UCD President Dr Hugh Brady presents the NovaUCD Innovation Award 2007 to Prof Ciaran Regan, Applied Neurotherapeutics Research Group
The NovaUCD 2007 Innovation Award was presented to UCD’s Professor Ciaran Regan in recognition of his successes in the establishment of key strategic and collaborative links with industry and in the commercialisation of neuroscience research.
Professor Regan’s achievements include securing €10 million in funding from Wyeth Discovery and Science Foundation Ireland to establish the Applied Neurotherapeutics Research Group at UCD. This Group, which aims to identify novel neurotherapeutic targets, has already generated 8 invention disclosures. This link was of critical importance in Wyeth’s later decision to establish a €13 million bio-therapeutic drug discovery research facility at UCD.
Professor Regan’s research is focussed on understanding mechanisms of brain plasticity and in exploiting these mechanisms as novel drug targets. He is a named inventor on 6 UCD patents and also co-founded a successful UCD spin-out company Berand Neuropharmacology in 2004. Berand, which is developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of autism and obesity, currently employs 4 people and is located in NovaUCD with research facilities in UCD’s Conway Institute
Dr Pat Frain, Director, NovaUCD congratulating Professor Regan on winning this year’s NovaUCD Innovation Award said, “Ciaran has been extremely successful in the creation of an extensive intellectual property portfolio, forging commercialisation and other links with industry.” He added, “He is an ideal role model for young UCD researchers seeking inspiration in the protection and commercialisation of research-generated intellectual property for the benefit of the economy and society.”
