UCC professor awarded funding for world-leading research lab

A Cork-based global leader in research into Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis has been awarded €5.6 million in funding to establish a world-leading research lab at University College Cork (UCC).

Professor Subrata Ghosh was awarded the funding through a prestigious Science Foundation Ireland Research Professorship Programme.

Prof Ghosh will lead the new AUGMENT project at UCC’s APC Microbiome Ireland SFI Research Centre to investigate precision medicine in relation to gut inflammation and the microbiome.

This will contribute to furthering research in IBD, Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, which affect 40,000 people in Ireland and ten million people globally every year.

The grant will resource a science research lab, and equipment, as well as 13 personnel, to investigate the nascent area of the microbiome in relation to gut inflammation and how it can be influenced by precision medicine to address critical health challenges.

Attracted to UCC from the University of Birmingham (UK) because of the world-class research in microbes and food carried out at APC Microbiome Ireland and Teagasc, Prof Ghosh said that many of the important clues to what causes Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, both currently incurable, are emerging from their research.

"Chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer are major causes of disability and death in Ireland and in the world. Current treatments are limited by their efficacy ceiling and adverse effects.

Increasing the efficacy of currently used targeted therapies and minimising adverse events through modulation of the gut microbiome may have a major impact on the life of the sufferers and address the economic burden of expensive therapies that prove to be ineffective.

“This SFI Research Professorship award aims to work with those affected by chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer to find novel solutions that enhance the efficacy of current drugs and minimise harmful side effects by understanding the role of the gut microbiome in mediating the action of drugs,” he said.

University College Cork President Prof John O’Halloran said that the SFI Professorship Award by Professor Ghosh is “vital” in furthering our understanding of the interconnection between our digestive tract and a disease that impacts so many.

“This success will advance both our research capacity and success in patient outcomes,” he said.