Trinity College Dublin to host new research on how immune system repairs brain
Neuroimmunologist Prof Denise Fitzgerald has been awarded €6.26 million from Research Ireland to investigate ways that ageing affects how the immune system helps repair brain tissue in illnesses such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Over the next five years Prof Fitzgerald – previously based in Queen’s University Belfast – will lead a research team of 10 based in Trinity College Dublin and partnering with FutureNeuro Research Ireland Centre for Translational Brain Science, St James’s Hospital, and Beaumont Hospital to discover why our immune cells become less able to coax brain stem cells to repair damage as we age. This research combines immunology, neuroscience and regenerative biology to tackle this complex problem.
Prof Fitzgerald said: “This ambitious programme of research will uncover new insights into fundamental changes in the older immune system that has a knock-on effect on brain repair. This new knowledge can then be used to develop pioneering regenerative treatment for MS and other neurological conditions.”
The research will be embedded into clinical trials to increase the opportunities for people with MS in Ireland to access experimental treatments early, as well as to co-produce research with us as key public members of the research programme.
Through this appointment, Prof Fitzgerald will divide her role between Trinity College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast, promoting all-island collaboration across neuroimmunology and other research areas, including extensive international collaboration with experts at Cambridge University, University College London, the University of Toronto, the Institute of Neuroscience – Alicante, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and Maynooth University.
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