About the Reproductive Biology Research ClusterThe Cluster led by Professor Alexander Evans, UCD School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, comprises of members from agriculture, veterinary medical and basic science disciplines and is supported by an extensive research farm and world class centre for biomolecular and biomedical research (the Conway Institute).
The vision of the RBRC is to carry out high quality, hypothesis driven research that is focused on understanding the biochemistry of regulation of infertility in dairy cows and to generate new knowledge in an area that is of strategic importance to the Irish economy.
The Reproductive Biology Research Cluster (RBRC) has a major investment of €9.4 million from Science Foundation Ireland as a Strategic Research Cluster. An additional €1.6 million in funding comes from industry partners bringing the overall investment in excess of €11 million over the five years.
The overall objective is to identify molecules (e.g. genes, proteins and metabolites) in ovarian follicles, oocytes, embryos and the cervix and uterus that are responsible for, or are markers of, infertility. This is achieved by using established large animals of fertility/infertility, in vitro cell culture techniques and the latest technological advances in the biosciences to study the structure and function of complex molecules. In cooperation with our industrial partners, the knowledge generated will provide opportunities to develop new diagnostics and therapeutics to improve reproductive efficiency in cattle.
These studies are directed at solving infertility problems in cattle but the results will also form the basis for new applications for assisted human reproduction.
The Reproductive Biology Research Cluster is based on a strong collaboration between UCD and Teagasc.
