Four School of Pharmacy Researchers Receive PhDs From UCC

28 Jun 2024

Four School of Pharmacy postgraduate students received their PhD degrees at the College of Medicine and Health Conferring Ceremony on Friday, 28 June 2024. 

Dr Khaled El Kassas became the first UCC graduate from the Centre for Doctoral Training in Transformative Pharmaceutical Technologies (CDT) programme. This programme, a partnership between UCC, SSPC, University College London, and the University of Nottingham, prepares scientists for high-achieving careers in the pharmaceutical sector. Dr El Kassas's thesis, "Application of fluorescence spectroscopy for the in-vial investigation of protein solutions," advances our understanding of protein behaviour in pharmaceutical formulations.

Khaled's PhD was supervised by Professor Abina Crean and Dr Sonja Vucen.

Dr Eoin Hurley completed his MPharm degree in the School of Pharmacy in 2020, the same year he was awarded an Irish Research Council (IRC) scholarship to fund his doctoral research.

Eoin's thesis was titled 'Exploring the potential impact of integrating pharmacists into general practice in Ireland'. This research included exploring general practitioners' views regarding pharmacists working in general practice, and an intervention to improve prescribing in general practice-affiliated nursing homes - producing significant clinical and economic benefits.

Eoin's PhD was supervised by staff in the School of Pharmacy (Professor Stephen Byrne and Dr Kieran Dalton) and the Department of General practice (Professor Tony Foley and Dr Elaine Walsh).

Dr Emily Knox graduated from Stonehill College, MA with a BS in biology before working in Dr Anastasia Khvororva's lab at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Her thesis, titled "The role of the gut microbiota in the function and integrity of brain barriers," focused on discovering how gut microbial-derived metabolites directly alter blood-brain barrier (BBB) physiology and the mechanisms through which the identified metabolites act. This work helped further elucidate the pathways of communication along the gut-brain axis and enabled the exploitation of selected metabolites to manipulate BBB integrity in health and disease.

Emily's PhD was supervised by Professor Caitriona O'Driscoll and Professor John Cryan.

Dr Ayse Kont, originally a graduate of Goethe University in Germany, completed her PhD with funding from AMBER and Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Her thesis, "The design of cyclodextrins for delivery of siRNA - a structure-activity relationship," focused on developing novel biocompatible materials for therapeutic RNA delivery. This research contributes to advancing targeted drug delivery systems.

Ayse's PhD was supervised by Professor Caitriona O’Driscoll. 

Congratulations to Khaled, Eoin, Emily, and Ayse on their achievement. We look forward to their continued contributions to the advancement of healthcare solutions and the improvement of patient outcomes.