Our Research Themes
Medical Device Innovation
- Clinical applications of F.L.I.P.
- Technical assessment of electro chemotherapy device
- Technical applications of novel endoscopic suturing device
- Clinical applications of advanced capsule endoscopy
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Vitamin D, metabolism and IBD:
Vitamin D and inflammation in IBD – from Nutrition to Novel Therapies
Vitamin D, long known for its role in bone health, is emerging as an important regulator of immune responses. In Inflammatory Bowel Disease, my core work investigates the role of vitamin D under 2 key strands and asks the following questions:
- Is low vitamin D status a risk factor for developing IBD? To address this our studies use genetic, epidemiology and proteomic approaches
- Is vitamin D an effective adjunctive anti-inflammatory therapy in IBD? And, what are the underlying therapeutic mechanisms?
To answer this, our studies use randomised dietary intervention studies as well as basic science/immunological approaches.
This work is led by Maria O’Sullivan, working with Research Dietitian Tara Raftery and members of TAGG across AMNCH and SJH.
- Inception cohort
- Mucosal healing in IBD
- Capsule endoscopy in IBD
- Clinical trials
Cancer prevention and screening
- Tallaght Trinity College colorectal cancer screening pilot
- Novel stool markers
- Capsule colonoscopy in screening
- Obesity and colorectal cancer
- Steroid metabolism and carcinogenesis
Clinical Trials
We are currently investigating many areas to try to identify causes and improve treatment of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis including:
- Determining which of our current treatments are most effective in getting these diseases under control
- Investigating new medications in treatment of Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative Colitis
- Assessing induction and maintenance of clinical response and remission rates of new therapies
- Evaluating efficacy and safety of new drug therapies
- Collaborating with Given Imaging to investigate the use of Pillcam capsules for incomplete colonoscopy
Small Bowel Angiodysplasia
- Irish cohort study
- Clinical associations
- Biomarkers
- Novel treatments
- Double balloon enteroscopy
Dysphagia Evaluation
A Dysphagia Evaluation Clinic is being developed under the auspices of TAGG to instrumentally evaluate complex dysphagia cases using evaluation techniques such as fiberoptic endoscopy, pharyngeal manometry and videofluoroscopy. This dysphagia clinic will provide specialist evaluation of patients with dysphagia within the hospital. It will also allow research data to be collected on specific populations with dysphagia and on new measures of oro-pharyngeal and oesophageal swallowing.
The safety, feasibility, acceptability and yield of unsedated trans-nasal gastroscopy as a screening method for upper gastrointestinal disease is being investigated in Endoscopy.