Patrick O’Donovan TD, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, recently announced a €14.6 million investment in 25 research projects to support early career researchers through the SFI-IRC Pathway programme. This programme, a collaborative effort between Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Irish Research Council (IRC), aims to encourage the research ecosystem in Ireland by supporting early-career researchers across all disciplines. The funding will enable postdoctoral researchers to advance their careers and transition into independent research leaders.

Among the funded projects in the field of Advanced Therapeutic Medicinal Products (ATMP) is Dr. Alan Costello’s work at the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT). Dr. Costello will explore RNA delivery vectors for transfer RNA therapeutics, which could potentially lead to new treatments for genetic diseases that currently lack therapeutic options. 

Expressing his enthusiasm for the award, Dr. Costello said, “I am thrilled to begin my transition to an independent researcher with the support of the SFI-IRC Pathway program and NIBRT. This project will integrate the directed evolution and synthetic biology techniques I’ve developed during my postdoctoral research to create new RNA therapeutics.”

Other projects funded under this initiative, which may contribute to future advancements in advanced therapeutics, include Nidhi Kedia-Mehta’s research at Maynooth University (MU) on the interaction between MAIT-NK cells and their potential role in the dysfunction of NK cells in obesity and related cancers, and Omar Mamad’s work at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) on microRNA targeting as a therapeutic mechanism for CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD).