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Conway PhD student wins Waters prize

Brian Morrissey, PhD student with Professor Stephen Pennington and Professor John Armstrong (St Luke's Hospital), received first prize in the Waters postgraduate symposium competition, which took place in UCD Conway Institute on Thursday, January 27th 2010.

Seven finalists were shortlisted through a competitive process for demonstrating innovative, analytical ideas through their research involving either proteomics or the biopharmaceutical sciences. Brian’s research project proposes to use proteomic analysis to discover new serum biomarkers that predict treatment failure in prostate cancer patients and allow physicians to choose more appropriate therapeutic regimens.

Prostate cancer is the most common non-cutaneous cancer among European men with an estimated 89,000 deaths in 2008. A more effective test is needed for the purposes of diagnosis and disease monitoring as the current combination of digital rectal examination, prostate specific antigen measurement and Gleeson grading of needle biopsies, are both invasive and insensitive.

Brian hopes to identify changes in protein expression that are associated with disease progression, treatment failure and/or toxicity. He will analyse serum samples from intermediate and high risk prostate cancer patients who have been undergoing combined hormonal and radiation therapy in the past 4.5 years. 

As part of the prize valued at €20,000, Brian will spend a week in the Waters laboratories in Manchester where their high value mass spectrometry equipment and specialist advice will be at his disposal for his research. His laboratory in UCD Conway will also receive €2,000 worth of Waters consumables.

The other finalists in the competition included Anna Gadaj, Teagasc Ashtown Food Research Centre; Cassandra Collins, NUI Maynooth; Roseanne Norris, University of Limerick; Anna Kliszczak, NUI Galway; Stella Ademowo, UCD Conway Institute and Weston Struwe, National Institute of Bioprocessing Research & Training.

Pictured L-R: Mr Brian Morrissey, winner of the Waters postgraduate symposium prize, is pictured with Mr Joe Kildunne, Regional Strategic Markets Sales Manager for Waters.