UCD’s Dr Emmeline Hill named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year

Dr Emmeline Hill, a leading genomics scientist in the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science and a co-founder of the UCD spin-out company Equinome, has been named the Irish Tatler2012 Woman Entrepreneur of the Year at an awards ceremony held in Dublin.

Equinome, a world-leading equine genomics company, is based at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin.

 
UCD's Dr Emmeline Hill, Irish Tatler 2012 Woman Entrepreneur of the Year (Image Paul Sherwood)

The Irish Tatler Women of the Year Awards were designed to recognise and reward Ireland’s most influential and successful women. In total fourteen awards were presented to some of Ireland’s leading women from the worlds of business, media and entertainment, fashion and music.

This year represents the first occasion that a dedicated Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award has been presented.

On receiving the award, Dr Hill said, "I am delighted and honoured to be the first recipient of this prestigious award. I am thrilled for science, innovation and entrepreneurship to be celebrated among women, and it is a privilege to share a stage with the other remarkable women who have been recognised for their amazing achievements.”

Dr Emmeline Hill hails from a family synonymous with horse racing and breeding in Ireland. Her grandmother was Charmian Hill, the owner of Dawn Run, the only racehorse to have completed the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle (1984) and Gold Cup (1986) double. She joined UCD in 2002 as a post-doctoral researcher.

In 2004, Dr Hill received a Science Foundation Ireland award which supported a 5-year programme of work at UCD to investigate the genomics of performance in thoroughbred horses.

In 2009, this research led to the world’s first known identification of a gene contributing to a specific athletic trait in Thoroughbred horses. This gene, called myostatin, was found to predict sprinting ability and stamina potential, which can immediately identify a thoroughbred as a potential sprinter, middle-distance or long-distance horse.

Equinome was established by Dr Hill in 2009 to commercialise the results of this research, through the Equinome Speed Gene Test, in partnership with the renowned racehorse trainer and breeder Jim Bolger.

To find out more about Equinome watch our UCD Innovation video.

Using the results of the company’s second test, Equinome Elite Performance Test, Thoroughbred horse owners and breeders can now also increase their chances of successfully identifying those foals and yearlings most likely to perform at the elite level.

Equinome has already secured clients around the world including in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, UK, France, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Speaking at the awards ceremony Norah Casey, CEO, Harmonia said, “I love these awards because they are so inspiriting, what could be better in the current climate than celebrating the best women in Ireland. I have been doing these awards for 12 years now and the calibre of winners just gets better and better.” She added, ”We started over a decade ago with a handful of nominations in the women in business category it’s now our largest and we have added in the women entrepreneur awards for the first time.”

At the event boxing supremo and Olympic gold medallist Katie Taylor was named the Irish Tatler 2012 Woman of the Year. Not only was she recognised for her sporting achievements, but also the role she has played in raising the profile of women’s boxing. In addition to taking home Ireland’s only gold medal from London 2012, she is four time World Champion and five time European Champion.

The complete list of Irish Tatler 2012 Women of the Year Award Winners:

Irish Tatler Woman of the Year: Katie Taylor
Business: Louise Phelan
Entrepreneur: Emmeline Hill
Sport: Bethany Firth
Media: Aine Lawlor
Film & Drama: Ruth Bradley
Literature: Kathleen McMahon
Fashion Design: Heidi Higgins
Public Life: Dr Rhona Mahony
Music: Maria Doyle Kennedy
Entertainment: Jennifer Maguire
Special Recognition: Denise Charlton
Special Achievement: Female members of Team Ireland who competed in the Paralympics
Catherine Walsh, Fran Meehan, Helen Kearney, Catherine O’Neill, Geraldine Savage, Eilish Byrne,
Orla Barry, Bethany Firth.
Hall of Fame: Catherine McGuinness

ENDS

14 November2012

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, University College Dublin, Communications Manager (Innovation), e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: + 353 1 716 3712.

Editor’s Notes

Innovation is the third pillar of UCD’s core mission alongside teaching and learning and research. The mission of UCD Innovation is to enhance the value and quality of UCD’s innovation activities in order to achieve a maximum impact for the University, its partners, and for social and economic life in Ireland in the wider world. At UCD there are four key innovation themes; inspiring creative graduates, putting knowledge to work; partnering with industry and growing and supporting new business. www.ucd.ie/innovation