A Profโs work is never done! JohnD teaching the MSc module in Vaccines (Director of the MSc: Dr. Sheila Donnelly). Great to teach such enthusiastic students!!
@uniofgalway.bsky.social
Our PhD candidates Saoirse (pictured) and Tadhg teaching first-year medicine students the basics in their Biochemistry practicals ๐ฉโ๐ฌ
This week they were running gels to diagnose sickle cell anaemia ๐ฉธ๐งฌ
Interesting fact: the sickle cell trait also provides protection against malaria ๐ฆ
Great Lab meeting today - so many exciting things happening so stay tuned for future publications! ๐ค
@uniofgalway.bsky.social
@researchireland.ie
โจFรกilte mhรณr roimh รกr mbainisteoir clรกir nua! A big welcome to our new Programme Manager, Dr. Grace Davey! Welcome to our parasite world!ย ๐๐
@researchireland.ie
@uniofgalway.bsky.social
Today Prof Dalton gave an overview of our recent parasite research to final year Microbiology students - let's hope this inspires them to pursue a career in Parasitology!! ๐ชฑ๐ฆ ๐ฌ
@uniofgalway.bsky.social
@researchireland.ie
Yesterday at the inaugural TSD Symposium in Galway, Prof Dalton presented how we use microscopy, immunology and -omics to combat parasitic worms of humans and livestock worldwide.
Many thanks to TSD for the collaboration and service, and to @researchireland.ie for their support and funding.
No January blues in our lab! โจ ๐งช
Our @researchireland.ie -funded PhD student Saoirse Ellis is hard at work applying -omics to study immune responses to liver fluke infections in sheep ๐ ๐ชฑ ๐งฌ
With some great behind-the-scenes support from Novogene Europe helping move this project forward ๐
โจExciting news!โจ
Our PhD student Natalia will be spending four months on a research placement in Dr Yvonne Dombrowskiโs lab at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, Queenโs University Belfast.
During her stay, Natalia will be learning advanced techniques in immunoneurochemistry.๐ง
๐ New year, new beginnings in the MPL Lab! Weโre excited to welcome our new PhD student, Louise, who will be working on Schistosoma-derived peptides and their potential as treatments for inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis.๐ชฑ
Welcome aboard, Louise! ๐ฅณ
@uniofgalway.bsky.social
@researchireland.ie
Nollaig Shona daoibh go lรฉir (Happy Xmasย to everyone) from the MPL in Galway! ๐โ๏ธโ๏ธ
Wrapping up a busy and productive year at MPL with our final lab meeting and a yummy festive Christmas lunch ๐๐
Huge thanks to all MPL members, funders, and colleagues around the world for a fantastic year - we're excited for the cool science the new year will bring! ๐ชฑ๐๐งช๐งฌ
@researchireland.ie
Congratulations to Natalia on graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Biology & Biopharmaceutical Science from Atlantic Technological University, Galway ๐๐ฌ
Weโre proud to celebrate her achievement and excited that sheโs now pursuing her PhD in our lab - best of luck in this next chapter! ๐ ๐ ๐
Our students had an amazing time at this weekโs RNA-seq workshop! ๐งฌ
Huge thanks to Prof. Sara Farrona and Prof. Christophe Tatout from Universitรฉ Clermont Auvergne (Clermont-Ferrand, France) for such a practical and very useful course ๐ฌ
Time to put the new skills to work in the lab! ๐
Starting a PhD with a bang! ๐ฌ๐
Well done to Saoirse Ellis, who presented her work at the celebratory 1-year Seminar of the Institute for Health Discovery & Innovation on accessible blood-based diagnostics for liver fluke in Irish sheep, improving early on-farm detection. ๐๐ฑ
@researchireland.ie
๐ข Donโt miss the chance to hear our PhD candidate Saoirse Ellis present her exciting research at tomorrowโs Institute for Health Discovery and Innovation November Seminar!
๐ Thursday 13 November 2025
๐ Biomedical Science Building Seminar Room, University of Galway
๐ 11:00 AM โ 12:00 PM
Great to meet our Peruvian collaborators Pedro Ortiz & Miguel Cabada in Lima at the Neglected Zoonotic Parasites of Peru conference! Huge thanks to Prof. Cesar Chucan for the superb organisation, excellent fasciolosis sessions, and wonderful Peruvian hospitality. Gracias amigos!
Great to visit Cajamarca in the Andes and meet with the brilliant team of Prof. Pedro Ortiz in the National University of Cajamarca Veterinary Medicine School. Lots of work, fun and discussions about Fasciola. Good luck with the wonderful work. MPL look forward to continuing our collaborations.
What a fantastic Scandinavian-Baltic Society for Parasitology 2025 meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland ๐ฎ๐ธ!
@aistevit.bsky.social presentation was very well received and earned the Young Scientist Audience Award for Best Oral Presentation ๐๐
Thanks to the SBSP and the Ryan Institute for the support! ๐
๐conGRADulations to Tadhg Kilbane, who graduated last week with his Research Masterโs degree! ๐
Tadhgโs work focused on novel Fasciola hepatica serine protease inhibitors (serpins) - advancing our understanding of parasite biology and hostโparasite interactions. ๐ชฑ๐
@researchireland.ie
Meet Mary, a final-year Zoology student carrying out her research project in our lab! ๐งซ
Sheโs investigating the anthelmintic properties of mushrooms ๐ - exploring how natural compounds might help fight parasitic worms. ๐ชฑ
@uniofgalway.bsky.social
๐ Weโre delighted to welcome Natalia, starting her PhD in the MPL with Prof. Sheila Donnelly/ JohnD to explore the therapeutic potential of parasite-derived peptides. Exciting science ahead! ๐ฌโจ
Thanks for the cake, Natalia - we could get used to this very quickly ๐
@uniofgalway.bsky.social
๐Congratulations to our outstanding PhD student Eve O'Kelly on receiving the ISP Prof. William C. Campbell Postgraduate Award 2025!
She shares her research & career journey on the @universitypress.cambridge.org blog post๐
Thanks to the journal Parasitology for sponsoring the award!
shorturl.at/StDL1
What are great morning talking Parasitology to our future generation of scientists, veterinarians and physicians from Notre Dame who are visiting Galway on summer school!!
It was great fun meeting you all. Thanks Jennifer. Good luck and enjoy the rest of your stay.
Wishing a very happy 95th birthday to Prof. William C. Campbell from all of us in the MPL! ๐
His discoveries changed lives and continue to guide and encourage our work.
Weโre proud that our PhD students Aistฤ (2024) & Eve (2025) received the ISP Postgraduate Award in his name.
shorturl.at/BUDWi
Well done to Natalia on completing her 3-month research placement with us! ๐๐
She made excellent progress on our Schistosoma parasite recombinant protein project. ๐ชฑ๐งช๐งซ
Thanks for your great energy and hard work โ it was fantastic having you on the team! ๐โจ
Great to attend the Sheep 2025 Open Day hosted by our collaborators @teagasc.bsky.social, where we visited the Flock Health display, packed with detailed info on internal and external parasites affecting Irish sheep! ๐ชฑ๐
A brilliant day full of the latest research and practical advice.๐๐ฟ
We were delighted to participate in the 3rd Pathogen Biology Ireland (PBI) Conference, held on the 6th of June at the
@uniofgalway.bsky.social. The event also marked the launch of the IHDI's Infection & Immunity Cluster (IIC), which weโre pleased to be part of.
shorturl.at/mzM1k
Keeping it in the MPL - two years running!๐ฅณ
Well-deserved congratulations to our talented PhD student Eve O'Kelly on winning the Prof William C. Campbell Postgraduate Award for best presentation at this yearโs
Irish Society for Parasitology meeting, presented by ISP president @cjcoates.bsky.social๐
Fantastic to catch up with friends & colleagues at this yearโs
Irish Society for Parasitology meeting hosted by @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social.
We enjoyed excellent presentations by our members Jake, Eve, Saoirse & Deirdre.
Thanks to the organisers for a great event-looking forward to the next one!
Great job by Jake McAuliffe, who presented both a talk and a poster on the pleiotropic effects of the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica peroxiredoxin at the 22nd SFRRI Biennial Meeting, organised by the Society for Free Radical Research - Europe ๐๐๐
Thanks to @researchireland.ie for funding this work.
