- Archive
- Introduction & Innovation Tools Seminar - 2nd May 2013ISSC PI secures SFI Investigator Award - 25th January 2012ISSC retains two IRC Employment based Postgraduate Awards - January 2013ISSC Researcher wins Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award - December 2012ISSC Biannual meeting, Kilkenny - 6th & 7th December 2012ISSC at Big Ideas 2012 - 28th November 2012ISSC Attend Annual SFI Science Summit - 21st November 2012ISSC Seminar - 28th September 2012ISSC Welcomes New Director - July 2012ISSC Researcher wins An Oral Presentation Prize at the annual Analytical Research Forum (ARF) - July 2012Biopharmaceutical Raw Materials Conference - 27th & 28th June 2012
ISSC - News/Events
Introduction & Innovation Tools Seminar - 2nd May 2013
The Irish Separation Science and Analysis Cluster (ISSC) is pleased to invite you to a seminar this Thursday 2nd May entitled;
‘Introduction to Innovation Tools – a gateway to achieving lateral thinking to support your research and development goals’
This seminar will be of particular relevance to Research Staff and Postgraduate Students in the wider DCU research community, and will comprise an overview and discussion on the use of innovation tools, ground rules and lateral thinking to support research, development and innovation.
This invited seminar will be delivered by Dr. Peter Hetherington, Director of Innovation, Pfizer Inc., Ringaskiddy. Peter graduated with a BSC in Chemistry in UCC 1988 and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Queen’s University Belfast, in 1992. He subsequently joined GSK as a development chemist, spending a number of years in Technical Operations and Production. In 2001 Peter moved to Pfizer Loughbeg and Pfizer Ringaskiddy, and over the last 12 years has held the positions of Director of Technical Services, EHS and Technology and Innovation. He is currently on assignment as Global Lead for Technology Transfer of Second Generation Processes at Pfizer.
Date: May 2nd 2012
Time: 2pm-3pm
Venue: Room HG17 (Nursing Building)
Registration is required. For more details please see the following link: http://issc-es2005.eventbrite.com/?rank=1
ISSC PI secures SFI Investigator Award- 25th January 2013
Dr. Dermot Brabazon
Congratulations to Dr. Dermot Brabazon of the ISSC who recently secured a significant award under the highly competitive SFI Investigator Programme. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD and the Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock TD,) announced the funding awards on Friday, January 25th 2013. With dedicated funding of €60million, the Investigator Programme will support 85 pioneering research initiatives, directly supporting 250 researchers through to 2018. It is anticipated that the awards will also indirectly support further research initiatives and help to employ additional researchers by leveraging significant additional funding from other sources including competitive European research calls. Dermot’s research will also make a significant contribution to the next phase of research within the ISSC, focusing on laser processing for fabrication of advanced liquid chromatographic systems.
ISSC retains two IRC Employment based Postgraduate Awards - January 2013
The Irish Research Council’s Employment-Based Postgraduate Programme is a new and exciting initiative providing postgraduate researchers with an employment-focused educational experience. The Programme offers researchers the opportunity to undertake a Master's or PhD degree while employed by a private company or public organisation based in the Republic of Ireland. The overall objectives of the Employment-Based Postgraduate Programme are provide researchers at Master's and PhD level with an invaluable insight into the commercial aspects of research and innovation. The new awards will build on existing collaborative research and catalyse knowledge transfer with Alltech Animal Nutrition and Health in Dunboyne, and Allergan Pharmaceuticals in Westport, valued industry partners of the ISSC.
ISSC Researcher wins Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award - December 2012
Congratulations to David Collins of the ISSC who was recently recognised as a Faculty of Science and Health outstanding graduate researcher 2012. The award honours graduate students of exceptional ability who have made an outstanding contribution to the research effort of the Faculty. The award is made on the basis of the totality of candidates’ research accomplishment during their research degree at DCU. David’s research activities in the ISSC focus on the area of high temperature capillary LC and capillary LC related instrumentation development.
(L-R) Dr. Enda McGlynn, Prof. John Costello, Prof. Apryll Stalcup, Mr. David Collins, Dr. Ekaterina Nesterenko and Prof. Malcolm Smyth
ISSC Biannual Centre Meeting in Kilkenny Focused on Professional Development Theme - 6th & 7th December 2012
The ISSC held its Biannual Centre meeting on 06 – 07 December at the Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny. In keeping with the Professional Development theme, a round-table discussion, ably facilitated by Dr. Christine Loscher, from DCU’s BioAT program, was held for the postdoctoral fellows and postgraduate students on the afternoon of the first day. Sincere gratitude is extended to our panel of experts which included Michael Ryan (SFI), Declan Moran (Ipsen; formerly NCSR Centre Manager), Blánaid White (DCU, Chemical Sciences) and Georgina Murphy (INVENT). All were on hand to share their own career paths and answer any questions about the mechanics of Life after Graduate School. Dinner was followed by a rousing game of Table Quiz, deftly organized by Katya Nesterenko and Dave Collins. A composite team comprised of members from UCC and DCU, Apryll’s Fools, took 1st place. On the second day, Cathal Connolly (Alltech), John Hanrahan (Glantreo) and Sara Coleman (National Instruments) introduced their companies to the ISSC and then, joined by Kathy Grassick (Waters) conducted mock interviews with postgrads and postdocs.
Apryll's Fools, winners of the Quiz
ISSC at the Big Ideas Showcase 2012 - 28th November 2012
The ISSC and Invent DCU participated in Enterprise Ireland’s annual technology transfer gathering at the Big Ideas Showcase on 28th November 2012. This event provides an opportunity for Irish universities and Institutes of Technology to get together and to demo their latest and greatest technologies to a wide audience that includes company executives, investors and entrepreneurs. Richard Stokes, CEO of Invent DCU delivered the keynote speech and set the tone for the event. He congratulated the Irish Technology Transfer system citing impressive statistics that compared very favourably to international benchmarks. He also commented on the challenging times that lay ahead and in particular the need for more progressive policies to encourage entrepreneurship in Ireland. Finally he congratulated Enterprise Ireland for their continued commitment and support in creating new technology businesses in Ireland and urged all the participants to build on the successful foundation.
The event followed the established format of providing a showcase area for each of the technology transfer offices, followed by presentations on twenty leading technologies spread across Life Sciences; ICT; and Manufacturing, Engineering and Energy. The ISSC was superbly represented by Dr. Paul Clarke who presented Glycoselective Tools for the Life Sciences Sector (Prolegere). Building on research carried out within the ISSC, ProLegere has developed a range of lectin molecules which can be used for both the analysis and purification of Biopharmaceutical drugs. By enhancing the efficiency and reducing the cost of Biotherapeutic production, these novel tools can help producers deliver safer and more effective drugs to patients. These lectin based tools can also find wider applications in the life sciences including applications in the field of biomedical diagnostics. The team is currently seeking individuals with expertise to help drive the commercialisation of the technology with a view to securing investment to support the Spin out of ProLegere from DCU in 2013.
For more details visit the following link: http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/events/ourevents/big-ideas-technology-showcase-november-2012/prolegere.pdf
(L-R) Paddy O’Boyle (Invent, DCU), Minister Sherlock, Keith O’Neill (Enterprise Ireland).
* Text taken from Invent news item http://www4.dcu.ie/sites/default/files/invent/pdfs/Big%20Ideas%20Showcase%202012.pdf
ISSC attend the Annual SFI Science Summit 2012 - 21st November 2012
Dr. Barbara Fogarty represented the ISSC at the Annual SFI Science Summit which took place in Athlone, on 12th and 13th November 2012. With a theme of Sharing Science, the agenda focused on the importance of science communications and included excellent presentations by the multiple award-winning Baroness Susan Greenfield and Director of External Affairs at the Science Museum Group, Dr. Roger Highfield. Dr Graham Love gave on overview of the outreach and communications remit of SFI while Prof Mark Ferguson highlighted the broad range of funding opportunities available to Ireland’s research community. Reference was also made to the future significance of national research prioritisation exercise and the launch of SFI’s new strategy – Agenda 2020. A number of workshops were held to help provide training to SFI-funded researchers. One of these focused on how to articulate a case for commercialization to funding agencies, potential industry partners and investors. Discussions at the summit highlighted the increasing need for researchers to demonstrate a combination of both scientific excellence and impact and the importance of competitive positioning of Irish research in global context. In addition to the Scientific Outputs, researchers were strongly encouraged to reflect on and to communicate the unique selling points of their innovation’s and the broader potential to contribute to society, policy and enterprise development.
ISSC Seminar - 28th September 2012
Dr. Julie Stenken presented a seminar entitled A Separations- and Analytical Chemistry-based Approach for Elucidating Tissue Reaction Problems with Implanted Glucose Sensors on Friday 28th September.
Seminar Abstract:
Microdialysis sampling is a widely used and successful sample collection method to obtain analytically-clean samples from complex matrices such as mammalian tissues, bioreactors, or environmental samples. A major application of microdialysis sampling has been to collect important chemical communication molecules such as the hydrophilic neurotransmitters dopamine, glutamate, and serotonin in the brain.
Our principal research focus over the last few five years has been to develop microdialysis sampling applications for assessing different components related to wound healing. This work initially focused on cytokine collection, but led to an interesting spin-off projects aimed towards other peptides. We have also embarked on using mass spectrometry to identify the presence of important matrix remodeling proteins, the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and have recently begun imaging mass spectrometry studies of this work. Finally, we have used both internal standards and modulators to define probe calibration properties during long term implantation in rat subcutaneous tissue. This talk will highlight the analysis and biological challenges associated with achieving long-term glucose sensing. Support for this work comes from NIH grants EB-014404.
Dr. Julie Stenken and Prof. Apryll Stalcup
ISSC Welcomes New Director –July 2012
Prof. Apryll Stalcup
The Irish Separation Science Cluster (ISSC) welcomed, Professor Apryll Stalcup as their new director on the 1st July 2012.
Professor Apryll Stalcup received her BS in chemistry from California State University-Sacramento in 1979. She worked as an analytical chemist at Versar, a small environmental consulting firm outside Washington, DC, before pursuing graduate studies at Georgetown University with Professor Daniel Martire. She obtained her PhD in Physical Chemistry in 1988. During her studies at Georgetown University, she was a Co-op Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland, working with Dr. Stephen Wise and Dr. Lane Sander. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Missouri-Rolla with Professor Daniel Armstrong prior to joining the faculty at the University of Hawaii-Manoa in 1990. In 1996, she moved to the University of Cincinnati and was promoted to Full Professor in 2001. She is a member of the University of Cincinnati Graduate Fellows and a Charter member of the University of Cincinnati Chapter’s National Academy of Inventors. In 2011, she was awarded the Cincinnati Chemist of the Year by the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society.
Her research involves understanding chromatographic and electrophoretic separation mechanisms, exploring new separation methods, chiral separations, characterizing surface confined ionic liquid-based stationary phases and characterization of complex carbohydrates. This work has resulted in over 100 publications including numerous book chapters, encyclopaedia articles and invitations to present numerous talks. She served on the Editorial Boards of Chirality and Journal of Chromatography B: Biomedical Applications as well as The Analyst and the Advisory Board of Fresenius’ Journal of Analytical Chemistry, now Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. She currently serves on the Advisory panel for Analytical Chemistry Features and the Editorial Board of Trends in Analytical Chemistry. She is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Association of the Advancement of Science, the American Nuclear Society and Sigma Xi.
ISSC Researcher wins An Oral Presentation Prize at the annual Analytical Research Forum (ARF) - July 2012
Congratulations to Ms. Xiaoyun (Lily) He on winning the best oral presentation prize at the annual Analytical Research Forum (ARF) which was held in July in University of Durham. ARF is the premier Analytical Science meeting of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is primarily for early-stage analytical science researchers (industrial scientists, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows) to allow them to present their latest results in the context of the wider analytical science community. Her talk entitled “A Porous Nano-templated Carbon Monolith: Preparation, Characterisation and Application as an Extraction Sorbent” was presented and attracted great interest of the audience.
Ms. Xiaoyun (Lily) He (left) with Professor Gillian Greenway (University of Hull) who is the past president of the RSC Analytical Division (right).
Biopharmaceutical Raw Materials Conference – 27th & 28th June 2012 
Dr. Mercedes Vazquez
Dr. Mercedes Vázquez, an ISSC researcher, has been invited to give an oral presentation at the coming conference Biopharmaceutical Raw Materials: Qualification, Analysis and Supply Chain Management to be held in Cologne (Germany) on 27-28 June, 2012. Her talk entitled “Analysis of water-soluble vitamins in biopharmaceutical raw materials” will be presented within the session dedicated to the latest analytical tools to monitor raw materials and reduce variability. This event will bring together industry, regulatory and academic experts to discuss issues related to management, evaluation and variation of biopharmaceutical raw materials in an effort to ensure lot-to-lot consistency and materials quality, satisfy global regulatory requirements, and mitigate risks of material contamination.
International Symposium on Capillary Chromatography (ISCC) – 27th May-1st June 2012 
Dr. Mercedes Vazquez at the International Symposium on Capillary Chromotography
A group of ISSC researchers recently attended the 36th International Symposium on Capillary Chromatography (ISCC) held at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Riva del Garda from the 27th May until the 1st June 2012. This annual conference is well-known worldwide within the areas of capillary gas/ liquid chromatography, sample preparation, electromigration methods, column technology, microfluidic analytical platforms, and applications.
Dr. Ekaterina Nesterenko presented a lecture focused on her latest results on monoPLOT columns for micro-solid phase extraction of proteins. Dr. Mercedes Vázquez presented a lecture covering the latest advances on integration of micro-extraction columns in centrifugal microfluidic platforms. A poster about the use of an UV oven developed in-house for the controlled fabrication of monolithic monoPLOT columns was presented by Mr. David Collins.
ISSC Student wins Alltech regional Young Scientist Award - 16th May 2012
Ms. Shona Hayes (Centre) with Dr. Damian Connolly (right) and a representative from Alltech (left) Shona Hayes, has won the Western Europe Graduate Section of the Alltech Young Scientist Award 2012 for her research into the measurement of pollutants in river water. Shona competed against more than 3 000 students from throughout Western Europe to claim the regional title and a prize of $1, 000. Sonia is a graduate of the DCU Environmental Health programme and was supervised by Dr. Damian Connolly from the ISSC.
As an environmental chemist, Shona was interested in determining the concentration of carcinogenic pollutants such as "phenols" in river water. Her project involved producing a polymer in the laboratory which has the ability to extract tiny amounts of phenols from river water so that their concentration can be measured much more easily afterwards by liquid chromatography. Shona successfully produced a small hand-held device which could be used directly at the river-side to extract the pollutants prior to returning to the laboratory for extremely sensitive liquid chromatographic analysis.
Liquid chromatography, by far the most popular technique used by scientists in laboratories around the word, is used for the separation of complex mixtures into their individual components so that their concentration can be determined accurately. Typical examples include the measurement of performance-enhancing drugs in the urine of athletes or impurities in drug products in the pharmaceutical industry. It is necessary to separate the pollutants (such as pesticides from nearby farmland) from the complex river-water sample so that the measurement can be made without interference from the other components of the sample. Often the concentration of the pollutants is extremely low in the sample, making it difficult to detect and so methods are used to increase the pollutant concentration prior to analysis.
Congratulating Shona on her win, Maria Keane of Alltech said,
'Shona beat off very stiff competition with her paper "Development of monolithic extraction devices for microscale solid phase extraction". This well-deserved Award recognises her exceptional research and practical application skills.'
Details on how to register for the Alltech Young Scientist Award for 2013 are available at:
Outstanding contribution to Teaching and Learning nominations - May 2012
Congratulations to Dr. Ekaterina Nesterenko and Dr. Blanaid White, on their nominations for the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching. Both were short listed for this years prestigious award which recognises outstanding contribution to DCU's teaching and learning mission on the part of members of staff.
ISSC Researcher wins Royal Society of Chemistry’s Ronald Belcher Award - April 2012
Congratulations to Mr. David Collins on winning the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Ronald Belcher Award. The award was given to Mr. Collins for outstanding achievement in the area of high temperature capillary LC and capillary LC related instrumentation development. Mr. Collins will travel to this years meeting of the Analytical Research Forum (ARF) which will be held in July at Durham University, where he will give an invited lecture on his work.
Mr. David Collins
SFI Technology Innovation Development Award (TIDA) Training 2011 – April 2012
Congratulations to Dr. Mercedes Vazquez, who was awared the Science Foundation Ireland TIDA Training Award. This training award was established by SFI to provide entrepreneurship training for postdoctoral researchers as part of the SFI ‘Get Started Technology Venture Programme’.
During the training course, which was held at the DCU Ryan Academy between January and April 2012, many different aspects involved in commercialisation and entrepreneurship were covered. The course ended with an elevator pitched in which all the awardees had to present a commercial case around their technology to a panel of experts. Dr. Vázquez presented a commercialisation plan around a microfluidic platform recently developed within the ISSC.
Dr. Vázquez research interests are actually focused on the development of novel microfluidic platforms for sample preparation, extraction, separation and analysis in a wide range of applications areas, including environmental analysis, bioanalysis and biotechnology. She is especially interested in the development of new strategies for integration of particulate and monolithic stationary phases into low-cost, disposable microfluidic platforms in an effort to achieve increasing extraction and/or separation efficiency.
Dr. Mercedes Vazques receiving her TIDA Award
ISSC Researchers granted SFI Short Term Travel Grants - December 2011
Congratulations to Dr. Ekaterina Nesterenko and Mr. David Collins who were recently granted Science Foundation Ireland short term travel fellowships (STTF).
Dr. Nesterenko and Mr. Collins were awarded funding to travel to the Australian Centre for Research on Separation Science (ACROSS) group, based at the University of Tasmania in Hobart. Dr. Nesterenko and Mr. Collins will be working with their former supervisor, Prof. Brett Paull, on collaborative projects between ACROSS and the ISSC.
During the summer of 2011, both Ekaterina and David spent 5 weeks at the University of Tasmania working with Prof. Paull to develop collaboration between the two groups and the initial visit has yielded some very interesting projects. Ekaterina will be developing test methods for the characterisation of stationary phases for bioseparations (i.e. stationary phase hydrophobicity, etc) while David will be working on deployable instrumentation for environmental analysis.
Prof. Pavel Nesterenko (left), Dr. Ekaterina Nesterenko (Centre) and Prof. Brett
Paull (right)
at the University of Tasmania in Hobart
ISSC Researcher receives Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Grant - December 2011
Congratulations to Dr. Ekaterina Nesterenko received funding from Enterprise Ireland commercialisation fund for the development of an innovative device for analytical sample preparation. The device will facilitate sample pre-concentration combined with extraction of specific analytes for subsequent micro-fluidic separations, Liquid Chromatography and Gas Chromatography. The device will offer the end user a cost effective, fast method of pre-concentration and extraction, with fewer set-up steps and thus less chance of contamination. The award received has a total value of €72,000.
Ekaterina Nesterenko
Training session of Agilent 6510 QToF, LCMS for ISSC Researchers - 15th September 2011
An intensive two day training session was organised by Agilent technologies for the Irish separation science cluster (ISSC) researcher in the department of chemistry UCC on 15th September 2011. This was an important exercise for the ISSC researchers up skilling experience. LCMS is becoming an indispensable analytical chemistry tool for chemical analysis required in the pharma, agricultural, environmental sectors etc. A total of ten postgraduate and post doc within the ISSC took part in this training.
Members of the ISSC who took part in this recent training
Poster Award - July 2012
Congratulations to Dr. Ekaterina Nesterenko who won first prize at the Separation Science Asia Meeting in July. Congratulations also to Mr. David Collins who was awarded 5th place from approximately 70 posters. 
HPLC 2011 - June 2011
A number of researchers from the Irish Separation Science Cluster travelled to Budapest in June to present recent research output at the 36th International Symposium on High-Performance Liquid Phase Separations and Related Techniques (HPLC 2011). The conference (held at least once annually) is an international forum for scientific discussion of the methods of high performance liquid chromatography in its various forms, along with the complementary separation techniques such as electrophoresis, electrochromatography, field-flow fractionation, supercritical fluid chromatography and hyphenated techniques, such as LC-MS and CZE-MS. The field of microfluidics or lab-on-a-chip is also included. NCSR researchers included Dr. Damian Connolly, Dr. Ekaterina Nesterenko and Mr. David Collins. Dr. Connolly presented a poster by a student under co-supervision with Prof. Brett Paull which was voted within the top 3 % of all posters presented at the conference (of over 780). Particular congratulations go to Ms. Aine Moyna for for excellent work on this poster. Other Irish Separation Science Cluster delegates from UCC led by Prof. Jeremy Glennon included Mr. Michael Calnan, Ms. Amy Nagle, Ms. Elaine Stack, Ms. Una Barrett, Ms. Lin Zhou, Mr. Eoin Foley and Ms. Una Crowley. As a previous winner of the Czaba Horvath Young Scientist award, the recent work of Dr. Jesse Omamogho was presented orally in his absence.
(Left) Ms. Amy Nagle and (Right) Dr. Damian Connolly presenting their research at HPLC 2011
ISSC Site Visit - 7th June 2011
The Irish Separation Science Cluster (ISSC) was successful in it's mid-term review by Science Foundation Ireland. The external SFI review panel was extremely supportive of the work being undertaken within the ISSC. "Overall the panel were very impressed with the achievements reached by the cluster and noted that since its inception in 2009 the cluster has already gained international recognition. They were particularly impressed that the work to date on the development of the new bio-affinity phases has made excellent progress".
As a consequence of the significant support from the ISSC Site Visit external SFI review panel, SFI have awarded the original budget in full. As part of the review the panel looked at the work to date, future plans, organisation and industry participation/relevance to Ireland. This involved everything from one to one discussions with postgraduate students, senior researchers and industrialists. Everyone performed exceptionally and made a lasting impression. "The reviewers are impressed by the synergy between the work strands. In general, the PIs and many of the postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers are involved in projects that span multiple work strands.The team chemistry appears to be very good. The junior researchers are very enthusiastic and work well together as a team. Overall, the ISSC team's research has led to very significant scientific knowledge and intellectual property. The involvement of a very large number of industrial partners and their direct and in-kind contributions are impressive."
Finally, I would like to thanks the large number of industry partners who travelled from as far as the US to support us. The hard work and the originality and flexibility of the IP and Industry engagement model was complemented.They clearly supported the breath and depth of the industry interaction. "The economic impact to Ireland of the ISSC is already evident. The expectations are that the impact will expand as a result of the activities in Years 4 & 5. Clearly there are industrial partners that are benefiting from the ISSC's work and will continue to do so. That is the main reason that they have such substantial industrial participation and support as compared to other funded groups in Ireland. The panel believes that industrial participation will grow as long as the cluster and its work does likewise. The ISSC has done a good job with commercialization and licensing and should continue with their existing policies."
We are looking forward to building on this achievement and look forward to working with many of you in the near future.
ISSC Group members
Conference on Analytical Sciences in Ireland - 21st & 22nd February 2011
The ISSC held the 6th Annual Conference on Analytical Sciences in Ireland (CASi) on the 21st and 22nd February in the Helix at Dublin City University. CASi is Ireland’s premier meeting for young researchers in analytical science and related disciplines. Prof. Brett Paull, ISSC Director, chaired the event, which was the largest analytical science conference to be held in Ireland this year and the largest ever CASi, with over 120 delegates attending.
The conference was opened on Monday 21st with an enthralling plenary presentation from Prof. Boris Mizaikoff from Ulm University. This set the tone of the day as interesting and insightful presentations were delivered by post doctoral researchers and experts from around the country, as well as keynote presentations from Dr. Maria Magdelena Titirici from Max-Planck Institute and Dr. Eric Moore from Tyndall National Institute. The first poster session of the conference took place during day one when 35 of the 70 posters were presented.
Following the day’s presentations the inaugural CASi Analytical Science Mentorship Award was presented to Prof. Malcolm Smyth. The award acknowledges current and past supervisors who have exemplified excellence in graduate and professional teaching within the field of analytical sciences. Prof. John Costello, Associate Dean of Research (Acting) in the Faculty of Science and Health, introduced and presented the award. Dr. Tony Killard, University of the of West England, a past member of Prof. Smyth’s research group gave a moving tribute to Prof. Smyth’s mentoring efforts as a supervisor so as to enhance each student’s abilities and potential. A number of Prof. Smyth’s past group members attended the event. A conference dinner at the Regency Hotel followed, providing an excellent opportunity for networking and rounded off the first day of the event.
Prof. Duncan Graham from the University of Strathclyde more than overcame the challenge of making the first presentation on day two of the conference. A second day of exciting talks from institutions around Ireland, Scotland and further afield followed. Prof. Luisa Torsi from the University of Bari presented a plenary lecture and Dr. Dara Fitzpatrick from University College Cork and a member of the ISSC delivered the day’s keynote presentation. The second poster session took place during lunchtime, giving judges ample opportunity to make their difficult selection. The conference closed with an award ceremony where Mr. Kenneth Pierce from National University of Ireland, Maynooth, was announced the winner of the Best Presentation Award and Dr. Waleed Moujahid from Tyndall National Institute winner of the Best Poster Award.
Overall the conference was a huge success for its organisers. A photo gallery from the event can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/59866329@N06/. Congratulations to all involved.
(L-R) Prof. Brett Paull, CASi 2011 Chariperson, Prof. Malcolm Smyth recipient of the CASi Analytical Science Mentorship Award and Prof. Brian MacCraith, DCU President
LabVIEW Training - 26th January 2011
Members of the ISSC attended a graduate training module, hosted by Dr. Dermot Brabazon, an ISSC PI, that was held in the newly launched LabVIEW Academy. This module is a credited postgraduate module and is one of the first to be offered on the graduate training certificate, open to postgraduate students within DCU, and for engineering postgraduate students within the Dublin Regional Higher Educational Alliance (DrHEA). After completing this module, students have the opportunity, knowledge, and tools to attempt the Certified LabVIEW Associate Developer (CLAD) exam. For more details on the LabView Academy please see the DCU news page.
(L-R) Dr. Dermot Brabazon, Dr. Mercedez Vazques and Aymen Ben Azuoz at the recent LabVIEW training
Mass Spectrometry Training - 17th January 2011
Allergan employees attended the DRHEA training on Mass Spectrometry, in the NCSR on 17th January. Both Mary McGrath and Derric Reape are undertaking part time postgraduate masters by research with the Irish Separation Science Cluster as part of their Industrial Post Graduate Training Programme. The training was a great success.
(L-R) Stephen Fuller, Mary McGrath, Derric Reape and Kieran O'Dwyer at the DRHEA Training
ISSC Book Publications - January 2011
Congratulations to all involved with the publication of a number of books by ISSC members in the past couple of months. Dr. Brendan O’Connor contributed a chapter to the book, Protein Chromatography—Methods and Protocols Prof. Brett Paull and Dr. Damian Connolly contributed a chapter to Monolithic Chromatography and its modern applications, while Prof. Paull and Prof. Pavel Nesterenko (a member of the ISSC) in a joint collaboration, published High performance chelation ion chromatography. Dr. Andreas Heise, edited Enzymatic Polymerisation and contributed to Biocatalysis in Polymer Chemistry.
(L-R) Dr. Brendan O'Connor, Dr. Damian Connolly, Dr. Andreas Heise and Prof. Brett Paull 
The books that ISSC members contributed to
ISSC research makes cover story - January 2011
January 2011 edition of the RSC Journal 'Analytical Methods' A recent ISSC paper by Hassan Alwael, Damian Connolly and Brett Paull,
on the liquid chromatographic profiling of monosaccharide concentrations
in complex cell-culture media and fermentation broths has been
highlighted on the cover of the first 2011 issue of the RSC Journal
'Analytical Methods'. The published work is the result of a successful
industry - academic project looking into rapid analytical technologies
for the monitoring of target analytes within biofermentation process
samples and feedstocks.
Also published within the same journal issue is the first joint
editorial between the RSC sister journals 'Analyst' and 'Analytical
Methods', entitled 'From discovery to recovery – Analyst and
Analytical Methods working together for the analytical community',
written jointly by Prof. Paull (ISSC) and Prof. Paul Bohn (University of
Notre Dame).