Trinity chases US-Ireland Research Innovation success

Posted on: 17 May 2017

Trinity has two chances of securing a prestigious US-Ireland Research Innovation Award after Professor Jane Farrar and Dr Sabina Brennan were both shortlisted in the Higher Education Institution category.

The awards, a joint initiative of the Royal Irish Academy and the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, recognise and acknowledge exemplary ideas originating in Irish organisations that make a social and economic impact through research innovation in meeting market needs.

Professor Farrar, from Trinity’s School of Genetics and Microbiology, was nominated for developing gene therapies for treating inherited blindness.

Genable Technologies, the spin-out from Professor Farrar’s  research, was last year acquired by Spark Therapeutics Inc, which is a US public company based in Philadelphia PA and acknowledged as a global leader in the gene therapy arena. Trinity and Spark continue to collaborate closely in the development of gene therapies for inherited retinal disorders.

Dr Brennan’s research focuses on understanding dementia risk and protective factors to establish how decline in cognitive function might be prevented or delayed.

RelAte is a mealtime intervention that provides nutritional and social support to older adults living alone and who are at risk of social isolation. RelAte was developed in partnership with Home Instead Senior Care Inc., a US care provider, which funded the research project to investigate the relationship-based nutritional intervention in older adults living alone.

Dr Gordon Elliott of Trinity Research & Innovation said: “Trinity is focused on developing industry partnerships with our talented researchers and excellent infrastructure to create economic and societal benefits – we are delighted to have two US-Ireland collaborations represented.”