April 2009 GlycoScience Ireland Hosts Annual International Conference in NUI Galway

Over 150 delegates from Ireland, Europe and the US today attended the 2nd annual GlycoScience Ireland Conference held in NUI Galway. The aim of the event is to bring Irish researchers together to provide visibility and collaborative opportunities for Irish glycoscientists with international academic and industrial communities that will be responsible for the translation of glycoscience discoveries into commercial and clinical realities. The conference involved a number of presentations from distinguished speakers from industries, regulatory agencies and academia from the US and Europe and highlighted that Ireland is rapidly becoming a centre of excellence in glycosciences with a wealth of expertise that is directly relevant to the Biopharmaceutical and Food Industries in Ireland and abroad. Commenting on the conference, Lokesh Joshi, SFI Stokes Professor of Glycosciences, at NUI Galway said "Building on the success of last year's event, this conference continues to look at trends in Glycosciences taking a broader international view that highlights Irish science internationally and facilitates Irish based scientists in networking with many global leaders in this field". "Glycoscience is a rapidly emerging science that studies complex sugars in the body and is fundamental to clinical research and biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. However, with the global competition in biotechnology and biopharmaceutical research continually shifting, Ireland needs to harness the synergy of existing skills and strengthen it with talent in order to gain a competitive edge to remain in the leadership position in this field ," he concluded. Dr Ruth Freeman, Head of Industry-Research Development at SFI, added: "GlycoScience Ireland continues to play a significant role in furthering Ireland's international reputation as a centre of excellence in glycosciences. In a very short space of time it has attracted significant attention from the industrial sector and has received support and research funding from biopharmaceutical, biotechnology and high-end instrument developer companies that will be responsible for the translation of glycoscience discoveries into commercial realities. GlycoScience Ireland was established in 2007 with the aim to provide a forum for communication and interaction between Irish glycoscientists and industry representatives in Ireland and further abroad that will be responsible for the translation of glycoscience discoveries into commercial and clinical realities. -Ends-