2008 Press Releases
21.01.2008
Allergy development, asthma, obesity and diabetes will be the topics for discussion at a Public Forum taking place in UCC's Brookfield Health Science Complex on Tuesday, January 29th.
Hosted by the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC), based at UCC, the Forum titled "Common Ailments - from allergies to Asthma" will include experts in a number of specific health areas.
Professor Jonathan Hourihane, Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at Cork University Hospital will be joined by Dr James Martin, APC and McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and Dr James Ryan, a specialist Registrar in Endocrinology and Diabetes, Cork University Hospital and BioSciences Institute, UCC. The Forum will be chaired by Professor Fergus Shanahan, Director of the APC and Consultant Gastroenterologist at Cork University Hospital.
Professor Jonathan Hourihane, an expert in paediatrics and childhood health, will deliver a presentation on allergy development in children outlining the role of the gut in immune and allergy development during childhood.
Dr James Martin of McGill University, Montreal, whose presentation is titled "Asthma - The Modern Epidemic", will speak about the inflammatory disease of the airways that is driven in many individuals by allergy to airborne allergens. The mechanisms of inflammation and the structural changes in the airways caused by inflammation are major research themes in his laboratory. Dr Martin has been awarded a Walton Fellowship by Science Foundation Ireland to spend a year at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, where he is studying the role of intestinal bacteria in allergic diseases such as asthma as well as the possible therapeutic potential of probiotics.
Dr James Ryan of the Cork University Hospital, in his talk titled "Obesity and its Consequences", will present the most recent findings on obesity and the consequences of obesity on health, in particular on the development of diabetes. In Ireland, 18% of adults are obese and 39% are overweight. The Report on the National Task Force on Obesity estimated that the obesity epidemic is responsible for around 2,000 premature deaths annually in Ireland. Obesity contributes to hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, some types of cancer and many other disorders.
The Public Forum takes place at 7pm on Tuesday, January 29th in Lecture Theatre G01, Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, College Road, Cork. Members of the public are invited to attend and admission is free. A Question and Answer will follow the Presentation.
The Forum is being organised by the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC), a research centre focussing on gastrointestinal health and development of therapies for debilitating disorders such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome and food poisoning. The APC is a partnership between University College Cork and Teagasc, Moorepark and is funded by Science Foundation Ireland and industry.
Picture: Dr James Martin
605MMcS