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Student Prizes & Awards
Ph.D Studentship Opportunity
DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION OF VIABLE AND NON-VIABLE
NOROVIRUS IN OYSTERS
Filter-feeding bivalve shellfish can become contaminated with human pathogens when grown in seawater impacted by municipal wastewater. Such shellfish represent a significant risk when
consumed raw or lightly cooked. This is recognised and regulations exist within Europe and elsewhere in the world aimed at controlling this risk. These controls are based on levels of E. coli found in shellfish to assess their sanitary quality. However there continue to be significant outbreaks of illness associated with the consumption of raw shellfish (particularly oysters) despite compliance with regulatory E. coli standards. The most common of these is gastroenteritis caused by noroviruses (NoVs). NoVs are recognised as the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the community. Therefore it recognised that controls specifically targeting the risk of NoV illness associated with shellfish consumption are required. NoVs cannot be cultured and until recently the lack of suitable methods for their detection has prevented the implementation of controls based on virus standards in shellfish. More recently reliable and robust real-time PCR procedures for detecting NoVs in shellfish have become available and progress towards method standardisation is well advanced in Europe.
Current real-time PCR methods for the quantitative estimation of NoV levels in oysters do not, however, distinguish between infectious and non-infectious virus particles. This project
therefore aims to identify, develop and validate an appropriate methodological approach for estimating the quantity of viable NoVs in oysters. The procedure will subsequently be used in an
experimental setting to investigate the level of non-viable and viable NoV particles in oysters from a range of environmental settings. This will provide a clearer understanding of the infectious risk associated levels of NoVs detected during monitoring by current real-time PCR methods.
The approach developed by this project may form the basis for a method applicable for routinely detecting viable NoVs in oysters method in the future.
Project objectives
The major objectives of this 3 year project are;
to develop an experimental molecular based procedure to estimate the level of viable NoVs in oysters.
to subsequently use this method to determine the ratio of viable and non viable NoVs in oysters under a range of conditions.
The project will be largely based in the Marine Institute Shellfish Research Laboratories in Renville, Co. Galway and comes with a stipend of €16,000 per annum plus fees. The successfuL applicant will register in the NUI, Galway School of Natural Sciences Structured PhD Programme.
Applications (e-mail only) by sending a CV and cover letter to:
Prof. Vincent O’Flaherty (
Vincent.oflaherty
nuigalway.ie), Microbiology, NUI, Galway on or before 15th
December, 2011. Please contact Prof. O’Flaherty for informal discussion.
www.nuigalway.ie/microbiology
This project is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency Science, Technology, Research &
Innovation for the Environment (STRIVE) Programme 2007 – 2013
_________________________________________________________________________________
Thomas Crawford Hayes Research & Travel Fund Scheme March 2012
The seventh call for applications for the Thomas Crawford Hayes Research & Travel Fund will be advertised on the 1st March 2012. The closing date for receipt of applications is 5 p.m. on Friday 30th March 2012.
DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION OF VIABLE AND NON-VIABLE
NOROVIRUS IN OYSTERS
Filter-feeding bivalve shellfish can become contaminated with human pathogens when grown in seawater impacted by municipal wastewater. Such shellfish represent a significant risk when
consumed raw or lightly cooked. This is recognised and regulations exist within Europe and elsewhere in the world aimed at controlling this risk. These controls are based on levels of E. coli found in shellfish to assess their sanitary quality. However there continue to be significant outbreaks of illness associated with the consumption of raw shellfish (particularly oysters) despite compliance with regulatory E. coli standards. The most common of these is gastroenteritis caused by noroviruses (NoVs). NoVs are recognised as the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the community. Therefore it recognised that controls specifically targeting the risk of NoV illness associated with shellfish consumption are required. NoVs cannot be cultured and until recently the lack of suitable methods for their detection has prevented the implementation of controls based on virus standards in shellfish. More recently reliable and robust real-time PCR procedures for detecting NoVs in shellfish have become available and progress towards method standardisation is well advanced in Europe.
Current real-time PCR methods for the quantitative estimation of NoV levels in oysters do not, however, distinguish between infectious and non-infectious virus particles. This project
therefore aims to identify, develop and validate an appropriate methodological approach for estimating the quantity of viable NoVs in oysters. The procedure will subsequently be used in an
experimental setting to investigate the level of non-viable and viable NoV particles in oysters from a range of environmental settings. This will provide a clearer understanding of the infectious risk associated levels of NoVs detected during monitoring by current real-time PCR methods.
The major objectives of this 3 year project are;
to develop an experimental molecular based procedure to estimate the level of viable NoVs in oysters.
to subsequently use this method to determine the ratio of viable and non viable NoVs in oysters under a range of conditions.
The project will be largely based in the Marine Institute Shellfish Research Laboratories in Renville, Co. Galway and comes with a stipend of €16,000 per annum plus fees. The successfuL applicant will register in the NUI, Galway School of Natural Sciences Structured PhD Programme.
Applications (e-mail only) by sending a CV and cover letter to:
Prof. Vincent O’Flaherty ( Vincent.oflaherty
nuigalway.ie), Microbiology, NUI, Galway on or before 15th
December, 2011. Please contact Prof. O’Flaherty for informal discussion.
www.nuigalway.ie/microbiology
This project is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency Science, Technology, Research &
Innovation for the Environment (STRIVE) Programme 2007 – 2013
The seventh call for applications for the Thomas Crawford Hayes Research & Travel Fund will be advertised on the 1st March 2012. The closing date for receipt of applications is 5 p.m. on Friday 30th March 2012.
Applications are invited for the
research awards (up to 10 in this call) and the value shall be up to €5,000 but may in exceptional circumstances be of higher value. Applications are also invited to apply for the
travel fund. Students can apply for this funding 9 months in advance of the proposed travel and a maximum of €5,000 is available to be awarded to all applicants together in this call.
Applicants are encouraged to read the FAQ document <
http://www.nuigalway.ie/natural_sciences/documents/tch_research__travel_fund_faqs_sept_2011.pdf> that has been prepared prior to completing the application form <
http://www.nuigalway.ie/natural_sciences/documents/thomas_crawford_hayes_trust_fund_scheme_sept_2011.pdf> .
Students supervised by the academic staff of the research institute, who are members of the School of Natural Sciences, are also invited to apply. These academic staff are as follows:
NCBES: Prof. Terry Smith, Dr. Ralf Zwacka, Prof. Corrado Santocanale, Prof. Lokesh Joshi, & Dr. Una Fitzgerald.
Ryan Institute: Prof. Mark Johnson
An explanatory note <
http://www.nuigalway.ie/natural_sciences/documents/explanatory_note__review_process_tch_march_2011.pdf> on the review process of the Thomas Crawford Hayes Award is available for students and supervisors.
If you have any queries in relation to the Scheme, please contact Susan Gallagher on ext. 2520 or by e-mail at
susan.gallaghernuigalway.ie
First Call:
The first call for applications took place in March 2009. The following students were successful in their funding applications:
Milo Barham (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Hazel Farrell (MRI)
Aileen Gill (Microbiology)
Breandan MacGabhann (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Lynda O'Leary (Biochemistry)
Aine Prendergast (Biochemistry)
Danielle Read (Biochemistry)
Peter Stuart (Zoology)
Second Call:
The second call for applications took place in September 2009. The following students were successful in their funding applications:
Sarah Dolan (Biochemistry)
Maciej Kliszczak (Biochemistry)
Ishla Seager (Zoology)
Marcus Twomey (Microbiology)
Irina Tikhanovich (Biochemistry)
Chiara Saladino (Biochemistry)
Bill Wood (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Third Call:
The third call for applications took place in March 2010. The following students were successful in their funding applications:
John Durcan (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Dorota Duszynska (Botany/Plant Science)
Aisling Frizzell (Biochemistry)
Beatrice Ghilardi (Botany/Plant Science)
Jazmin Hernandez-Kantun (Marine Science)
Caitriona Maher (Botany/Plant Science)
Katarzyna Mnich (Biochemistry)
Sadan Duygu Selcuklu (Botany/Plant Science)
Anna Sokol (Biochemistry)
Kelly Stephens (Zoology)
Irina Tikhanovich (Biochemistry)
Alex Wan (Marine Science)
Fourth Call:
Sarah Conmy (Biochemistry)
Ann Kliszczak (Biochemistry)
Edward Lynch (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Breandán MacGabhann (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Ruairi MacNamara (Zoology)
Yvonne O'Donoghue (Micriobiology)
Rebecca Ryan (Biochemistry)
John Staunton (Environmental Science)
Marta Utratna (Microbiology)
Marianne van Dijk (Biochemistry)
Fifth Call:
Research Awards:
Loretta Breslin (Biochemistry)
Ronan Broderick (Biochemistry)
Sandra Clasen (Biochemistry)
Shane Deegan (Biochemistry)
Rory Hodd (Botany & Plant Science)
Siddhi Joshi (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Simona Moravcova (Biochemistry)
Kate Reddington (Microbiology)
Malgorzata Wronska (Microbiology)
Travel Awards:
Rebecca Finn (Microbiology)
Shane Morris (Botany & Plant Science)
Hollydawn Murray (Earth & Ocean Sciences)
Kelly Stephens (Zoology)
Marcus Twomey (Microbiology)
National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland.
Phone: 353 91 524411
This page was last updated Wednesday, February 29, 2012