PhD Students
Stephen Ryder
Stephen Ryder has a B.A. (Mod) in Microbiology by Trinity College Dublin. He has also completed a MSc by research in Molecular Microbiology at Trinity College Dublin. This project focused on studying effects of exposing clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae to biocides and the impact of this exposure on cross-resistance to antibiotics and bacterial virulence. His main areas of interest include antibiotic resistance, the induction of multi-drug resistance in pathogens of clinical relevance, alternative treatments to antibiotics, and resistance management practices. He is particularly interested in the characterisation of antimicrobial resistance using a one health approach, from the environment to the human and in the development of new treatment approaches to combat antimicrobial resistant pathogens.
Stephen joined Dr. Marta Martins research lab based at the Department of Microbiology, in September 2023 to begin a PhD “Characterisation of the microbiome and antimicrobial resistome in Irish soil, forage grasses and cereals.” as part of the RESIST-AMR team supported by the Prendergast Challenge-based awards.
Anita Grasso
Anita Grasso is an Italian microbiologist who studied her undergraduate degree at the University of Parma in Livestock Science and Animal Production Technologies (BSc). There, she started researching antimicrobial resistance (AMR), with her thesis discussing the importance of beta-lactamases in the global burden of AMR. Continuing her degrees, she pursued a master's in Biotechnologies for Food Science at the University of Padova. During this time, as a recipient of an Erasmus + Scholarship, she conducted an international research placement with the University of Exeter (UK), tackling the spread of environmental AMR through the gene transfer process of natural transformation. During her career, she’s also had the opportunity to work with one of the leading Italian National Health Service - The Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute - focusing on research and control activities in the field of food safety and zoonoses. It is through her experiences in academia and industry that she has developed skills and a keen interest in understanding AMR emergence, transmission, and how the farm environment plays a potential role in exposure to human populations.
Anita joined the Clinical Microbiology research team lead by Dr. Julie Renwick based at the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences at Tallaght University Hospital. In September 2023, she started her PhD entitled Farm-to-farmer, farm-to-air transfer of antimicrobial resistance during farming practices as part of the RESIST-AMR team supported by the Prendergast Challenge-based awards.
Addiena Luke-Currier
Ciara Hegarty
Ciara Hegarty is a recent Biotechnology graduate from DCU (2023) with a strong passion for research and a desire to pursue a career in the field. She has acquired research experience from an internship at a pathology-based research lab in Dublin during her final year undergraduate program and through work as a pathology laboratory assistant at Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital since 2021. In addition to this, she successfully conducted her undergraduate thesis on Uveal Melanoma, titled "Comparison of Age-Associated Mutational Landscape of Uveal Melanoma." In this research endeavour, she adeptly employed bioinformatic techniques to identify several potential new driver genes and revealed marked differences in the underlying genetic mechanisms driving disease progression between the two cohorts. Her main research interests include antibiotic resistance, the microbiome, immunology and the influence antibiotics have on our body's microbiome and resistome.
Ciara joined the Microbiome and Mucosal Immunity research lab lead by Dr. Sinéad Corr based at the Department of Microbiology, in September 2023 to begin a PhD “Modelling the microbiome in human in vitro organoid platforms” as part of the RESIST-AMR team supported by the Prendergast Challenge-based awards.
Addiena Luke-Currier has an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Anthropology concentrating in Global Health (completed in 2021). She is recent grad from the Europubhealth+ European Public Health Master programme. For the first year of the programme, she studied a Master of Public Health at University College Dublin. She has just completed her second year studying a Master in Leadership and Governance in European Public Health at Maastricht University. Throughout her studies she has had the opportunity to work with many great organizations, such as the European Regional and Local Health Authorities in Brussels and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki. For the past few years she has been involved in two research projects closely related to the topic of the PhD. One looks at the role of farmers and farmers' markets in reducing food insecurity in low-income women and children. The other looks at antibiotic prescribing practices of GPs across Europe for respiratory tract infections.
She joined Dr Elaine Moriarty’s research group based at Sch. of Social Science and Philosophy, in September 2023 to begin a PhD “Evaluating the agricultural practices and the regulatory environment that governs antimicrobial use in Ireland.” as part of the RESIST-AMR team supported by the Prendergast Challenge-based awards.