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Shane V. Hegarty

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (Neurosciences not elsewhere classified)

University College Cork, Ireland.

In June 2010, I completed a first class honours (74% average) BSc degree in Neuroscience in University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. During my BSc degree, I consistently achieved first class honours in all end-of-year examinations. As a result, I was awarded the ‘Title of College Scholar’ by the UCC Scholarships Committee in 2007, 2008 and 2009. In September 2010, I graduated as the top ranked student in the Neuroscience BSc degree programme, and was awarded the ‘Certificate of Excellence’ by the UCC College of Science, Engineering and Food Science, based on my academic performance. Following the completion of my BSc degree, I was awarded the prestigious ‘IRCSET Embark Postgraduate Scholarship’ (Award: €72,009) by the Irish Research Council to carry out a proposed 3 year PhD project in the Neuroscience and Anatomy Department, UCC. This project subsequently began on the 1st of October 2010, and was carried out under the supervision of Dr. Aideen Sullivan and Dr. Gerard O’Keeffe. I completed this PhD project within the designated 3 year period following thesis submission on the 12th of December 2013. My PhD research aimed to investigate the role of canonical Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP)-Smad signalling in the development of ventral midbrain (VM) dopaminergic (DA) neurons, the cells which progressively degenerate to cause Parkinson’s disease (PD). During the project, I developed my knowledge of VM DA development, the roles of BMP signalling in nervous system development, and the effects of TGFß superfamily members on VM DA development and survival. I published 3 peer-reviewed review articles on these three topics, as first author on each. My PhD work contributed to this field by demonstrating that BMPs exert their neurotrophic effects on VM DA neurons via their canonical Smad signalling pathway. This work resulted in two first author peer-reviewed research articles, while a third first author peer-reviewed article resulted from the investigation of a potential role for BMP-Smad signalling in DA specification using E14 rat VM neural stem cells (NSCs). This paper characterised the development and neurogenic potential of VM NSCs in vitro. At this moment, research which investigated the roles of endocytosis, and downstream regulators of Smad signalling, in the DA neurotrophic effects of BMPs is being revised/prepared for publication. The knowledge gained from my PhD research has provided novel insights into the roles of BMP-Smad 1/5/8 signalling in the differentiation of VM DA neurons. During my PhD, I successfully applied for a 'Doctoral Student Travel Bursary' from the College of Medicine and Health, UCC (Award: €1,000). This bursary facilitated my participation in the Neuroscience School of Advanced Studies course in ‘Neural Stem Cells in Development and for Brain Repair’ in Cortona, Italy from May 4th-12th 2013. Other courses completed during my PhD include the Laboratory Animal Science and Training (LAST) course (accredited by United Kingdom Home Office), and a ‘Scientific Training for Enhanced Postgraduate Studies’ course (UCC), in 2011. To disseminate my research to the scientific community, I have actively partaken in a number of conferences/symposia. I was selected to present orally at Neuroscience Ireland Conference ‘data-blitz’ competition 2011 and 2012, Young Life Scientists Ireland Conference 2013 (competition runner-up) and Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland Meeting 2014. I have also presented posters at Neuroscience Ireland Conference 2011, 2012 and 2013 (competition winner; Award €100). For dissemination to general public, I published as the sole author of a lay language article in UCC Boolean Journal, and began a neuroscientific blog (http://svh_neuro.svbtle.com/). Furthermore, I was a finalist in the UCC Doctorial Showcase (2012) ‘three-minute thesis’ category (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKQB_bP5_H8). In January 2014 I was employed as a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, UCC to carry out a research that aimed to identify Amyloid Precursor Protein C-terminal fragments as novel biomarkers for AD, and to investigate any potential pathological contributions of lysosomal dysfunction and hyperosmotic stress to AD. In October 2014 I began my current position as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, UCC, after being awarded the 'Government of Ireland Post-Doctoral Fellowship' by the Irish Research Council. This Fellowship was awarded to carry out a research project entitled 'Identification of Smad-interacting protein 1 as a novel regulator of the neurite growth of VM DA neurons'.

Publications

  • Class-IIa Histone Deacetylase Inhibition Promotes the Growth of Neural Processes and Protects Them Against Neurotoxic Insult. PMID: 25065734
  • Canonical BMP-Smad signalling promotes neurite growth in rat midbrain dopaminergic neurons. PMID: 24682653
  • Roles for the TGFβ Superfamily in the Development and Survival of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons. PMID: 24504901
  • Ventral midbrain neural stem cells have delayed neurogenic potential in vitro. PMID: 24342440
  • BMP-Smad 1/5/8 signalling in the development of the nervous system. PMID: 23891815
  • BMP2 and GDF5 induce neuronal differentiation through a Smad dependant pathway in a model of human midbrain dopaminergic neurons. PMID: 23831389
  • Midbrain dopaminergic neurons: a review of the molecular circuitry that regulates their development. PMID: 23603197

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