub.ac.uk
Queen’s students win international Undergraduate Awards
Two Queen’s University Belfast students have been named category winners in the 2013 Undergraduate Awards, the only international, pan-discipline academic awards programme in the world. The awards celebrate and support the world’s brightest and most innovative undergraduate students, by recognising their best coursework and projects. Simon Gallaher from Helen’s Bay won in the Historical Studies category with an essay entitled, “Why was Klan violence effective as a means of conservative opposition to Reconstruction?” Amy Burnside from East Belfast won the Literature category with her essay, “An Examination of Gender Relations in James Joyce’s Ulysses”. The essays were selected from almost 4000 submissions in more than 180 colleges and universities across the world. The winners in each category were selected by an international judging panel, made up of academics and industry experts. Winners will attend The UA Global Summit, taking place in Dublin in November . Professor Shane O’Neill, Dean of Faculty Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Queen’s said: “To be recognised as winners in the 2013 Undergraduate Awards is an outstanding achievement for both Simon and Amy. This is a highly prestigious international competition, and their selection as winners in the Historical Studies and Literature categories is testament to their outstanding scholarly talents. Their teachers at Queen’s are very proud of their achievements and we know that they will be excellent ambassadors for the University at the Summit for all the winners, to be held in Dublin in November. The awards programme has been operating in Ireland since 2009 and globally since 2011 and encourages inter-disciplinary and international co-operation between students.
Finding collaborative answers to global issues
Studies into the lives of working class people in Northern Ireland, who should have a say over our natural resources and the use of public space for contested identities are just three of the many top topics be showcased at Queen’s this week. The ground-breaking event, which takes place from 5-7pm in the Great Hall at Queen’s on Wednesday 2 October celebrates the social and economic relevance of major research projects currently being undertaken in the University’s Institute for Collaborative Research in the Humanities and tries to come up with answers through collaborative means. Director of the Institute, Professor John Thompson said: “We are engaged in research that confronts current and next-generation real world issues. This relates to where we have come from, how our individual and community ideas and prejudices are formed, how we model our behaviours, attitudes, and our creativity and how we live together and where we think such beliefs, attitudes and prejudices will take us in the future. “Much of the joy provided by Humanities research and teaching is that there are no easy or absolute answers to the kinds of research issues we are trained to raise and the uncomfortable questions we perpetually ask about matters that must be confronted in any civilised society. In short, we simply cannot legislate, force feed, or starve out of existence, the kinds of difficult research questions and uncomfortable dilemmas Humanities scholarship always asks of the world.” Three of the combined research projects include: Work by Dr Michael Pierse, which focuses on representations of the lives of working-class people in the North of Ireland throughout the twentieth century. It aims to explore working-class experience in everyday life through its appearance in cultural forms, such as poetry, drama, fiction, song, memoir, television and film. Dr Fabian Schuppert, who in times of anthropogenic climate change and general environmental degeneration asks the question of who should control the extraction, use and consumption of natural resources is a hotly debated issue. This research project aims to define normative principles for just and sustainable natural resource governance. Dr Dominic Bryan’s research focuses on the use of public space in the context of contested identities in Northern Ireland. He has undertaken significant research into the management of civic space in Belfast, contests over the right to parade and the demarcations of public space using flags and emblems. Media inquiries to Queen's University Communications Office on 028 9097 3087 or comms.office@qub.ac.uk
