Research Impact

A 10 year partnership between UL and HSE has benefited patients dealing with multidrug-resistant infections, patients with cystic fibrosis and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Winner of the 2020 Outstanding Research Collaboration, President’s Research Excellence and Impact Award, the collaboration involves microbiologists, designers, engineers, nurses, physiotherapists, paediatricians, respiratory specialists. Understanding infectious disease outbreaks and the microbial causes of infection leads to new prevention and control interventions, education programmes and innovations in medical device and testing technologies. Prof Colum Dunne, School of Medicine, Prof Barry Linnane, Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician, UHL, Prof Nuala O’Connell, Consultant Clinical Microbiologist, UHL, Barbara Slevin, Assistant Director of Nursing, Infection Prevention & Control, ULHG, Kevin O’Sullivan, Rapid Innovation Unit and Prof Colum Dunne, School of Medicine UL join our host Prof of Economics, Helena Lenihan to discuss their award-winning collaboration. Supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr Ann Marcus-Quinn, a lecturer in Technical Communication and Instructional Design at the University of Limerick asks whether the move from book to tablet is the right one for the education system. She discusses how digital teaching and learning resources can be used, developed and shared in order to enhance teaching and learning in Irish education. She also talks about her involvement in a review of a secondary school’s digital policy and how this resulted in its decision to reintroduce books citing concerns over students screen time and recommending a blended approach to learning.

Dermot Hayes, disability community activist from Ennis in conversation with Dr Rosie Gowran, School of Allied Health, UL and Leigh Gath, disability rights campaigner on the importance and challenges of getting the right wheelchair nationally and globally and the difficulties that wheelchair users face when proper supports are not available.

The Research Soapbox event highlighted how research can make a real difference. The lunchtime showcase event took place in the Fab Lab in Limerick’s city centre and involved researchers from PhD to Professor with voices from the University of Limerick Thesis in 3 Competition as well as the Research Impact Podcast Series. The event was moderated by Prof Helena Lenihan, Chair of the UL Research Impact Committee. The range of topics varied from match fixing in sport to designer medicines and from folding turbine blades to the rights of wheelchair users and a lot more besides.

In 1900, only 14% percent of the world’s population lived in a city. Today, for the first time in history, more than half the planet’s population reside in urban areas. These urban centres are now racing to become the smart cities of the future. Limerick has received a major boost in the race to become a smart city through its designation as Ireland’s first ‘Lighthouse Smart City’ through the Positive City Exchange Project. Rosie Webb, Senior Architect, Limerick City & County Council and Deputy co-ordinator of the Positive City Exchange Project and Professor Merritt Bucholz, founding Professor of Architecture at the University of Limerick, who is also an investigator on the project join us to tell us more about this project to shape Limerick’s future.

Personalised medicine is the next great global challenge for the pharmaceutical industry. The vision of the pharmacy of the future is one which employs disruptive technologies to enable on-demand manufacture of drugs designed to individual needs. Central to this vision is the concept of continuous processing. The Bernal Chair in Pharmaceutical Powder Engineering, Prof Gavin Walker, discusses how continuous processing is a key enabler to impact on global health through delivering more tailored and targeted medicines.

Tax fraud and tax evasion affects us all. Within the European Union, huge sums of revenue for public investment are being lost due to tax evasion and avoidance with estimates in the region of 1 trillion euros. Prof Sheila Killian of the Kemmy Business School talks about her research as part of the EU funded project called COFFERS - Combatting Fiscal Fraud and Empowering Regulators. The team at the Kemmy Business School are focusing on the role of expert professional networks, tax advisers, wealth managers and the factors which can lead them to take ethical or aggressive approaches to their tax work. Recorded by GK Media Ltd.

The advent of the electric car heralds a new era of environmentally friendly transport. However, battery cost could put a brake on the rollout of electric vehicles (EVs) for a mass market. Prof Kevin M Ryan, Chair in Chemical Nanotechnology, at the Bernal Institute, University of Limerick and his team are co-ordinating European research projects, Si-Drive and NEILLSBAT looking at next generation battery technology for EVs. This team are tackling the major barriers to EV uptake, which relate to driving range, cost and recharge times by completely re-imagining the lithium ion battery with new and innovative materials. Recorded by GK Media Ltd.

Digital transformation impacts many areas of our lives and has given rise to a booming digital economy. This new commodity of data is continually growing and changing. The challenge however, is how this digital transformation can be harnessed to do what we already do, but much better. Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science & Industry (MACSI) and Confirm, the SFI Research Centre for Smart Manufacturing hosted a panel of experts to tackle the topic: Chris Decubber, Technical Director at the European Factories of the Future Research Association (EFFRA), Dr Johan S Carlson, Director of the Fraunhofer-Chalmers Research Centre for Industrial Mathematics, Dr Joanna Jordan, Institute for Mathematical Innovation, University of Bath, Professor Barry O'Sullivan, Director of Insight the SFI Centre for Data Analytics, Prof James Gleeson, Co-Director of MACSI.

Many of us will become a victim of crime at some point in our lives, yet many victims chose not to report these crimes to the police. Ultimately, a large number of victims in Ireland are not engaging in the criminal justice system. Prof Shane Kilcommins, Dr Susan Leahy & Dr Eimear Spain from the Centre for Crime, Justice and Victim Studies (CCJVS) and the School of Law have sought to better understand this phenomenon with a view to understanding how best to engage with and support victims of crime, while also informing public policy and legislative reform. By focusing their research on the place of victims within the criminal justice system, the team is giving a voice to underrepresented minorities including victims with disabilities. Recorded by GK Media Ltd.

In Ireland, only 30% of women and 45% of men over 65 remain disability-free for life. Dramatic changes in cells start in our 30s, while in our 40s, health and functionality are impacted by increasing weight gain, decreasing bone density and loss or weakening of muscle. People with low lean tissue or muscle mass are classified as sarcopenic. Conservative estimates predict that the incidence of sarcopenia will increase by 50% over the next 30 years, making it a major public health issue among Ireland’s increasing older population. Prof Phil Jakeman and Dr Catherine Norton discuss their research which has proven that that sarcopenia can be offset by modifications to dietary habits. Their research shows that optimising the quality and timing of protein intake decreases age-related loss of muscle mass and in turn can benefit the quality of life of those who are affected by sarcopenia. Recorded by GK Media Ltd.

Carbon fibre is a key material in a range of industries from automotive to wind energy. Dr Maurice Collins is leading a €4.9m EU wide project called LIBRE to create a cleaner and cheaper alternative means of carbon fibre production using lignin, a polymer found in wood and bark, rather than current petroleum based methods. He discusses the environmental and financial benefits of this enhanced production method and the future direction for his research. This project has received funding from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 720707. Recorded by GK Media Ltd.

The pervasive occurrence of domestic violence and abuse poses many challenges to Irish society. Dr Catherine Naughton talks about her PhD Research which was supervised by Prof Orla Muldoon and Dr Aisling O’Donnell in the Dept. of Psychology and Centre for Social Issues Research. Catherine discusses their research which explores the negative social and emotional consequences that growing up in a home where domestic violence and abuse occurred may continue to have on young people. www.ul.ie/researchimpact Recorded by GK Media Ltd.

The software industry in Ireland is well established with 9 of the top 10 global software companies located in the country. Prof Brian Fitzgerald, Director of LERO the Irish Software Research Centre, discusses agile methods in software development and the exponential growth in the development of software across all industries. With €30 billion worth of exports annually, the software industry is of huge importance to Ireland. 90% of software development uses agile methods to speed up the development process. LERO’s focus is on tailoring these agile methods to suit highly regulated industries and to further the reputation of the Irish software industry. Recorded by GK Media Ltd.

The world needs solutions for its rapidly growing energy consumption which is projected to double by 2050. The advancement of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is vital to achieve environmentally sustainable progress. Dr Micheál Scanlon, from UL’s Bernal Institute, UL is working on a pioneering experimental approach that seeks to imitate photosynthesis in the leaves of plants, with the goal of generating clean electricity or solar fuels. www.ul.ie/researchimpact Recorded by GK Media Ltd.

Dr Andy Stewart is joined by PhD Students Kalani Moore and Eileen Courtney to describe the atomic action motives brought to life through microscopy. Since their discovery in 2004, 2D materials have sparked a worldwide race to discover new materials with stunning new properties. UL has been part of this drive for discovery through the Bernal Institute which is now home to one of the world’s most powerful aberration-corrected microscopes, the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Recorded by GK Media Ltd.

Low levels of physical activity are attributed to 6-10% of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breast and colon cancer and over 20% risk of Alzheimer’s disease in Europe. In their research Prof Alan Donnelly & Dr Ciaran Mac Donncha seek to objectively measure the health risk behaviours of physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour (time sitting, lying down) and also understand the impact on health and why individuals make these behaviour choices. This work is helping Ireland and Europe develop policy, guidelines and identify the most effective strategies for combatting these ever-increasing threats to health, and thus to promote health for citizens of all ages. www.ul.ie/researchimpact Recorded by GK Media Ltd.

The University of Limerick has long had a tradition of translational research, meaning research which has impact in the real world. In this podcast, Prof Helena Lenihan provides insights and tips to achieve real impact in your research and how it is achievable across all disciplines. For Prof Lenihan, there is no trade-off between doing excellent research and research that makes a real difference to society. Prof Lenihan argues that you can be the designer of your own impact. Drawing from her own experience of enterprise policy evaluation she explains the great possibilities from collaboration to ambition achievable through the research impact ethos. www.ul.ie/researchimpact Recorded by GK Media Ltd.