RA disability stems from structural damage of cartilage and bone due to erosions in synovial joints, if not treated early and aggressively. Treatment guidelines are based on clinical factors and rheumatoid factor (RF), and more recently presence of the autoantibodies anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA) which may provide improved prediction of outcome in RA. The association… Read More
Mitochondrial respiration is the main source of metabolic energy in cells by generating adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) in an oxygen-dependent manner. Environmental cues such as the availability of nutrients and oxygen are sensed by mTOR, AMPK and HIF-1α together with inflammatory cell activation signals to determine the outcome of cell activation and differentiation. We have previously demonstrated… Read More
Dr Canavan is an Assistant Professor in Immunology and course co-ordinator for the Postgraduate Diploma in Immune Therapies in the School of Medicine and School of Biochemistry and Immunology. Dr Canavan is also head of the Translational Immunopathology research group in TCD where her lab investigates the early innate immune mechanisms which drive the onset… Read More
Dr. Alyssa Gilmore is a Research Fellow in the Molecular Rheumatology group. She previously completed her PhD in University College Dublin, investigating cartilage and bone degradation in response to inflammatory factors present in the synovium of RA patients. An ex vivo scaffold model of osteogenesis was generated, which allowed for the study of osteoblast mineralisation… Read More
Orla is final year PhD student here in the Molecular Rheumatology research group. In 2021 she completed her undergraduate degree in Human Health and Disease from Trinity College Dublin. As part of her final year thesis, she undertook a three month research project with Prof. Fearon in which she focused in on examining the differential… Read More
Aenea is a post-doctoral researcher in the Molecular Rheumatology group, currently working on reducing inflammatory functions of macrophages and T cells in rheumatoid arthritis. She recently completed her PhD in Clinical Medicine under the supervision of Prof. Ursula Fearon, during which she studied how distinct fibroblast subsets can contribute to disease pathogenesis in psoriatic arthritis… Read More
Siobhan Wade was the Lab Manager for the Molecular Rheumatology group. Siobhan completed a four year BA in Immunology in 2013 here in Trinity College Dublin, undergoing a final year research project with the School of Biochemistry and Immunology, supervised by Dr. Emma Creagh. Following this, she continued her research studies with Dr. Creagh to… Read More
Carlos is a 3rd year PhD in the Galicia Sur Health Research Institute in Spain. As part of his PhD programme, Carlos was engaged in a 3 month international research placement in Ireland under the supervision of Prof. Ursula Fearon.
M.Sc., B.Sc.Success Amaechi is a 2nd-year PhD in the Molecular Rheumatology research group. Prior to joining the group, Success completed his M.Sc. in Immunology at Trinity CollegeDublin in 2020. During his M.Sc., he performed his research under Prof. Derek Doherty’sTuberculosis Immunology group, where he assessed the role of Vd2 T cells in tuberculosispathogenicity and immunity.… Read More
Serena is currently a first year PhD student researching the pathogenesis of Down’s Syndrome Arthritis (DA). Funded by National Children’s Research Centre and working closely with the patients of Crumlin Children’s Hospital, her project is about determining the differences in immune cell infiltration as well as metabolism between DA and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. In 2011,… Read More
Shruti Talekar is currently a first-year PhD student here in the Molecular Rheumatology research group. In 2018 she completed her Bachelors in Zoology from the University of Mumbai having undertaken a project focusing on the role of reactive oxygen species in brain development as a part of her final year thesis. Recently, in 2019 she… Read More
Nicole is currently a first year PhD student in the Molecular Rheumatology researchgroup. During her PhD, she will be identifying molecular pathways that distinguishdifferent forms of inflammatory arthritis with a particular focus on interactionsbetween immune and tissue resident invasive stromal cells. Before joining this lab,Nicole completed her Bachelor’s in microbiology at the university of Galway… Read More
Leonie is a postdoctoral researcher in the Molecular Rheumatology group. She completedher PhD in Neuroimmunology under the supervision of Prof. Silvia Capellino at IfADo inDortmund, Germany. During her PhD, she investigated the dopaminergic pathway in humanimmune cells, both under normal conditions and during chronic inflammation, with aparticular focus on sex-specific differences. She collaborated closely with… Read More
Loredana Marginean is a Research Assistant in the Molecular Rheumatology research group. Loredana received a B.Sc. (Double Hons) in Chemistry and Biology from Maynooth University in 2022. After her studies, she worked as a Quality Assurance Assistant in ABP Food Group. She then completed a M.Sc. in Biological and Biomolecular Science in University College Dublin in 2024. Under… Read More
Megan is a first-year PhD student here in the Molecular Rheumatology research group. In 2016 she completed her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Health and Life Sciences from University College Dublin, having undertaken a three-month research project with Prof. Fearon as part of her final year thesis. Subsequently, she successfully applied for the Irish Research Council… Read More
Recent research has focused on people ‘at-risk’ of RA with circulating autoantibodies (ACPA/RF) but no clinical signs of RA currently. These subjects may provide important clues in understanding the evolution of RA. Identifying those ‘at-risk’ remains problematic, with no good blood or tissue biomarkers identified to date. However, we and others, have demonstrated that circulating… Read More
Molecular Rheumatology, Trinity College Dublin 