Blog

Yu Wang is a StAR PhD student from Soochow University in China. She joined Dr. Ní Chonghaile’s research group in October 2021. She completed BSc in Pharmacy in 2018 and MSc in Pharmaceutics in 2021 at Soochow University. She used to focusing on rational design of nano delivery system and its antitumor efficacy evaluation.

She is investigating how HDAC6 inhibition with a highly-selective inhibitor alters glycolytic metabolism in immune cells and influences the effector function to find possible effect of HDAC6 inhibition on tumor environment. Yu will spend two years in Soochow University to study how the inhibitor binds to human HDAC6 by analyzing crystal structure of the complex thus provide new binding sites for HDAC6 inhibition and allow the identification of highly selective HDAC6 inhibitors with the potential for clinical development.

I completed a BSc in Pharmacology in 2021 at the National University of Ireland Galway. I then completed a MSc in Cancer Research at the National University of Ireland Galway in 2022. My project focussed on novel ways to enhance natural killer cell cytotoxicity in Multiple Myeloma.

I began an Irish Research Council funded PhD in Dr. Ní Chonghaile’s research group in October 2022. My project focuses on the role of aging on metabolism in Multiple Myeloma. By using state of the art technologies such as SCIENTH and seahorse analysis I will investigate metabolic differences in the tumour and in the tumour microenvironment. 

Through this research I hope to identify personalised targeted therapies that could have broad implications for cancer and lead to enhanced survival and improve quality of life for patients.

Dr. Louise Walsh graduated with a first class honors degree in Science from Maynooth University. Louise’s PhD assessed the role of bromodomain proteins in invasive lobular carcinoma. Congratulations to Louise who is currently working as a Science and Business Liaison for Legend Biotech.

Dr. Catríona Dowling  joined the Ní Chonghaile research group in 2016 following completion of her PhD. During her postdoc she received funding from the Irish Research Council and Marie Skłodowska-Cure International Fellowship to visit the lab of Kwok-Kin Wong in NYU-Langone Medical Health. Dr. Dowling is now a Lecturer at the University of Limerick. 

Dr. Kathryn Haley joined the Ní Chonghaile research group in 2017 following completion of her PhD in the University of St. Andrew’s. Her skills in gene knockout were brought to great use on a series of projects. Dr. Haley had decided that she wants to be Dr. Dr. Haley and is currently enrolled in the graduate entry medical program in RCSI.

Christian Vu a visiting student from the University of Oregon. He was studying Human Physiology to hopefully one day become a Physical Therapist One of the reasons he chose to come study in Ireland was its deep cultural history.

Dr. Alessandra Di Grande joined Dr. Ní Chonghaile’s lab in 2016 and graduated with her PhD in May 2020. She completed an Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship project focused on determining the effects of  tumor  microenvironments on the anti-apoptotic BCL-2 dependence of T- cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Currently, she is working in Novartis as a Senior Biomarker Trial Manager.