2025
December
October
A Step into Irish Culture and Big Dreams for 2026: our research group traded lab coats for dancing shoes and had a whale of a time learning traditional Irish dance in the heart of Temple Bar! Laughter, music, and a few fancy footwork attempts filled the evening as we embraced the vibrant spirit of Dublin.
After the dancing, we continued the celebration at a cozy Indian restaurant, where the aromas of spices set the stage for meaningful conversations. Over shared plates and warm smiles, we reflected on our journey so far and began shaping bold dreams for the year ahead, 2026 promises to be a year of innovation, collaboration, and breakthroughs in lung health research.
Here’s to blending culture, camaraderie, and cutting-edge science as we step confidently into the future.
Breaking New Ground in CF Infection Control: Researchers have developed an innovative approach to tackle chronic lung infections in Cystic Fibrosis (CF). By using DNA nanostructures to deliver a microRNA mimic (miR-101-3p), this strategy targets key bacterial genes linked to antibiotic resistance and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The results are promising: the treatment not only reduces bacterial viability but also boosts the effectiveness of beta-lactam antibiotics like cefotaxime. This breakthrough could pave the way for smarter, more effective therapies against stubborn CF infections.
March
Where Ideas Meet Action: ECFS Basic Science 2025: The European Cystic Fibrosis Society Basic Science Conference was held in the beautiful Lido Di Camaiore, Italy. We met great new collaborators and learned a lot about research going on in the field of CF.
A Milestone Moment for the Living Lung Lab: Exciting times! Dr. Anja Schweikert, the first PhD student from the Living Lung Lab passed her viva. Thank you to her examiners, Prof. Catherine Greene (RCSI) and Prof Pieter Hiemstra (Leiden University), for taking the time to evaluate her work.
Science, Collaboration, and Recognition at the Lung Science Conference: Another great Lung Science Conference filled with amazing science, not-so-good weather, and delicious food is over. The program was filled with great talks and we are coming back with new ideas and a Distinguished Poster Award for the Poster presented by Anja.
Driving Lung Science Forward at RCSI Research Day: The RCSI Research Day is always a great opportunity to learn more about the Research going on in RCSI and showcase the Research from our Group.
Growing Together: Welcoming [Name] to the Team: A warm welcome to our new Research Assistant Sofía Alonso Manresa! Sofía will be working with Prof Killian Hurley and Prof Sally-Ann Cryan.
2024
Food, Fun, and Festive Vibes: Here’s to a Bright New Year: We ended an eventful year with great food and a draw-in-the-dark session. Here’s wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2025!
December
Santa’s Seal of Support: Raising Awareness for Cystic Fibrosis: Another great fundraiser event to raise awareness for Cystic Fibrosis! Even Santa himself supported the Christmas Day 4 CF.
November
Welcoming New Expertise to the Living Lung Lab: A warm welcome to Spandana Kotian! Spandana’s PhD project will concentrate on “Investigating the role of telomere shortening in pulmonary fibrosis using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell models.” with Prof Killian Hurley.
Connecting Minds, Advancing Care: Our Takeaways from ICLAF 2025: A conference only about Pulmonary Fibrosis? - We are in! We learned a lot at this year’s ICLAF in Athens and had a great time catching up with collaborators.
October
Fresh Perspectives: Two New PhD Projects Exploring miRNA and CF Therapies: What a great way to start the month by welcoming two new lab PhD students. Xi Jing Teoh and YinHeRichard Sun started their PhD projects with Dr. Irene Oglesby. Xi will do her PhD in “Interrogating the role of miRNA in predicting responses to novel modulator therapies in children with Cystic Fibrosis (IMPROVE-CF) and Richard will concentrate on “Exploring the role of miRNA in iPSC-derived airway basal cells from individuals with Cystic Fibrosis with variable treatment outcomes”.
From Lab to Life: Engaging the Public with Our Research: The European Research Night was a great opportunity to present some of our research to the general public. Thank you for everyone who came by!
September
Sip, Support, Spread Awareness – ILFA Coffee Morning: September is Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month! What better way to raise awareness than a Coffee Morning in aid of the Irish Lung Fibrosis Association (ILFA)?
From Research to Rollercoasters: Our ERS Vienna Experience: This year’s ERS brought us to the beautiful Vienna. Catching up on the latest research in the Lung field and meeting collaborators was rounded up by some thrills in the nearby adventure park.
2023
September
Another great ERS in Milan - filled with amazing science and interesting meetings!
August
Big news for Dr. Mari Ozaki’s interesting project. Amy Duffy starts her PhD “Assessing the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell models”.
February
Our team gets bigger again. Divya and Jason joined our lab for their 3-month project.
January
A warm welcome to our newest Living Lung Lab Member. Xi Jing Teoh will join our team as a Research Assistant. Rebecca our RCSI student started her Student Selected Project.
2022
November
Prof Killian Hurley was awarded an ERC Starting Grant to support his innovative research into treatments for pulmonary fibrosis.
Dr. Mari Ozaki was awarded an IRC Starting Laureate. Mari will study the effects of ageing (short telomeres) & sex hormones in lung fibrosis using iPSCs.
October
It’s time to say goodbye. Arlene Glasgow is moving to Oxford University to work with Prof. Deborah Gill on gene therapy for rare lung diseases.
September
Experienced great science (and dancing) at the ERS conference in Barcelona - Jumping for fun!
July
Dr. Irene Oglesby was awarded a HRB Emerging Investigator Award to study drug response of children with CF.
May
As part of the COST Innovator Grant Training School we welcomed trainees to RCSI in Dublin to teach them in the skills required to generate a robust preclinical model of ILD using induced pluripotent stem cells.