Trinity Immunologist Wins Nature’s Inspirational Mentor Award

Posted on: 05 November 2014

Professor of Comparative Immunology at Trinity College Dublin, Cliona O’Farrelly, has won a 2014 Nature Award for Mentoring in Science at Science Foundation Ireland’s 2014 Summit. The leading international journal Nature hosts these awards on an annual basis to champion the importance of mentoring and inspiring future generations of young researchers.

Professor O’Farrelly’s achievements have been in bringing together various disciplines across the scientific spectrum in both human and veterinary clinical sciences, to better understand immunology and infectious diseases. Her research group has been successful in describing unique immunological features and functions in the human gut, liver and uterus.

Professor O’Farrelly said: “It’s so humbling that the students who have gone through my lab think I deserve this.  One of life’s great privileges is to be given the opportunity to work with bright, enthusiastic young scientists.”

“It is Professor O’Farrelly’s exceptional ability to teach, mentor and nurture confidence that has impacted a generation of students and researchers,” said Nigel Stevenson, Assistant Professor in Immunology at Trinity.

Meanwhile, Lydia Lynch, Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, added: “She encourages young girls in school and young women in college, as well as older mature students returning to the workforce, to realise their dreams. It is because of female leaders in science – like Cliona – that young women feel that being a leader is an achievable goal.”

Launched in 2005, the annual Nature Awards for Mentoring in Science recognise outstanding scientific mentorship and focus on a specific country, or countries, each year. Two other Irish scientists were honoured at this year’s ceremony; they were Professor Martin Clynes, Director of the National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology, Dublin City University, and Professor Cormac Taylor, Professor of Cellular Physiology, University College Dublin.

Professor Taylor is a leading authority in the field of hypoxia research. His lab has made several important contributions to the understanding of the mechanisms by which cells respond to hypoxia, and the discovery of the importance of this pathway in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Professor Clynes is credited with attracting a wide network of industrial companies to invest in research and development in Ireland and is internationally recognised as an expert in biotechnology, cancer drug resistance, and stem cell research.

Editor-in-Chief of Nature, Philip Campbell, said: “In an era when laboratories are under great pressure to be competitive, it is essential that they maintain the technical robustness and ethical integrity of their science, while also empowering creativity. Thus the mentoring of young researchers has never been more important. And good mentoring by laboratory heads is not a skill that can be taken for granted.”

More information about the Nature Awards for Mentoring in Science is available here.