Six emerging bright stars in health and clinical research have been honoured in the latest round of the Trinity School of Medicine Research Awards 2025. The awards programme, now in its fourth year, supports early career researchers to develop their research career and to build capacity in their respective research field.
A new Research Impact Prize was introduced to celebrate the translation and communication of research findings, with the inaugural award going to Dr Hugh Kearney for his work on multiple sclerosis. Additionally, four researchers received €10,000 Research Seed Awards for projects spanning tuberculosis, social prescribing and pancreatic cancer. A short-term travel award, worth €2,000 was granted to foster international collaborations in cancer survivorship
Research Impact Award 2025
The Trinity School of Medicine Research Impact Award is designed to recognise researchers or research activity that has led to new or improved scientific insights with demonstrable potential benefits to societal health and wellbeing. This award recognises a researcher whose research has led to positive changes in the delivery of improved healthcare treatments, training, therapies, processes, products, policy, practice, technology or information that has changed the lives of patients, service users, family members, carers, the public, health organisations or health and social care professionals.
The worthy recipient of the inaugural award is Dr Hugh Kearney, consultant neurologist at St. James’s Hospital and the clinical lead for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) unit. He serves as senior clinical lecturer at the Trinity Translational Medicine institute. A blood test recently developed by Hugh and his colleagues allows health practitioners to estimate the strength of the immune response in people with MS. This insight bridges a gap between virology and neurology and may offer improved future therapeutic and public health strategies to benefit people who have MS and those who may be at future risk. Speaking about his award, Hugh said: "I’m truly honoured to receive this Research Impact Award. This work reflects the collaboration of an incredible team of clinicians and scientists. It is a privilege to contribute to research that has the potential to make a real difference in the lives of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). We see this as a starting point for future MS studies and the development of a dedicated group focused on clinical research to improve outcomes in this chronic disease.'
The winners of the TCD-MED Research Seed Awards for 2025 are:
Dr. Donal Cox, Senior Research Fellow, Trinity Translational Medicine Institute and Discipline of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine for his project: ‘Defining the role of bone morphogenetic proteins in tuberculosis osteomyelitis’.
Speaking about his award, Donal said: "This TCD MED research award will allow me to investigate why bones are particularly susceptible to bacterial infections, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. By understanding these vulnerabilities, it will allow the development of new therapeutic strategies to boost local immune cell responses during tuberculosis osteomyelitis. Ultimately this will help to improve and shorten antibiotic regimens, for not just tuberculosis osteomyelitis, but infections of the bone more generally."
Dr. Louise Brennan, Social Prescribing Coordinator, Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing, St James’s Hospital, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Medicine for her project ‘Exploring the Impact and Potential for Social Prescribing to Improve Patient Health and Wellbeing within an Acute Healthcare Setting’.
Speaking about her award, Louise said: "With this TCD Med Research Seed funding, I will establish a research programme investigating the opportunities and impact of Social Prescribing within the novel setting of an acute hospital, exploring how best the approach can support discharge, holistic wellbeing and community living."
Dr. Laura Kane, Research Fellow, Discipline of Surgery, School of Medicine for her project ‘Evaluating the functional role of pancreatic cyst fluid in the development of pancreatic cancer’
Speaking about her award, Laura said: “ As an early-career researcher, the TCD MED Research Seed Funding Award will provide critical funds that will enable me to generate preliminary data to strengthen my upcoming international grant applications, aimed at revolutionizing pancreatic patient management and advancing therapeutic target discovery.”
Dr. Grainne Jameson, Research Fellow, Trinity Translational Medicine Institute and Discipline of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine for her project ‘Unlocking the Potential of Patient NK Cells in the Fight Against Tuberculosis’
Speaking about her award, Grainne said: “Winning this award comes at a perfect time in my early career, giving me the opportunity to carve out my own research niche at the intersection of tissue-resident NK cells and infectious disease. It will be a major step forward in establishing myself as a leader in this emerging field. This project will not only elevate my research profile and academic reputation through high-impact publications and collaborations, but it will also generate valuable preliminary data to strengthen future applications for competitive funding.”
The winner of the TCD Med Short Term Travel Awards 2025 is:
Dr. Nickola Pallin, Senior Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Cancer Survivorship, Discipline of Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine was awarded a short-term travel award of €2,000 for her project ‘Laying the groundwork for EQUAL (Enhancing Quality and Access to Psychosocial Support for those Living Beyond Cancer).
Speaking about her award, Nickola said: “I am delighted to receive this travel grant which will enable me to connect with researchers working at the Comprehensive Health Research Centre at the National School of Public Health, NOVA University Lisbon. I will be working closely with Dr Marta Marques at the Behavioural Science and Social Innovation research group. This visit and ongoing collaboration will develop my skillset in ontology development and behavioural and implementation science research”.
The TCD MED Short Term Travel Award provides mid-career researchers, from an academic or research background, to develop their research question through international collaboration. Like the TCD MED Seed Award, the primary aim is to support the researcher’s career development and to raise their research profiles, both nationally and internationally.
Dr. Niamh Ryan, Senior Research Fellow, Trinity Translational Medicine Institute and Discipline of Psychiatry who was awarded a short-term travel award in 2024 has extolled the impact of the award on building her professional research track record. “The travel grant has facilitated an exciting collaboration between the Discipline of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin and researchers at Harvard Medical School. This visit afforded myself and my colleague Dr. Cathal Ormond access to tools and training to aid our investigation into genetic risk factors for psychosis in families affected by mental illness.”
Biographies.
Dr. Hugh Kearney, MB BCh BAO, FRCPI, PhD
Dr. Hugh Kearney is a consultant neurologist at St. James’s Hospital and the clinical lead for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) unit. He also serves as a senior clinical lecturer in the School of Medicine at
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and is a funded investigator at FutureNeuro, a Research Ireland Centre for chronic and rare neurological diseases.
Dr. Kearney earned his PhD from University College London, focusing on the use of spinal cord MRI and its association with physical disability. His research has garnered national recognition, including the Harold Miller Prize on two occasions. He represents Ireland on the European Committee for Research and Treatment in MS (ECTRIMS) and is a member of the scientific board of the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF).
His recent study published in Neurology, neuroimmunology and neuroinflammation improves our understanding of how current MS treatments interact with the immune response to EBV, a virus closely linked to MS development.
The outcome of this study lay in the design of a blood test developed by Hugh and colleagues which can estimate the strength of the immune response to Epstein Barr virus (EBV) in people with MS.
This new insight bridges a gap between virology and neurology and may offer improved future therapeutic and public health strategies to benefit people who have MS and those who may be at future risk.
Dr. Nickola Pallin is a Radiation Therapist and Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher in Cancer Survivorship at the Discipline of Occupational Therapy. Prior to this she was a Health Research Board funded PhD scholar on the SPHeRE programme in population health, policy and health-services research. She undertook her PhD at the School of Public Health, University College Cork and her thesis examined how to improve the implementation of self-management support in cancer survivorship care. Before starting her PhD in 2020 she held an academic lecturer post in Radiotherapy and Oncology at London South Bank University. Nickola’s research interests include self-management support, cancer survivorship and implementation science.
The Short-Term Travel Award will facilitate a 10-day visit to the Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC) at the National School of Public Health (NSPH), NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal. The NSPH is widely recognised for its excellence in public health education, research, and innovation. During this stay, Dr. Pallin will be working closely with the Behavioural Science and Social Innovation research group to develop the foundational work for the research proposal EQUAL (Enhancing Quality and Access to Psychosocial Support for those Living Beyond Cancer). Further, Dr. Pallin will meet with researchers from other research groups within the CHRC-NSPH to increase her knowledge and skills about equity-focused solutions in health care. Dr. Pallin will also have the opportunity to engage in research activities taking place during this period and share her work at TCD with researchers within our institution. This visit will not only contribute to enhancing Dr. Pallin’s research profile and fellowship opportunities, but also establish partnerships between the CHRC-NSPH and TCD.
Dr. Louise Brennan was awarded a BSc Physiotherapy in 2009 and spent the next 8 years working as a physiotherapist for various hospitals in the UK including the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, London. In 2017, she undertook a PhD in University College Dublin funded via a Marie Curie PhD Fellowship (thesis titled ‘User-Centred Design of a Biofeedback Targeted Exercise mHealth Application for Breast Cancer Rehabilitation’). On completion of her PhD, she worked in Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute as a research fellow for three years. In 2024, Louise was appointed as the Social Prescribing Coordinator, Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing, St James’s Hospital. Louise is affiliated to the Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Medicine as Adjunct Assistant Professor. Her career is peppered with many scholarly and societal achievements including the project management of the Irish Cancer Society-funded Personalised Exercise Rehabilitation for Cancer Survivorship (PERCS) study, and led the co-design and development of www.cancerrehabilitation.ie. This website was co-designed with cancer survivors and is a national resource with evidence-based information on physical activity in cancer and a national database of physical activity service for people living with and after cancer. She has contributed on invitation to several public reports published by non-governmental organisations, including, in Ireland, the TASC report ‘Understanding the challenges of cancer and socio-economic inequality’ and, internationally, the Cambridge University-based PHG Foundation ‘Personalising Breast Cancer Prevention’ report. Within her role as post-doctoral researcher in the Trinity Exercise Oncology Research Group, led by Prof Juliette Hussey, she collaborated on a range of exciting and innovative projects in the field of cancer rehabilitation. Notably, she ran the ReStOre@Home telehealth feasibility study, which led to publication in Cancers and European Journal of Cancer Care (DOI: 10.3390/cancers14112707
Dr. Laura E. Kane completed a PhD in Translational Oncology in 2023 at Trinity College Dublin. She currently works as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Discipline of Surgery, School of Medicine, at Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute, working under the mentorship of Professor Stephen Maher. Laura specializes in bioinformatics, multi-omics data analysis, and biomarker discovery. Her research focuses on identifying and validating biomarkers for early cancer detection and risk stratification, particularly in pancreatic and colorectal cancers. She has been instrumental in advancing the field of multi-omics by integrating large, transcriptomic and proteomic datasets to develop innovative diagnostic tools. Her recent work includes an innovative study published in Scientific Reports (2025), which presented a multi-omic biomarker panel capable of predicting high-risk pancreatic cancer patients with exceptional accuracy (AUC=0.97). This research not only highlights her technical proficiency but also her commitment to open science, as the datasets and methodologies were made publicly accessible to facilitate global collaboration.
Dr. Donal Cox is a Senior Research Fellow, Trinity Translational Medicine Institute and Discipline of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine. Donal was awarded a PhD from the School of Biochemistry & Immunology, Trinity College Dublin in 2016. During Donal’s postdoctoral research he collaborated with international immunologists and psychologists on clinical trials to examine if mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to reduce anxiety impacts immune responses in COPD patients. Donal’s research has focused on developing novel Host Directed Therapies (HDT) for TB, some of which have already been FDA approved to fast-track to clinical trials and benefit for patients. His recent research work provides further evidence that human tissue resident alveolar macrophages are a tractable target for host-directed immuno-supportive adjunctive therapies for respiratory diseases and infections. These findings has just been published and he is the lead author on this publication. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8523-3836
Dr. Gráinne Jameson is a Research Fellow in the Human and Translational Immunology Group at Trinity Translational Medicine Institute, specializing in innate immunity, metabolism, and infectious disease. Her research focuses on tissue-resident Natural Killer (NK) cells, with the aim of uncovering novel therapeutic strategies for diseases like tuberculosis. Her recent findings were published in the multidisciplinary journal PNAS, highlighting the broad impact of her work. A graduate of the Aurora Women in Leadership Programme, she is also Chair of Trinity College Dublin’s Postdoctoral Academy, where she advocates for Postdoctoral Research Fellows and promotes inclusivity, mentorship, and public engagement in science.
Professor Sarah Doyle, Professor Colin Doherty, Dr Grainne Jameson, Dr Hugh Kearney, Dr Louise Brennan, Dr Donal Cox, Dr. Nickola Pallin, Dr Laura Kane