SFI Investigator Award for Professor Rosemary O鈥機onnor
Professor Rosemary O'Connor of this School was awarded an investigator award for her research programme on 鈥淭argeting the regulators of cellular metabolism to promote healthy ageing鈥�.
The award, from and worth 鈧�1. 88 million, will fund seven researchers for five years.
The research programme is built on previous work in the O鈥機onnor lab on the actions of the Insulin-like Growth Factor system, which has a key role in physiological and pathological processes associated with ageing, and whose modulation can prevent or suppress cancer.
While the programme is focused on basic and exploratory research it touches on how our environment influences health and lifespan, including obesity, the benefits of exercise and moderate food intake, as well as the beneficial effects of certain microbiota.
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UCC received three PI awards: Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI); Professor Rosemary O鈥機onnor, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, UCC; Minister John Halligan, Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development; Professor Andrew Wheeler, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES); and Professor Marcel Jansen (BEES).
Professor Rosemary O鈥機onnor, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, UCC; Minister John Halligan, Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development; Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and Professor Kingston Mills, Trinity College Dublin.
Professor O鈥機onnor giving an overview of her research programme at the launch of the .