NEWS

Prof. Dermot Diamond appointed to IAB of ACES Centre - January 2012

Congratulations to Prof. Dermot Diamond, NCSR Centre Director and CLARITY PI, who has recently been appointed to the International Advisory Board of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) Centre. The Australian Research Council (ARC) ACES Centre  comprises currently of six research organisations, whose common goal is to explore electromaterials and how they can be applied to the way we live. Established in 2005, ACES expands on the research program of the ARC Centre for Nanostructured Electromaterials and draws together researchers from a range of disciplines, including biologists, clinicians, chemists, physicists and engineers.

 (Pictured) Prof. Dermot Diamond

NCSR TIDA Awards - December 2011

Congratulations to Dr. Paul Leonard and Dr. Mercedes Vazquez who recently received Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Technology and Innovation Development Award (TIDA) 2011 training awards.

Dr. Paul Leonard is an academic researcher, inventor and aspiring entre¬preneur with a clear translational mind¬set and an ambition to bring his ideas to commercial frui¬tion. He is currently co-inventor and project promoter of a newly patented technology platform at the BDI named DiCAST (Direct Clone Analysis and Selection Technol¬ogy) which has significant commer¬cial potential. This SFI funded DiCAST project provides a superior antibody screening platform that will signifi¬cantly enhance the biorecognition de¬velopment capabili¬ties of the Biotech and Biopharma in¬dustries. Other BDI and NCSR members working on this project include Valerie Fitzgerald, Barry O'Donnell and Brian O'Reilly. Dr. Leonard's cur¬rent aim is to evalu¬ate the potential of developing a start up company based on DiCAST and this TIDA 2011 Entre¬preneur Training Course will pro¬vide him with the necessary tools and networks to help achieve his aim.

Dr. Mercedes Vázquez research interests are focused on the development of novel microfluidic platforms for sample preparation, extraction and analysis in a wide range of applications in the areas of environmental analysis, bioanalysis and biotechnology. She is especially interested in the development of new strategies for integration of particulate and monolithic stationary phases into microfluidic platforms in an effort to achieve increasing extraction/separation efficiency. As well, an important part of her research efforts are currently focused on the development of user friendly, low-cost, disposable centrifugal microfluidic devices for parallel sample processing and analysis. Dr. Vázquez expects that the TIDA 2011 Entrepreneur Training Course will provide her with the tools and knowledge for building up a competitive case around some of the microfluidic technology she is developing in view of its future commercialisation.

The award was established by SFI to provide entrepreneurship training for postdoctoral researchers. The aim of the TIDA 2010 initiative was to realise potential commercial value from SFI funded research and to create a culture of innovation and enterprise within the SFI research community. The training programme will provide key skills in entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as the development of key skills in commercialisation, market-potential research opportunities and an understanding of how to assess economic and societal impact. The course will also provide training in business finance, intellectual property, copyright, patents and market feasibility. The course will ultimately culminate in a 'Dragon's den' style competition.