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Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

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COVID-19 Immunology

Dr Aisling O’Halloran

Senior Research Fellow and Biobank Manager of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)

  • Research Institute:

    • The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)

  • Contact e-mail:
  • Contact number:
  • Thematic Area:

    • Translational Immunology Studies

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Research Profile:

Dr O’Halloran is a Senior Research Fellow in the discipline of Medical Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin and Is the Biobank Manager with The Irish LongituDinal study on Ageing (TILDA). She is a member of the Biobanking Working Group for the STAR COVID-19 Bioresource. Her research interests are in biological ageing and frailty.

COVID-19 Project description: Identifying protective immunity and determinants of disease in older people.

90% of all COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland occur in adults over 65 years old. For effective immunotherapeutic development in this highest risk group, it is important to understand SARS-CoV-2 immunity in the older population and investigate determinants of disease. Dr O’Halloran will focus on studies complementary to the SFI COVID-19 immunology project, working on studies that align closely with the SFI COVID-19 immunology project objectives to maximise collaboration and research output. The unique TILDA resource will be leveraged to investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between frailty, multimorbidity and disability and anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels. The role of biomarkers representing the ‘hallmarks of ageing’ on development, severity and symptomology of COVID-19 disease in older adults will be investigated. The impact of biological versus chronological age and sex differences will be explored. TILDA represents a comprehensive biennial deep phenotyping spanning >10 years, on a sample representing 1:150 people aged 50+ years in Ireland. including detailed COVID-19 exposure and experience.