1 | Page School of Medicine Research & Postgraduate Affairs Committee Annual Report for 2018 The mission of the School of Medicine Research and Postgraduate Affairs Committee [hence, Committee] is to promote research and approve postgraduate taught programmes and research degrees. Seed research funding programmes support basic science, translational medicine, clinical medicine and epidemiology within the School of Medicine. A strong emphasis is placed by the Committee on the fostering of research as an integral component of education among all students and faculty within the School of Medicine (http://www.ucc.ie/en/medical/research/committee/) The goal of this Annual Report is to summarise the activities of the Committee and outline future opportunities and possible threats to the workings of the Committee.
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School of Medicine Research & Postgraduate Affairs Committee
Annual Report for 2018
The mission of the School of Medicine Research and Postgraduate Affairs Committee [hence, Committee] is to promote research and approve postgraduate taught programmes and research degrees. Seed research funding programmes support basic science, translational medicine, clinical medicine and epidemiology within the School of Medicine. A strong emphasis is placed by the Committee on the fostering of research as an integral component of education among all students and faculty within the School of Medicine (http://www.ucc.ie/en/medical/research/committee/) The goal of this Annual Report is to summarise the activities of the Committee and outline future opportunities and possible threats to the workings of the Committee.
Table of Contents Research Report ....................................................................................................................... 3
Undergraduate Research Supports ........................................................................................ 3
Research Report Lead: Dr Liam J. Fanning ( RPAC Co-Chair)
Undergraduate Research Supports 1. Travel Scholarship
Between January and December 2018, €5,729.86 was awarded on a competitive basis to undergraduate students to attend a range of conferences in Ireland, Europe, Canada, and South Korea. Conferences attended in 2018 (see list outlined in Appendix 1.) The breadth of disciplines and the global reach of the presentations funded by the undergraduate Travel Scholarship validates the ongoing commitment by the School of Medicine to fostering early career research activities.
2. Medical Research Supplement Award
The School of Medicine, through the Committee, supports early engagement in research by undergraduate medical students through the Medical Research Supplemental Award. Applicants are funded to a maximum of €500 in any one academic year. In 2018, through the Medical Research Supplement Award, the Committee funded seven students to a total of €2,741.00 (awards ranging from €160 to €500). A full list of the topics presented by these students is outlined in Appendix 2.
The breadth of disciplines funded by the undergraduate Medical Research Supplemental Award endorses the ongoing commitment by the School of Medicine to fostering early career research activities for undergraduate medical students.
3. SURE Awards 2018
Twenty-three applications were reviewed by RPAC during 2018. Four projects were funded to the sum of €6,000 by the College of Medicine and Health.
Postgraduate Research Supports 1. TRAP – Translational Research Access Programme
TRAP is now in its eight year of funding and provides start-up funding for researchers in UCC and its affiliated clinical institutions. The purpose of this funding stream is to support the development of new and meaningful partnerships between academics and their clinical colleagues in the UCC affiliated hospitals.
In 2018, fourteen applications were received for TRAP funding. In total, five successful applicants were awarded up to €10,000 each (see Appendix 3 for list of Awardees). TRAP funding for the financial year 2019/20 has been approved by the Dean, School of Medicine and the Committee note that upon receipt of these funds the application process will be opened in May 2019.
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2. Postgraduate Travel Scholarship Recipients awarded Postgraduate Travel Funds 2018 included the following: Awardee Department Name of meeting/workshop
Burns, David
Department of Physiology
International Meeting of the American Physiological Society, USA
Fennelly, Mehael
School of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Action of Infections Conference, UK
Jinih, Marcel
Department of Surgery, CUH
Society of Academic and Research Surgery Annual Meeting, UK
Leacy, Jack
Department of Physiology Experimental Biology 2018, USA
Maloney, Eimer
Department of Medicine (Neurology)
International Congress of Clinical Neurophysiology & American Academy of Neurology, USA
Serena, Boscaini
Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience/Food Bioscience Department (Teagasc)/APC Microbiome Institute
25th Experimental Congress on Obesity (ECO 2018), AUSTRIA
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New Horizons Medical Research Conference The fifth New Horizons Medical Research Conference was held on the 8th December 2018; https://www.ucc.ie/en/medical/research/horizon/ . Five CPD credits were awarded by the RCPI. There were seven plenary speakers, 14 oral presentations predominantly by postgraduate, postdoctoral and clinical fellows. There were 78 poster presentations. Prizes were awarded for four different categories:
Mr. Paul MacDaragh Ryan, Best Oral Abstract Ms. Barbara Marzario, Best Elevator Pitch Ms. Maedbh MacSweeney, Best Poster Winner Ms. Aoife O’Brien-Horgan, Best Poster Highly Recommended Mr. Michael Vaughan, Best Poster Highly Recommended
Participants were surveyed and the consensus of opinion was that the meeting was very worthwhile and presented the only noteworthy forum, in UCC, where the breadth and scope of the research carried out within the School of Medicine could be appreciated. A considerable strength of the format of the Conference is the opportunity for postgraduates and early career scientists and clinicians to present their research. Table 1: Feedback from New Horizons 2018
The Committee used a web based interface supported by Byte size solutions. This web based interface is very successful from the perspective of abstract application and collation of the Conference booklet. The use of the web based interface had the added benefit of reducing the associated administrative time and Conference costs. The total cost of the New Horizons meeting, including software support, catering and prizes was €3,938.69. The next New Horizons Conference will be held on the 5th December 2019.
Atlantic Corridor Medical Student Research Conference NUI Galway School of Medicine hosted the 6th Atlantic Corridor Medical Student Research Conference on the 8th of November 2018 at the Clinical Science Institute. This intervarsity undergraduate research showcase provided an opportunity to enjoy presentations on a diverse range of clinical and translational medical research projects completed across two of the ‘Atlantic Corridor’ medical schools – UCC and NUIG. There were 12 oral presentations and 30 poster presentations, and the plenary talk was delivered by Professor Michael Kerin, Head of Discipline of Surgery and Vice Dean of College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at NUI Galway. This year’s oral presentation winner was Alan Keane (NUIG) for his paper “The effect of conditioned medium obtained from Syndecan-2 positive selected mesenchymal stromal cells on endothelial cell migration and tubulogenesis”. The runner up was UCC medical student Roisin McCarthy for her paper “Sonographic features of resistant infantile developmental dysplasia of the hip”. This year’s poster prize was awarded to Julia Olioff (UCC). Travel scholarships for 18 students was provided by the School of Medicine, through RPAC for attendance at the Atlantic Corridor Medical Student Research Conference.
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Postgraduate Affairs
Lead: Dr Collette Hand (RPAC Co- Chair) Summary of activities:
1. Review and approve student applications for postgraduate degrees • Applications are reviewed monthly and reported to the School Exec/HODs. • There were 91 Postgraduate student applications processed by the Committee
in 2018. • 2017 105 applications were processed.
2. Review and approval of changes to PG modules 3. Survey of Taught Postgraduate Programmes offered by School of Medicine
(SoM) • In 2018 RPAC carried out a survey of the PG Taught programmes on offer by
SoM in 2017/18. The objective was to identify all active courses, the numbers of students enrolled in each and to ensure up-to-date information was available on the relevant contact person(s). Also requested was information on the External Examiner for each programme to ensure that this requirement was in place. Each programme director / course contact person was emailed an excel file with fields for completion. The results were compiled and are presented in Appendix 4. As a result of the value of the exercise it was agreed that this review would be conducted annually.
4. Review and approval of new taught PG programs a. M.Sc. Dementia b. MRes in Medical Sciences
5. Administrative support The School of Medicine provides administrative support for student applications, module changes and new programs.
A significant number of applications require considerable administrative support before final approval, examining matters related to language proficiency, document clarification, amongst other metrics. The Committee notes and acknowledges that module changes, program changes and new program review, require a significant and often onerous amount of administrative support.
The sustainability and lack of knowledge sharing within the relevant administrative support structures is of concern to the Committee.
6. An analysis of the postgraduate activities of the Committee indicates the following: • Changes to existing programmes, applications for new programs and modules
are reviewed by the Committee and enables the early identification of problems and issuing of corrective actions.
• The issue of ‘urgent’ student applications raised in the 2017 annual report is no longer a significant issue for the Committee.
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Committee Membership The Committee would like to recognise the contribution of all committee members in the completion of the Committee responsibilities and tasks. The Committee would like to acknowledge the substantial contribution, over many years, to Lorraine Crossan and wish her luck in her future endeavours. Committee Members Role Dr Liam J. Fanning Co-Chair& Lead for Research Dr Collette Hand Co-Chair & Lead for Postgraduate Affairs Dr Gerard Clarke Quorate Committee Member Bailey Crowley UG Student Representative. Rachel Hyland Committee Member Dr Aislinn Joy Quorate Committee Member Dr John MacSharry Quorate Committee Member Dr Yvonne Nolan Quorate Committee Member Dr Olivia O’Leary Quorate Committee Member Dr Dervla O’Malley Quorate Committee Member Martha Phelan Administrative Support Dr Colm O ‘Tuathaigh Director of Stream 4 Dr Catherine Sweeney Quorate Committee Member Dr Suzanne Timmons Quorate Committee Member Kimberley Stephenson PG Student Representative Rose Mary Walsh Medical School Manager
Committee administrative support structures
The Committee note that the administrative structures that support the work of the Committee are subject to change. These changes in administrative support staff reduce the overall corporate memory of processes that underpin the achievements and sustainability of the Committee.
The Committee would like to acknowledge the work of Rose Walsh (Manager, School of Medicine) and the following who worked with the committee during 2018:
Carolyn Cotter, Lorraine Crossan, Siobhan Hosford, Rachel Hyland, Emma O’Reilly, Martha Phelan and Melissa Walsh.
The Committee welcomes to the School of Medicine, the appointments of Bríd O’Neill, Office Supervisor and Natalia Pinfield, Accounting Technician and wishes to thank them both for their contributions during 2018.
The Committee would also like to thank the following in particular for the support in the preparation and delivery of the New Horizons Research Conference 2018: Mary McDonald, Martha Phelan, Uwe Schiller and Anne-Marie Wyper.
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Summary A broad assessment of the work performed by the Committee indicates the following: Strength Commitment by the Committee membership Opportunities Ongoing support for staff, postgraduate and undergraduate
activities. New Horizons Medical Research Conference Threat Changes of administrative support staff reducing
corporate/administrative knowledge Co-Chair of Committee: Liam J. Fanning, PhD, DSc
Co-Chair of Committee: Collette Hand, PhD
Date: 14th February 2019
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Appendix 1
CONFERENCE/MEETING 2018 LOCATION
1st International Congress of Hypertension in Children and Adolescents (ICHCA)
Valencia, Spain
Internal Medicine EuroSciCon
Vienna, Austria
Irish Association for Palliative Care Annual Education and Research Seminar
Dublin, Ireland
The European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-11 )
Barcelona, Spain
Faculty of Pathology Annual Symposium and General Meeting 2018, RCPI
Dublin, Ireland
Association of University Departments of General Practice in Ireland (AUDGPI)
Galway, Ireland
European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology Congress 2018
Munich, Germany
Community Empowerment for Health: A Multi-Sectoral Approach
Limerick, Ireland
ESMO 20th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer
Barcelona, Spain
Euroanaesthesia 2018
Copenhagen, Denmark
22nd Wonca World Conference of Family Doctors
Seoul, South Korea
21st Annual Diabetes Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism Professional Conference
Halifax, Canada
The Vascular Societies Annual Scientific Meeting 2018
Glasgow, Scotland
Atlantic Corridor Medical Student Research Conference 2018
Galway, Ireland
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Appendix 2
MEDICAL RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT AWARD TOPICS 2018
A Study in immune-virology techniques and application of genotype identification in the diagnosis of chronic Hepatitis B infection. Physician knowledge and perception of technology use and screen time in children. What Does Your Pelvic Floor Do For You? : Knowledge of the Pelvic Floor in Female University Students. The effects of TRPV1 receptor blockade on the renal functional response to volume expansion in chronic intermittent hypoxia rat model A study of body dissatisfaction, an established risk factor for eating disorders, amongst UCC students Mobile Screen Media: Its impact on Early Childhood Communication Development Investigation into the unmet psychological needs of patients with cancer and the uptake of cancer support services within the Munster region.
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Appendix 3
TRAP 2018
Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Gerard Clarke Professor Jonathan Hourihane
Examining changes to infant gut microbiota during oral tolerance induction for cow’s milk allergy.
Department of Medicine
Dr. Aileen Houston Professor Micheal O’Riordain
Death Receptor family members as targets for cancer therapy.
Department of Physiology
Dr. Fiona McDonald Professor Eugene Dempsey Professor Ken O’Halloran
A trilogy of stressors in the NICU: Towards therapy for preterm adversity.
Medical School Office
Professor Joe Eustace Dr. Julie O’Neill Dr. Abdulla Mohammad
Gut Dysbiosis and CKD; Cause or Consequence?
Department of Surgery
Consultant George Finbarr Kaar Dr. Yvonne Nolan
Diagnosis and monitoring of therapeutic response in glioma patients through sequencing of cerebrospinal fluid derived circulating tumour DNA, micro RNA, and characterisation of plasma derived extracellular vesicles.
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Appendix 4
RPAC Review of 2017/18 SoM Taught PG Programmes
Award Name of Programme Code Contact person contact email
addresses Years Credits Research
Credits
2017/18 No.
Students Year 1
2017/18 No.
Students Year 2
2017/18 External Examiner
Masters MCh (Surgical Science) CKX20 Prof James Harty UCC Dept. Surgery
