Speakers - 2024
Simona Francese is Professor of Forensic and Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), UK. She holds a degree in Chemistry obtained from the University of Salerno, Italy in 2000, and a PhD in Chemical Sciences awarded in 2004 by the same University. In her current role, she is the Lead of the Sheffield Multi-Modal
Imaging Centre and Head of the Centre for Mass Spectrometry Imaging. She is an expert in the development of MALDI MS Imaging applications and has pioneered its development for the analysis of latent fingermarks and blood to profile
offenders.
Keynote Speaker
Prof. Simona Francese
Professor of Forensic and Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry
More recently she has engaged in research at the interface between forensics and clinical diagnostics using blood and sweat in fingertip smears to detect cancer and other pathologies. Her research has been implemented in police casework in UK and Europe and has been partly funded by the Home Office, West Yorkshire Police and The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, UK. She now collaborates with the UK National Health System. She engages in public dissemination at all levels and one exemplary endeavour was the delivery of a TED talk in Vancouver in 2018 on molecular fingerprinting.
Prof. Fiona Reegan
Dublin City University
Water Institute
Prof. Fiona Reegan studied Environmental Science and Technology at the Institute of Technology in Sligo and graduated in 1991. After completing her PhD in analytical chemistry in 1994, and postdoctoral research in optical sensing in 1996 at DCU, she took up a position at Limerick Institute of Technology as lecturer in Environmental and Analytical Science. In 2002 Fiona returned to DCU. She later established the Marine and Environmental Sensing Technology Hub (MESTECH), DCU in 2010. As Director of MESTECH she also coordinates the Marine ICT SmartBay research activities under PRTLI V, leading the National Infrastructure Access Programme (NIAP) and the International SmartOcean Graduate Enterprise Initiative (ISGEI).
Prof. Sean Doyle
Maynooth University
School of Biology
Prof. Sean Doyle works at the Department of Biology, Maynooth University. He is focused on finding ways to overcome infectious diseases and attempts to investigate how mass spectrometry can be used to address the global problem of antimicrobial resistance.
His research work in fungal proteomics and molecular microbiology has yielded multiple novel discoveries, patented technologies and commercialised biological products including recombinant antibody technology, immunoassays and potential vaccine candidates.
Dr. Angie Mc Ardle
Proteomics Advisor
B Proteomics Denmark
Dr. Angela Mc Ardle, is passionate about advancing proteomic technologies and unlocking the transformative potential of precision medicine. Her journey into proteomics began during her PhD under the mentorship of Professor Stephen Pennington at UCD. Since then, she has gained international experience in both clinical and industrial sectors, culminating in the recent launch of B Proteomics. This venture is strategically focused on overcoming the complex challenges within the proteomics industry and elevating the landscape of proteomics research. Angela also serves as the European events chair for the Females in Mass Spectrometry Society, a community network dedicated to empowering women and fostering diversity in STEM.
Prof. Kieran Kilcawley
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences
UCC
Mairead Webster
Chemist
The State Laboratory
Mairéad Webster is currently leading the toxicology screening strategy in the State Laboratory.
Mairéad has been involved in the area of post-mortem toxicology for the last 13 years and has extensive experience in providing support and advice to the clients, case reporting and acting as an expert witness as required.
She is passionate about driving change and process improvements, ensuring that the State Laboratory are up-to-date with any emerging drug trends and are using modern technology to support this analysis. Mairéad uses a Thermo QExactiveher post-motem toxicology workflow.
Dr. Argyris Politis
School of Biological Sciences
University of Manchester
Argyris has obtained degrees from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece and Imperial College London. He carried out post-doctoral research in Cambridge and Oxford in the laboratory of Prof. Dame Carol Robinson, where he studied the structure and function of protein complexes using mass spectrometry. Since 2014 he has been running his independent research group at King’s College London focusing on mass spectrometry-based investifgation of membrane proteins. In particular, he established the study of lipid-mediated conformational dynamics in membrane transporters. Recently, he moved to the University of Manchester and his current interests lie in exploring how the lipid environment and pharmacologically important ligands shape the conformational landscape of challenging membrane proteins, important for human health and disease.
Dr. Sara Carillo
Bioanalytical Research Lead
NIBRT
Dr. Sara Carillo is the bioanalytical research lead in the Characterization and Comparability Laboratory in NIBRT. Sara completed her PhD in Chemical Science at the University of Naples in 2013 working on the structural characterization of bacterial glycoconjugates. In 2015, Sara joined Dr. Jonathan Bones’s research group in NIBRT, working on CHO cell glycome and biotherapeutics characterization.
Dr. Harry Whitwell
National Phenome Centre
Imperial College London
Harry completed his PhD in 2016. Subsequently, he undertook a post-doc with Prof John Timms at the Institute for Women’s Health developing biomarker models for the early detection of Ovarian Cancer, He then moved Imperial College in 2018 and became Proteomics Platform Lead for the National Phenome Centre, accepting a joint position within the Division of System Medicine. He was recently appointed Lecturer of Proteomics and Integrative Data Analysis in October 2023. His research interests are broad, developing multi-omics pipelines for studying spatial distribution of molecules disease tissue, with a particular interest in protein methylation.