Dr Brendan J. Loftus
UCD has attracted a top international scientist back to Ireland to start a €2million SFI research programme at the Conway Institute in December. Dr Brendan J. Loftus has an outstanding track record in microbial genomics and will be a major asset in UCD’s evolving research programme.
Previously a member of the Parasite Genomics Group at the internationally renowned Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), Rockville, Maryland, Dr Loftus was highly productive, publishing 30 papers on diverse topics including human, microbial parasite, fungal and vector genomics, and bioinformatics, many in high-impact journals which have been cited over 3560 times.
Two recent papers are noteworthy. The genome of the basidiomycetous yeast and human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, published in Science, was the New Hot Paper in Microbiology for May 2006. “The resultant data has provided a new and valuable asset to researchers, which will expedite ongoing work in searching for effective treatments for this important emerging fungal pathogen”, said Dr Loftus. In addition, The genome of the protist parasite Entamoeba histolytica, published in Nature, was one of the top three hot papers published within the last two years for Microbiology.
Moving back to UCD, the university that awarded him his PhD in 1996, Dr Loftus aims to develop an integrated systems biology approach to bridge the gap between correlative and causative data. “The project aims to catalogue the contribution of environment to survival and virulence of a number of important microbial pathogens, and address a gap in the knowledge with regard to their readiness to infect the human host. A cross-platform approach combining informatics, comparative functional genomics and proteomics will be employed.”
UCD’s Conway Institute already houses an advanced proteomic capability, which provides a range of techniques for multidimensional protein identification and comparative proteomics. Commenting on his return to Ireland, Dr Loftus said, “In looking at the funding environment, the caliber of the research being carried out in Ireland, and the prospects going forward, there are simply few better places in the world to carry out novel and exciting research. UCD embodies this with top quality research facilities and a commitment to research excellence, and for me this was definitely my first choice of location. I feel very thankful for the support of both SFI and the support of my new colleagues at UCD for making this move possible.”
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