Joe was invited to present some recent results from the group as part of session #96 of the European Glycoscience Community webinar series. The title of the talk was Glycoconjugate metal complexes: As antiadhesives against pathogens, and sensors for bacterial lectins, and it included updates from our recent OBC article. The video of the webinar is available on YouTube.
This Autumn we welcome three new members to the Byrne Research Group. The group, at 6 full-time researchers, is the largest it has been to date! Welcome to Rosa, Finn and Hubert – we wish them every success.
Dr Rosa Fernandez Pison joins us as a postdoctoral researcher on the Link4Lectin project, where she will contribute to the coordination chemistry and organometallic components of the target molecules. She completed her PhD in UCD during the summer in organometallic catalyst development. She previously completed a Research MSc at University of Galway, and an undergraduate degree in her native Sevilla (with year abroad in University of York).
Finn Tlatlik holds an MSci from University of Glasgow in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry. His degree included a year of research placements in France as well as a project in Glasgow. He is joining us to complete his PhD with a Sir Walter Hartley Studentship, and will be working on optimising the photophysical properties of lanthanide complexes as lectin sensors.
Hubert Rebow is returning to the group, having secured a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship. Hubert is a recent graduate of UCD’s Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology BSc programme, and completed a final year project in our lab. His project, developing supramolecular boronic acid-based glycan probes involves collaboration with Dr Aniello Palma and Prof Jeremy Simpson.
Catherine Chaita, a third-year Pharmaceutical Science students from TU Dublin in Tallaght, joined the lab for two-weeks this summer as part of the RSC RISE Programme, designed to retain, inspire, support, and enhance ethnically-underrepresented groups in the chemical sciences. Catherine had a placement at TU Dublin last summer and came to us this summer. She fit in really well and quickly picked up a lot of skills under Thomas’ tutelage (and contributed to the Link4Lectin project). Catherine had the following to say about her experience:
In the second year [of the RISE programme], I was offered a two-week summer internship at University College Dublin (UCD), where I had the opportunity to work in the laboratory of Professor Joe Byrne, whose research focuses on sugars and inorganic/organic chemistry.
During the internship, I worked under the mentorship of PhD graduate Thomas Rabbitte who guided me through a variety of hands-on experiments. I was actively involved in various research projects. This experience greatly enhanced my technical and analytical skills, as I was introduced to a range of instruments and laboratory techniques relevant to pharmaceutical science. I carried out several chemical reactions, including alkylation, click chemistry, and amide coupling reactions.
The lab environment was collaborative and inspiring, with a team of postgraduate researchers and undergraduate interns all contributing to ongoing sugar-related research. My time at UCD provided me with a solid foundation of practical skills and deeper insight into real-world pharmaceutical and chemical research, and it further fueled my interest in pursuing a career in the pharmaceutical industry.
We wish Catherine every success with the rest of her studies and her future career in chemistry and hope to see her again.
The Byrne Group were delighted to be awarded a Green Certification from MyGreenLabs, as part of Research Ireland’s Sustainable Laboratory Certification Pilot Programme. In Lab A2.01, we worked together with Tom Hooper’s and Andrew Phillips’ Groups to identify sources of waste, establish new recycling streams (e.g. for KimTech gloves), and pool resources where possible to limit duplication of purchases. It was a really worthwhile process and has made us more considerate of reducing negative environmental impacts of our research. Sophie Kavanagh joined a UCD-wide working group on wet lab practices as part of our actions, and we have participated in chemical swap days, further reducing wastage. We continue to meet and share ideas, which will hopefully keep us up to date with developments in this area
Announcing the awards, Minister Lawless said:
“Research involves more than exploration and discovery; it also demands attention to how we conduct our work and the impact it has on our communities and our planet. Research carries with it a responsibility to operate with integrity, to use resources wisely, and to ensure our pursuit of knowledge does not come at an unsustainable cost to the world around us. I warmly congratulate all the laboratory teams recognised today for their commitment to greener practices. This initiative, led by Research Ireland, marks a significant and encouraging step in placing sustainability at the centre of our national research system and signals Ireland’s intent to lead by example on climate-conscious innovation.”
UCD Press Release: 13 UCD labs awarded sustainable laboratory certifications for best-in-class practices
Research Ireland Press Release: Minister Lawless announces 72 Sustainable Laboratory Certifications (with full list of awardees)
𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗹𝘆𝗰𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗷𝘂𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘀!
Delighted to have another article on glyco-metal complexes published in 𝘖𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 & 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺. This work was led by Karolina Wojtczak, PhD and involved contributions and support from lots of colleagues across disciplines including the teams of Trinidad Velasco-Torrijos, Anne Imberty, Gordon Cooke (TUD), Dr. Cristina Trujillo and Kevin Kavanagh who put lots of work into ideas, assays, measurements and calculations to support our hypotheses.
Please read the full article in the RSC journal Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, where it will be part of the 2025 New Talent Special Issue: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5OB00970G
Buíochas le Taighde Éireann Research Ireland as ucht tacaíocht.
Congratulation to Dr Rosy Polisicchio on her graduation from University of Galway today! Rosy’s thesis was titled “Lanthanide-functionalised vitamin B12 probes for targeted tumour bio-imaging: from rational design to biological evaluation” and her primary supervisor was Dr Luca Ronconi. Joe was her secondary supervisor, lending his expertise on lanthanide chemistry. Rosy was supported by a Hardiman Scholarship and later won an IRC Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship. She was also active in outreach during her PhD. Rosy has already started as an R&D Scientific Communication Advisor at Unilever in the UK. We wish Rosy every success in her future career!
Farewell to Romain Neveu, who is returning to his home university in France after a 4-month training mobility visit to our lab. Romain became a well-integrated member of the group and helped progress our investigations into fluorescent boronic acid derivatives.
Romain had the following to say about his visit:
I’m currently in my second year at ENSICaen, studying Materials-Chemistry with a major in Organic Chemistry and Catalysis (Master 1 level), and had the opportunity to do a four-month internship in Ireland as part of my Erasmus program. My main aim was to improve my English and technical skills, so I explored a number of Irish universities.
I discovered UCD and the Byrne Group on the university website, which focuses on carbohydrates and inorganic chemistry. I was particularly interested in this field, which led me to contact Joe Byrne.
During my internship, I worked on the synthesis of boronic acids and studied their fluorescence in interaction with various sugars. This experience enabled me to acquire technical and analytical skills in a pleasant working environment. I also had the opportunity to share some excellent moments with the team, both in and out of the laboratory. In conclusion, my internship with this group in Ireland was a real asset for me, both professionally and socially.
We wish Romain bon voyage and every success with the rest of his studies!
Research from the group was presented in two oral presentations and two poster presentations which featured in the programme of ECC-9, held at Dublin Convention Centre 7-11 July 2024. This major European conference, the largest chemistry event ever held in Ireland, had more than 1500 delegates and a wide international audience.
On the Tuesday, Thomas presented his progress on “Self-templating mechanically interlocked systems as dual activity antimicrobial candidates”, as part of the Link4Lectin project, prompting several interesting discussions with leading supramolecular chemists in attendance. Joe presented “Carbohydrate-functionalised metal complexes: targeting pathogens for therapeutic and sensing applications” as part of the Chemistry Meets Biology for Health Theme on the Thursday.
All of the team attended the meeting, with Sophie and Hannah presenting posters on their work as part of the poster sessions, Wanyujin working as a conference volunteer, and Karolina also joined the conference representing her employer Sterling. Joe judged the posters in the Catalysis theme.
This summer we are joined by two visiting students from Arcadia University Study Abroad Programme and one student from Zhejiang Normal University (as part of UCD Chemistry’s ZJNU Summer School). Wanyujin is also back with us as a research assistant on the SugarCoat project. We hope it is a productive exchange for everyone!
Very proud of my very first PhD student Karolina Wojtczak who successfully defended her thesis last Thursday. A lot of hard work has paid off and she has left the group lots of interesting starting points for future projects (in addition to a few more imminent publications). Her thesis was titled “Metal-based glycoconjugates as molecular sensors for lectins and anti-adhesives”.
Karol was an absolute pleasure to have in my lab and I wish her all the best with her bright future. I’m sure she will achieve great things. Congratulations!
A great celebration was had in Galway to mark the occasion.
Thanks to Research Ireland (formerly SFI) (18/SIRG/5501) for financial support and Paul Murphy for co-supervising her, particularly after I moved to UCD last year.
Karol has already started a position as a Development Chemist in Sterling Pharma Solutions.
Byrne Research Group 