NUI Galway and University Hospital Galway recently presented the Tarpey Scholarships to students, Chloe Conlon and Fiona Geraghty. The scholarships are part of the Hazel and Tanya Memorial Fund which was established by the Tarpey family in memory of their daughters who tragically passed away. Hazel and Tanya Tarpey were sisters who left a long lasting impression on many members of staff who encountered them in the Diabetes Centre and across every ward and discipline in the hospital before they both passed away of a rare genetic autoimmune disease that affects the endocrine glands called APECED (autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy). Their parents, Tim and Mary and siblings, Ruth and Dermot wanted to honour the memory of Hazel and Tanya by fundraising to establish these two annual scholarships in their names. The memorial fund grants two annual research student scholarships in NUI Galway, one each in the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing and Midwifery. Chloe Conlon, a fourth year medical student from Sligo Town, was presented with the School of Medicine scholarship, with Fiona Geraghty, fourth year nursing student from Williamstown, Co. Galway, receiving the School of Nursing and Midwifery scholarship  Last year’s scholarship winners Grace Cosgrove and Cherie Tan also attended the presentation and expressed gratitude to the Tarpey family. School of Nursing and Midwifery recipient of the Inaugural Tarpey Scholarships, Grace Cosgrove, said: “I wanted to use the money generously provided by the Tarpey family to further my education in nursing and increase my skills at ward level so that my clinical practice would improve and that the skills I have acquired will directly benefit my patients. The Electrocardiogram (ECG) course taught me skills on carrying out and interpreting ECG’s. From this I have now gained understanding into different cardiac arrhythmias, their treatments and can now carry out ECG independent from a doctor. This has reduced waiting times for my patient on the ward and has facilitated prompt action in any abnormalities.” Cherie Tan, School of Medicine Recipient of the Inaugural Tarpey Scholarships, said: “The scholarship was used to attend the National Cancer Annual Meeting (NCAM) 2018 held in Singapore. The theme for NCAM 2018 was ‘Medical Informatics: From Big Data to Precision Oncology’. Through NCAM 2018, I learnt about how large medical data is synthesized to personalized medicine for individual patients in the field of oncology, an area which I hold special interest.” NUI Galway’s Professor Sean Dinneen who cared for both sisters said: “The Tarpey sisters left a deep and lasting impression on all who encountered them, especially because of their extraordinary courage.” -Ends-

Two NUI Galway start-up companies were in the US recently for the second annual Blackstone LaunchPad Powered by TechStars Bootcamp. The programme brought together entrepreneurial teams from across the US and Ireland to take part in an innovation bootcamp with access to world class mentors and content to further accelerate and develop their businesses.  LaunchPad, based on the NUI Galway campus, is a highly experiential entrepreneurship program open to students, alumni and staff offering coaching, ideation and start up creation support. The programme focuses on innovation and entrepreneurial education and training, entrepreneurship events and community building, and provides supports and funding for early stage student start-up companies. As LaunchPad at NUI Galway continues to globalise its programmes, offerings such as this bootcamp give early stage entrepreneurs access to one of the world’s most well-known and respected entrepreneurship accelerators across the world, Techstars. Techstars is a global leader in the startup ecosystem, providing a network with access to over 1.5 million founders, investors and mentors. Over the course of the New York programme NUI Galway start-ups engaged with a diverse mix of mentors, start-ups and potential investors at SAP Next Gen HQ at Hudson Yard in New York. The programme resulted in Bladecomp and Stericision start-ups benefitting from personalised mentoring, unique Techstars expertise and content and support from business leaders including Jean Case from the Case Foundation. SteriCision is a newly funded Enterprise Ireland project developed from the BioInnovate Ireland Fellowship programme based at NUI Galway. The team are developing an innovative medical device to reduce infection following surgery. Barry McCann, Commercial Lead for the project, commented: “Attending the Blackstone Launchpad powered by Techstars event was a tremendous opportunity for us to grow our mentor network and learn from some of the most successful entrepreneurs and investors in the US. We are extremely fortunate to have an entrepreneurship programme such as Launchpad on campus that can accelerate good ideas and bring them to a global platform.” BladeComp is a wind and tidal turbine blade design software. BladeComp provides a faster, easier and more reliable blade design process. The team includes Dr Jamie Goggins, Dr Edward Fagan, Dr Yadong Jiang and Dr William Finnegan from the MaREI Centre, Ryan Institute at NUI Galway. Needing a faster way of modelling blades and a framework for the novel analysis and design techniques developed at NUI Galway, the team built automated design software to meet this need. The team have recently used BladeComp to design next generation tidal turbine blades (among the largest in the world) for a leading tidal turbine manufacturer, Orbital Marine Power Ltd. Edward Fagan of the BladeComp team, commented: “The Techstars event was a fantastic opportunity to get feedback on what we’ve done so far, and advice on how to effectively take our venture forward. The experience, mentorship and guidance we received was more than we could have hoped for. LaunchPad at NUI Galway provide an invaluable service to the development of entrepreneurs at the University”. Speaking at the LaunchPad Global Bootcamp, Natalie Walsh Executive Director of LaunchPad at NUI Galway, said: “It is always inspiring to work alongside early stage entrepreneurships but to work with TechStars in New York City and watch our start up teams flourish and grow through the supports provided has been amazing. We will have unparalleled access to the TechStars network and content and we are very excited about the future of entrepreneurship at NUI Galway.” -Ends-

A major international conference on the topic of Extended Working Life policy will take place at NUI Galway on the 22-23 November. The conference entitled ‘Gender and health impacts of policies extending working life’ is based on the work of COST Action IS1409, an international network involving over 100 researchers from 34 countries.  The network which has run since April 2015 is funded by COST – European Cooperation in Science and Technology. COST provides networking opportunities for researchers and innovators in order to strengthen Europe’s capacity to address scientific, technological and societal challenges. The network and conference will be hosted by the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology in NUI Galway. Dr Áine Ní Léime from the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology at NUI Galway and Chair of COST Action, said: “This conference showcases the work of the COST Action network over four years and offers an opportunity to open up a debate on the complex issue of extended working life in Ireland. While working past traditional state pension age may be beneficial for many people in rewarding sedentary jobs, it may be more problematic for those in physically demanding work or those in precarious employment.” This conference will feature over 50 presentations on the gender and health implications of policies designed to extend working life. These policies have been introduced across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries as a response to population ageing and anticipated increased pension costs. They include increasing state pension age and requiring increased contributions to qualify for state pensions, which have important implications for different groups of workers. Mairead McGuinness, MEP and Vice President of the European Parliament will give an opening address by video. Keynote speakers include Dame Professor Carol Black, Newnham College Cambridge, Expert Adviser on Health and Work to the NHS, Professor Chris Phillipson, University of Manchester, Professor Fiona Alpass, Massey University, New Zealand and Professor Libby Brooke, University of Melbourne. Mairead McGuinness, Vice President of the European Parliament, says: “With better diets and medical advancements, we are living longer and healthier lives. We are also working longer, a development which some welcome and others do not. This conference will look at the gender and health impacts of policies extending working life, an important and timely topic. We have seen significant changes in women’s involvement in the workforce. In Ireland before 1973, women who worked in the civil service were obliged to retire once married – things are very different today with women actively participating in the workforce. However, women today across the EU typically have lower pensions than men; for many reasons such as lower earnings; having part-time work or needing to take time out from their careers to look after family members. The contribution of women is sometimes overlooked, particularly in rural areas and on farms, where their work is not always recognised or counted.” There will be a roundtable session on Extended Working Life policy in Ireland on Thursday, 22 November at 1.15pm involving policy-makers and stakeholders including representatives from the Irish Pensions Authority, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Eurofound, Age Action and the National Women’s Council of Ireland. The conference will take place in the Institute for Lifecourse and Society, North Campus, NUI Galway on 22-23 November. To register, visit: http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/AddRegistration.asp?Conference=557 -Ends-