Profile: Dr. Catherine O'Reilly
Dr. Catherine O’Reilly obtained a B.A. (Mod) in Genetics from Trinity College Dublin in 1978 and stayed on in the Genetics Department for her Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. David McConnell. Her Ph.D. studies were on unstable mutants in Salmonella typhimurium sparked a life long interest in mobile genetic elements. Following her Ph.D. she spent two years as an European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute in Cologne working on unstable mutants in maize. This was followed by an EC funded postdoctoral fellowship at Durham University, UK. In 1986 Catherine was appointed to a lectureship in molecular genetics at the University of Sunderland. In almost ten years spent at Sunderland Catherine established a very successful research group in collaboration with ICI Biological Products (subsequently Astra Zeneca). The initial aim was to use genetic engineering techniques to produce the enzyme cyanide hydratase for potential use in the bioremediation of cyanide. This research expanded to encompass the genetics and biochemistry of nitrile and cyanide metabolism which is still one of Catherine’s main research interests. Since joining WIT in October 1995 Catherine has continued with research in cyanide/nitrile metabolism and has had a very fruitful collaboration with Prof. Mei-Xiang Wang at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. This research is one of the core research themes within the Pharmaceutical and Molecular Biotechnology Research Centre (PMBRC). Since coming to WIT Catherine’s research interests have expanded into the exciting area of molecular ecology. In collaboration with Dr. Peter Turner at WIT as well as numerous external collaborators the Molecular Ecology Group at WIT has developed a range of novel DNA analysis techniques to monitor a wide range of mammals. The work of the group on pine marten has recently been filmed for the RTE1 programme “Living the wildlife” and was broadcasted in May 2009. Contact: Dr. Catherine O'Reilly | |
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Last updated: Friday, May 15, 2009 | |