Professor Eleanor Molloy
Professor of Paediatrics
- Research Institute:
TTMI, CWIUH, CHI at Crumlin and Tallaght University Hospital
- Contact e-mail:
- Thematic Area:
Translational Immunology Studies
Research Profile:
Our research group aims to delineate perinatal and early neonatal inflammatory responses in health and disease. We have established longitudinal cohorts of infants with neonatal encephalopathy and preterm infants as well as neonatal controls in order to explore the role of early inflammatory changes and developmental outcomes with immune follow-up in childhood. We have studied the role of activated monocytes and neutrophils in neonatal diseases and the use of immunomodulatory agents such as vitamin d, anakinra and activated protein c.
COVID-19 Project: COVID-19 Neonatal, Child and Adult: Understanding Immune Responses
Children are more frequently hospitalised with respiratory viral illness compared with adults but in the COVID-19 pandemic children and new-borns have less severe disease than adults. However the Multi-system inflammatory Syndrome in children (MISC) has emerged in a minority of children with severe sequelae. Understanding the immune dysregulation across the age continuum in this pandemic may have important implications for management and new therapies across intensive care disciplines from new-borns to adults. We are comparing detailed immune responses including pro and anti-inflammatory cytokine profiles, inflammasome activation, NETosis, immune cell phenotypes and miRNA in children with MISC and age-matched controls as well as across all age-groups from new-born to old age to examine immune phenotypes. We will also examine immune responses to in vitro therapies including Anakinra and inflammasome inhibitors to target optimal immunomodulation individualised to the patient’s immune response and age group.
