UCD Conway Festival gold medal award to Dr Tess McCann
9 October 2025
(opens in a new window)Dr Tess McCann has won this year’s UCD Conway Festival Gold Medal for the discovery of a gene mutation responsible for inherited retinal diseases leading to vision loss.
Working with a research team led by (opens in a new window)Professor Breandán Kennedy, Dr McCann identified a mutation in the Emc1 gene that causes underdeveloped eye cells, weaker responses to light, and changes in the normal structure of the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye.
According to Dr McCann, with inherited renal disease “genes needed to help the eye process light signals weren’t working as they should” and (opens in a new window)her finding shows "the vital role of Emc1 in vision and lays the groundwork for exploring potential solutions to its dysfunction.”
Having identified the mutation in the Emc1 gene responsible for vision loss she believes the Kennedy team now have an extremely useful tool for studying eye diseases and finding new treatments.
As part of her award winning research, Dr McCann and her colleagues in the Kennedy group artificially created mutations at random across the genome of a group of zebrafish. The offspring of these tiny, tropical fish were then screened for the characteristics of blindness.
“I want to congratulate Tess on winning the Festival Gold Medal for her eye disease work that provides real hope to patients for future treatments in inherited blindness,” said (opens in a new window)Professor Helen Roche, Director, UCD Conway Institute and Chair of the judging panel.
Professor Kate Robson-Brown, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation & Impact who presented the award said: “This achievement wouldn't have been possible without the immense support from both the Kennedy research team and the wider Conway community. I am incredibly grateful and look forward to continuing the exciting work stemming from this project.”
The medal presentation is part of an annual UCD Conway Festival of Research and Innovation which features research from 150 early career researchers, panel discussion on the evolving research funding landscape as well as presentations from leading scientists.
Dr McCann one of five early career researchers shortlisted for the Gold Medal.
The others were Dr Maurice O Mara [Knaus group; runner-up], Dr Luke Jones [Bond group], Emmanuelle D. Aiyegbusi [Dooley group] and Angelique Cheryl [McGee group].
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
