Agata Blasiak
Congratulations to Agata Blasiak who has been successful in winning UCD’s first AXA research fellowship, worth €120K over three years. This is the only AXA fellowship awarded in Ireland this year. Agata’s research programme, supervised by Conway Fellow, Prof Gil Lee, will take a long-term look at the regenerative abilities of the central nervous system (CNS) after spinal cord injury.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most challenging injuries facing society, with up to 320 new cases in Ireland per annum. It can cause paralysis and loss of sensation below the level of injury and since self healing of the spinal cord can only provide limited functional improvement, additional remedies are needed. To promote spinal cord repair, a multi-step approach that includes protection of damaged neurons, regeneration of severed axons and tissue replacement is suggested. With funding from AXA, Agata’s research will broaden the understanding of the regenerative abilities of the central nervous system neurons using an in-vitromodel that enables simultaneous mechanical and chemical stimulation of axons.
Adult CNS neurons possess the potential to regenerate their axons if provided with a suitable environment. The scar, which forms at the injury site, not only creates a physical boundary for the regenerating axons but also secretes inhibitory signals. Direct mechanical stimulation of axons might be a remedy when combined with other therapeutic approaches.
A successful repair strategy would involve a combination of approaches that minimise the inhibitory effects of the environment and maximise the intrinsic regenerative capacity of CNS neurons.
The project will deliver a time- and cost-effective experimental model to test new therapeutic approaches, such as blocking inhibitory signals, and to understand complex interactions of different environmental factors. Therefore, the project is very timely and will benefit the scientific and medical communities greatly. Agata will join a dynamic research team, working with Prof Gil Lee, a world-renowned expert in nanomedicine.
The AXA Research Fund provides support for research focused on understanding and preventing the risks threatening the environment, human life and our societies. This major and innovative initiative of scientific philanthropy is endowed by the AXA Group with a 5-year budget of €100 million. As of February 1, 2011, €48 million has been committed and the AXA Research Fund has given its support to 221 research projects, implemented in 19 countries by researchers of 41 nationalities. More details about the AXA Research Fund are available on the website www.axa-research.org.
