Jean McBryan (right) winner of the inaugural UCD Conway Festival of Research medal, with runners-up Eoin Cummins and Sarah McClelland
Fighting off stiff competition from her peers, Jean McBryan won the inaugural UCD Conway Festival of Research medal for her research on CITED1, a gene involved in breast development during puberty. A postgraduate student in the School of Biomolecular & Biomedical Science and UCD Conway Institute, Jean was one of fourteen finalists selected to present their research to delegates at the 6th annual UCD Conway Festival of Research, held recently in the O'Reilly Hall, UCD.
Jean showed how DNA microarray technology was used to identify a number of genes whose expression patterns in the mammary gland of mice changed during puberty. CITED1, which has already been identified as a diagnostic marker for thyroid cancer, was among these genes. By removing or 'knocking-out' the CITED1 gene, Jean discovered that the mammary gland at puberty does not develop as normal. CITED1 and the estrogen receptor gene were also shown to be expressed in the same cells. Although levels of estradiol, an important hormone in initiating puberty development, were not altered when CITED1 was removed, the levels of other genes controlled by estrogen were lowered. Jean believes that the control of estrogen levels is associated with CITED1 and her research will now focus on how this occurs. The gene is present in breast cancer cells and may ultimately prove to be a diagnostic marker for this disease.
The inaugural gold medal for outstanding contribution is sponsored by Fannin Healthcare Group. Second and third place in the competition went to Eoin Cummins and Sarah McClelland for their research on Hypoxia increases the pool of IKKB leading to NFkB activation: a possible role for PHD-1 and Identification of potential mechanisms for the anti-atherosclerotic activity of conjugated linoleic acid in the macrophage respectively.
Keynote speaker at the recent conference, Professor Sir Dillwyn Williams, emeritus professor of histopathology at the University of Cambridge and delegates also heard from Professor John Savill, vice principal of the University of Edinburgh and head of the college of medicine and veterinary medicine.
There were 134 poster communications at the conferences and prizes were awarded for the best poster in each of the five areas of biomedical research undertaken by scientists in UCD Conway Institute.
