antimicrobial resistance – Byrne Research Group

Joe has been awarded a Frontiers for the Future Project award worth €791,010 to support new research into functional materials to prevent bacterial infection. Leveraging bioinorganic and carbohydrate chemistry concepts into a new approach. This funding will allow the Byrne Research Group to expand and explore new areas of research. Recruitment for new PhD students is already underway, along with additional advanced equipment to facilitate the research. More details are in the press release from UCD Chemistry below.

Joe spoke about the project and the funding at the end of KFM’s Kildare Today programme on 21/05/202: on-air interview (0:31:50-end, [audio clip]).

The UCD School of Chemistry has achieved a major double-win in the latest Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future funding round. Dr. Charles Loh (Awards Stream) and Dr. Joseph Byrne (Projects Stream) have been awarded a combined €2.7 million to lead two visionary projects: LIGHT4CARB and GlycoMetalGuard.

This funding milestone cements UCD’s standing as a premier European hub for fundamental chemistry, bridging the gap between curiosity-driven science and global challenges in sustainability and human health. Furthermore, this achievement is a significant testament to UCD’s leading reputation at the global forefront of innovative carbohydrate chemistry.

The Frontiers for the Future Programme—a flagship initiative of the newly established Research Ireland—specifically targets ambitious, “high-risk, high-reward” research. It is designed to empower Irish scientists to challenge existing boundaries of knowledge, delivering breakthroughs with the potential for profound societal and economic impact.

LIGHT4CARB: Led by Dr. Charles Loh, the LIGHT4CARB project focuses on the emerging field of photoredox catalysis. The team aims to harness the power of inexpensive, widely available visible light to drive complex chemical reactions. By using light as a primary energy source, the project enables the sustainable and mild synthesis of essential biomolecules, such as non-natural sugars, while drastically reducing chemical waste and energy consumption. These synthetic sugars are critical “building blocks” for a wide range of pharmaceuticals. LIGHT4CARB will hence accelerate the drug discovery pipeline, ensuring that the next generation of high-value medicines is developed through greener, more efficient chemical processes.

“I am delighted that Research Ireland has recognised LIGHT4CARB as a bold blueprint for advancing sustainable photoredox chemistry to access valuable sugar building blocks,” says Dr. Loh. “This award underscores Research Ireland’s commitment to high-quality fundamental research and positions UCD as a leading hub for transformative visible-light-driven synthesis. I am immensely excited to embark on this new research chapter, pushing the frontiers of what is possible using modern light-driven organic synthesis, and to nurture younger generations of chemists with state-of-the-art synthetic strategies.”

GlycoMetalGuard: Led by Dr. Joseph Byrne, GlycoMetalGuard is developing innovative antimicrobial coatings and therapies to prevent hospital-acquired infections stemming from medical devices. Dr. Byrne’s team aims to target harmful bacteria with novel sugar-based metal compounds, supporting efforts to addressing antimicrobial resistance and improving patient safety and quality of life. Combining expertise in inorganic chemistry, carbohydrate chemistry and polymer chemistry within the team and through strategic collaborations puts UCD in a strong position to lead this innovative approach.

Dr. Byrne says, “Prevention of bacterial infections is key to fighting the challenge of antimicrobial resistance. For many vulnerable or immunocompromised patients, medical devices like catheters or endotracheal tubes are essential, but they can also be a risk for infection in hospital. I’m delighted to have the support from Taighde Éireann to build new chemical tools that we hope will enhance medical devices to better protect vulnerable people in Ireland and beyond. Fundamental scientific research is at the foundation of addressing major societal challenges like antimicrobial resistance – my team’s exploration of infection-prevention and new treatments will also train several highly skilled chemistry researchers who will go on to make further contributions to our skills economy.”

For further details, see the announcements at various sources below:

Researchers at NUI Galway and Queen’s University Belfast are investigating how attaching sugar molecules to plastics could help prevent and detect bacterial infections in medical devices (e.g. urinary catheters, endotracheal tubes). Certain sugar molecules can interact selectively with bacterial proteins, and the researchers plan to harness these interaction to make fluorescent materials which glow at first, darkening when they become compromised by bacteria, allowing clinicians to react faster to potential infections before they become a serious risk to patient health. Coating medical devices with these plastics would result in “smart” devices, giving doctors and nurses tools to reduce risks of infection, bring down healthcare costs and decrease the need for antibiotic use in hospitals.

Early-career researchers Dr Joseph Byrne (NUIG) and Dr Matthew Wylie (QUB) have been awarded €193,000 to spearhead the SUGARCOAT project, developing coatings for medical devices using polymers containing sugar molecules, with the support of senior colleagues Prof Abhay Pandit, Director of CÚRAM Centre for Medical Device Research, and Prof Colin McCoy, Head of School of Pharmacy in QUB. The project will bring together complementary expertise from chemistry, pharmaceutical materials science and medical device research to tackle the growing challenge of hospital-acquired infections.

This project is part of the North-South Research Programme, announced by An Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD on 2 March 2022, as part of the Shared Island Fund. [Government Press Release]

Hospital-acquired infections are a major health concern for patients, and also incur significant expense to health systems across the island of Ireland, requiring longer hospital stays and antibiotic use. Patients requiring medical devices are at greater risk, often taking medicines that suppress their immune system making their bodies more susceptible to infection. Infections by dangerous bacteria, such as E. coli and P. aeruginosa have risen significantly in recent years, with medical device-associated infections account for up to half of healthcare-associated infections. Immunocompromised people and people with cystic fibrosis (CF) are particularly affected; Ireland, North and South have among the highest per capita CF incidence.

The rise of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria is an urgent problem highlighted by the World Health Organisation in recent years, decreasing the effectiveness of existing antiobiotics. It is estimated that across EU/EEA countries, 33,000 deaths per year in EU/EEA countries are associated with antimicrobial resistance, costing more than €1bn to health services. This project hopes to minimise the impact of this challenge by producing innovative device coatings, which will prevent or detect bacterial build-up on widely-used medical devices before they lead to infection in a patient.

Speaking about the funding award, Dr Joseph Byrne, Honorary Research Lecturer in the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, NUI Galway, said:

“Prevention of bacterial infections is key to fighting the challenge of antimicrobial resistance and if this isn’t possible, then early detection through innovative sensing materials, would allow devices to be removed and replaced by healthcare professionals before infection becomes a more serious risk to patient health. Hospital-acquired bacterial infections are a major issue across the entire island of Ireland, and I’m excited to forge a new and lasting relationship with Matthew, Colin and their team in Belfast to deliver meaningful new tools in fighting this challenge.”

“My work in this area is largely fundamental chemistry research, and this funding is a great opportunity will allow me to partner with more patient-facing researchers and healthcare stakeholders to increase our societal impact. Building all-island collaborations through this Scheme will help us to unlock Ireland’s potential for innovation and cutting-edge science.”

Dr Matthew Wylie, Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Materials Science in Queens University Belfast added:

“We are delighted to receive this funding from the Shared Island Fund. The partnership between NUIG and QUB will not only support two early– career researchers but will open up opportunities for collaboration with industry and clinicians in both the North and South of Ireland. Galway is home to a number of major medical device companies. We are excited to have the opportunity to pursue clinical translation of cutting-edge research developed right here in Ireland.

“The team at QUB have vast experience collaborating with medical device companies across the UK and Ireland and working closely with clinicians in Belfast. At the start of the project we will assemble a committee of key stakeholders building a consensus, North and South, to steer development of this innovative sensing technology to address antimicrobial resistance.”

About Shared Island Fund

Last year, €40m was allocated from the Shared Island Fund over five years for the North-South Research programme. This significant development is aimed at supporting the deepening of links between higher education institutions, researchers and research communities on the island of Ireland, delivering all-island approaches to research and innovation.

Announcing the awards, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, said: “These awards will support the Government’s Shared Island vision by bringing researchers from all corners of the island together to work on pioneering projects over the next four years, and is not only strengthening existing relationships, but is fostering new research partnerships.

“I’m particularly impressed by the high level of interest and the calibre of the proposals, and I am confident that these cross-border collaborations will further strengthen the island’s reputation for innovation and research excellence”.

Sixty-two collaborative research projects between academics and institutions in Ireland and in Northern Ireland were awarded a total of €37.3 million under the first funding call from the North-South Research Programme, which is a collaborative scheme funded through the Government’s Shared Island Fund. It is being administered by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

Announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT0sV2TjrAo

Tag: antimicrobial resistance

Joe awarded Frontiers for the Future project funding of €791k

Shared Island Funding awarded to medical device coating project