Share
11. Nov. 2014
The recognised molecular biologist Mary O'Connell, who has worked in the world’s foremost research institutes such as the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, has joined the Central European Institute of Technology Masaryk University (CEITEC MU). Bringing on board this scientific authority in a senior position was made possible by a prestigious European Grant from the ERA Chairs programme, which Masaryk University was the only institution in the Czech Republic to win.
“For the further development of the potential we have thanks to the investment in the science centre and the influx of young scientists, it is essential that we also attract scientists with a wealth of experience and bonds with international teams capable of establishing research groups here with their own special programmes,” stated Petr Dvořák, the university’s vice-rector for research.
“It is great to have Mary join CEITEC. She not only brings a great deal of international experience from exceptional research institutes, but also she has a collaborative spirit and displays an open approach to research which can inspire the next generation of scientists,” stressed CEITEC executive director Markus Dettenhofer.
Mary O'Connell has long studied the topic of inheritable information and its modification in connection with diseases of the immune system. She wants to continue this research within CEITEC MU’s Molecular Medicine research programme. Her task will be to create a working group of six to ten people and to lead it for a period of at least four and a half years. The university gained financial support to the tune of 2.2 million euros to finance this position and the working group. The right person for this leadership role was chosen by the appointment committee from among 20 candidates, mostly from the USA and Western Europe.
“Despite having other offers, I chose CEITEC because of its young and energetic environment. It will evidently be an emerging centre of excellent science in the near future. I want to work on how the body distinguishes itself from pathogens itself and how the failures in this system lead to autoimmune diseases,” said Mary O'Connell.
Mary O'Connell graduated in microbiology from University College, Galway, before continuing her studies at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where she gained her doctorate. She spent time at MIT in Boston and in the Biozentrum of the University of Basel in Switzerland, where she began to look at RNA modification. She then continued her research in Edinburgh. The last year and a half before arriving in the Czech Republic she spent at Stockholm University. She has co-authored dozens of articles in prestigious international peer-reviewed journals, and has written a number of chapters in notable publications.
More about the ERA Chair project: www.era-chair.eu
Contact:
Roman Badík
ERA Chair Project Manager
Phone: + 420 775 777 224
e-mail: roman.badik@ceitec.cz
www: www.ceitec.cz | www.era-chair.eu