June 2011 American Thoracic Society Award for NUI Galway Expert

Dr Ger Curley, an expert in Anaesthesia at NUI Galway and Molecular Medicine Ireland Clinician Scientist Fellow, has received a highly prestigious award from the American Thoracic Society (ATS). The Respiratory Structure & Function Assembly of the ATS has awarded Dr Curley its Excellence Award for best abstract presented at its 2011 Annual International Conference, held in Denver, Colorado.

The award is in recognition of Dr Curley’s work, conducted with the Lung Biology Group at NUI Galway. His research has demonstrated for the first time the potential for stem cells to enhance repair following Ventilator Induced Acute Lung Injury, a significant cause of disability and death in critically ill patients. Dr Curley’s project was conducted in collaboration with the Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) at NUI Galway.

This award represents a first for Ireland in this arena and brings international recognition for the high quality work being done by Dr Curley and the other members of the Lung Biology Group at NUI Galway.

Professor John Laffey, who leads the Lung Biology Group at NUI Galway, commented: “This work provides exciting evidence that stem cells can repair the damaged lungs and by doing so, may help to save the lives of critically ill patients in our Intensive Care Units. There is cause for hope here because we do not have any treatments for this devastating disease. This was a collaborative project that would not have been possible without the world class expertise and experience in stem cell research provided by the scientists at REMEDI.”

The research was funded by grants from Molecular Medicine Ireland under the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions and by the European Research Council under its Framework 7 programme.