Student Speakers - 2023
Karina Quilter
Ph.D Student
University College Cork
Karina is currently a final year PhD, focusing on metabolites and metabolism in health and in disease as part of the Joyce group at University College Cork. She holds a degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and has a real interest in metabolites that can impact cellular functions, in particular those that act as cross-kingdom signalling molecules, in terms of their production and the systems that they modulate. Her interest in mass spectrometry applications has been central to her PhD work from untargeted perspectives, in developing bespoke methodology, particularly in relation to lipid derivatives and more recently combining these with other ”omics” including transcriptomics and proteomics. Her work encompasses an understanding of host microbe interactions in defining health and as biomarkers of health and disease.
Sean McKenna
Ph.D Student
Trinity College Dublin
I am a final year PhD candidate in the McGouran Group at Trinity College Dublin. My research is orientated towards the development of novel chemical tools for protein profiling, with a particular focus on the design of probes for deubiquitinating enzymes. I graduated with a Masters in Chemistry from the University of York, before moving to Cambridge to work as a medicinal chemist in a biotechnology company. In 2020, I moved to Dublin to pursue a PhD in chemical biology. I have also held visiting research positions at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Leiden University in the Netherlands.
Meabh Bellew
Ph.D Student
Maynooth University
I completed my bachelor’s degree in “Biological and Biomedical Sciences” in Maynooth University in 2020. I am currently in the second year of my PhD program under the supervision of Dr. Rebecca Owens in Maynooth University. I am part of the UPROTEIN research programme project. This programme aims to create new scientific and technological knowledge with long term potential to re-engineer Ireland’s ago-ecological system and aid the development of a circular and regenerative bioeconomy. My role is to profile the protein biomass from crop, grassland or marine sources generated by project collaborators, using HR-LCMS, and protein and peptide characterisation methods.