Doing our part for greener lab practices by recycling our plastic tip boxes thanks to Cruinn Diagnostics🌱 Perfect timing as Natalia returns from her research placement at @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social! Something tells us these boxes won’t stay empty for long as she puts her new skills into action!💚

A big welcome to our newest MPL member, David Greaney - cell biologist, an Annaghdown farmer, a GAA fan, and now all fluked up and ready to go! 👏👏🪱

Congratulations to @aistevit.bsky.social once again!! - this time for her @researchireland.ie Government of Ireland postgraduate award to study the application of 3D spheroid cultures for parasite growth in vitro (www.researchireland.ie/news/governm...). 🥳👏🪱

Like mother, like son 🧪 It was such a pleasure having Grace’s son Conor visit our lab today! A future parasitologist in the making… even if he doesn’t quite know it yet! 😉🔬

✨ Tadhg Kilbane enthralled the Microbiology Society with his research on the Serpins (serine protease inhibitors) of the tropical parasite Schistosoma mansoni and their potential as vaccine targets and biotherapeutics!!🪱💉 Well done Tadhg - we can't wait for further up-dates! 👏 @researchireland.ie

☘️ Even @aistevit.bsky.social pet worms go green on St. Patrick's Day! ☘️ A very happy St. Patrick's Day from everyone at the MPL! 🪱💚 This festive fun is made possible thanks to funding from @researchireland.ie! @uniofgalway.bsky.social

A Prof’s work is never done! JohnD teaching the MSc module in Vaccines (Director of the MSc: Dr. Sheila Donnelly). Great to teach such enthusiastic students!! @uniofgalway.bsky.social

Our PhD candidates Saoirse (pictured) and Tadhg teaching first-year medicine students the basics in their Biochemistry practicals 👩‍🔬 This week they were running gels to diagnose sickle cell anaemia 🩸🧬 Interesting fact: the sickle cell trait also provides protection against malaria 🦟

Great Lab meeting today - so many exciting things happening so stay tuned for future publications! 🤗 @uniofgalway.bsky.social @researchireland.ie

✨Fáilte mhór roimh ár mbainisteoir cláir nua! A big welcome to our new Programme Manager, Dr. Grace Davey! Welcome to our parasite world! 👏👏 @researchireland.ie @uniofgalway.bsky.social

Today Prof Dalton gave an overview of our recent parasite research to final year Microbiology students - let's hope this inspires them to pursue a career in Parasitology!! 🪱🦠🔬 @uniofgalway.bsky.social @researchireland.ie

Yesterday at the inaugural TSD Symposium in Galway, Prof Dalton presented how we use microscopy, immunology and -omics to combat parasitic worms of humans and livestock worldwide. Many thanks to TSD for the collaboration and service, and to @researchireland.ie for their support and funding.

No January blues in our lab! ✨ 🧪 Our @researchireland.ie -funded PhD student Saoirse Ellis is hard at work applying -omics to study immune responses to liver fluke infections in sheep 🐑 🪱 🧬 With some great behind-the-scenes support from Novogene Europe helping move this project forward 🙌

✨Exciting news!✨ Our PhD student Natalia will be spending four months on a research placement in Dr Yvonne Dombrowski’s lab at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, Queen’s University Belfast. During her stay, Natalia will be learning advanced techniques in immunoneurochemistry.🧠

🎉 New year, new beginnings in the MPL Lab! We’re excited to welcome our new PhD student, Louise, who will be working on Schistosoma-derived peptides and their potential as treatments for inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis.🪱 Welcome aboard, Louise! 🥳 @uniofgalway.bsky.social @researchireland.ie

Nollaig Shona daoibh go léir (Happy Xmas to everyone) from the MPL in Galway! 🎄☃️❄️

Wrapping up a busy and productive year at MPL with our final lab meeting and a yummy festive Christmas lunch 🎄🎉 Huge thanks to all MPL members, funders, and colleagues around the world for a fantastic year - we're excited for the cool science the new year will bring! 🪱💉🧪🧬 @researchireland.ie

Congratulations to Natalia on graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Biology & Biopharmaceutical Science from Atlantic Technological University, Galway 🎓🔬 We’re proud to celebrate her achievement and excited that she’s now pursuing her PhD in our lab - best of luck in this next chapter! 👏 🙌 🍀

Our students had an amazing time at this week’s RNA-seq workshop! 🧬 Huge thanks to Prof. Sara Farrona and Prof. Christophe Tatout from Université Clermont Auvergne (Clermont-Ferrand, France) for such a practical and very useful course 🔬 Time to put the new skills to work in the lab! 🙌

Starting a PhD with a bang! 🔬🐑 Well done to Saoirse Ellis, who presented her work at the celebratory 1-year Seminar of the Institute for Health Discovery & Innovation on accessible blood-based diagnostics for liver fluke in Irish sheep, improving early on-farm detection. 👏🌱 @researchireland.ie

📢 Don’t miss the chance to hear our PhD candidate Saoirse Ellis present her exciting research at tomorrow’s Institute for Health Discovery and Innovation November Seminar! 🗓 Thursday 13 November 2025 📍 Biomedical Science Building Seminar Room, University of Galway 🕚 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Great to meet our Peruvian collaborators Pedro Ortiz & Miguel Cabada in Lima at the Neglected Zoonotic Parasites of Peru conference! Huge thanks to Prof. Cesar Chucan for the superb organisation, excellent fasciolosis sessions, and wonderful Peruvian hospitality. Gracias amigos!

Great to visit Cajamarca in the Andes and meet with the brilliant team of Prof. Pedro Ortiz in the National University of Cajamarca Veterinary Medicine School. Lots of work, fun and discussions about Fasciola. Good luck with the wonderful work. MPL look forward to continuing our collaborations.

What a fantastic Scandinavian-Baltic Society for Parasitology 2025 meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland 🇮🇸! @aistevit.bsky.social presentation was very well received and earned the Young Scientist Audience Award for Best Oral Presentation 🏆👏 Thanks to the SBSP and the Ryan Institute for the support! 🎉

🎓conGRADulations to Tadhg Kilbane, who graduated last week with his Research Master’s degree! 🎉 Tadhg’s work focused on novel Fasciola hepatica serine protease inhibitors (serpins) - advancing our understanding of parasite biology and host–parasite interactions. 🪱👏 @researchireland.ie

Meet Mary, a final-year Zoology student carrying out her research project in our lab! 🧫 She’s investigating the anthelmintic properties of mushrooms 🍄 - exploring how natural compounds might help fight parasitic worms. 🪱 @uniofgalway.bsky.social

🎉 We’re delighted to welcome Natalia, starting her PhD in the MPL with Prof. Sheila Donnelly/ JohnD to explore the therapeutic potential of parasite-derived peptides. Exciting science ahead! 🔬✨ Thanks for the cake, Natalia - we could get used to this very quickly 😉 @uniofgalway.bsky.social

🎉Congratulations to our outstanding PhD student Eve O'Kelly on receiving the ISP Prof. William C. Campbell Postgraduate Award 2025! She shares her research & career journey on the @universitypress.cambridge.org blog post👇 Thanks to the journal Parasitology for sponsoring the award! shorturl.at/StDL1

What are great morning talking Parasitology to our future generation of scientists, veterinarians and physicians from Notre Dame who are visiting Galway on summer school!! It was great fun meeting you all. Thanks Jennifer. Good luck and enjoy the rest of your stay.

Wishing a very happy 95th birthday to Prof. William C. Campbell from all of us in the MPL! 🎉 His discoveries changed lives and continue to guide and encourage our work. We’re proud that our PhD students Aistė (2024) & Eve (2025) received the ISP Postgraduate Award in his name. shorturl.at/BUDWi

Well done to Natalia on completing her 3-month research placement with us! 👏👏 She made excellent progress on our Schistosoma parasite recombinant protein project. 🪱🧪🧫 Thanks for your great energy and hard work – it was fantastic having you on the team! 😊✨

Great to attend the Sheep 2025 Open Day hosted by our collaborators @teagasc.bsky.social, where we visited the Flock Health display, packed with detailed info on internal and external parasites affecting Irish sheep! 🪱🐑 A brilliant day full of the latest research and practical advice.🐑🌿

We were delighted to participate in the 3rd Pathogen Biology Ireland (PBI) Conference, held on the 6th of June at the @uniofgalway.bsky.social. The event also marked the launch of the IHDI's Infection & Immunity Cluster (IIC), which we’re pleased to be part of. shorturl.at/mzM1k

Keeping it in the MPL - two years running!🥳 Well-deserved congratulations to our talented PhD student Eve O'Kelly on winning the Prof William C. Campbell Postgraduate Award for best presentation at this year’s Irish Society for Parasitology meeting, presented by ISP president @cjcoates.bsky.social👏

Fantastic to catch up with friends & colleagues at this year’s Irish Society for Parasitology meeting hosted by @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social. We enjoyed excellent presentations by our members Jake, Eve, Saoirse & Deirdre. Thanks to the organisers for a great event-looking forward to the next one!

Great job by Jake McAuliffe, who presented both a talk and a poster on the pleiotropic effects of the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica peroxiredoxin at the 22nd SFRRI Biennial Meeting, organised by the Society for Free Radical Research - Europe 👏👏👏 Thanks to @researchireland.ie for funding this work.

Tadhg Kilbane took the stage this week at the Euro Serpin Conference in Brescia, Italy 🇮🇹, sharing his latest findings on serpins of the human parasites Schistosoma mansoni and Fasciola hepatica🪱. Now it’s time to enjoy the beautiful sights and flavours of Italy! 🍕🍷🌞 Thanks to @researchireland.ie.

Another year, and the tradition continues! The Zoology Colloquium brought our department community together for a day of fantastic talks, including from our PhD student @aistevit.bsky.social, and wrapped up with a tasty, well-deserved BBQ feast! 🔥 🦊🐍🐢🦟🦌🐳🦞#Zoology

Prof John Dalton spoke on tackling global parasites affecting humans & their livestock during the Planetary Health session at @uniofgalway.bsky.social College of Science & Engineering Research & Innovation Day 2025, followed by an expert panel discussion on the role of planetary health in society. 🌍

A fantastic day out for the Molecular Parasitology Lab crew, sharing our research and networking at the @uniofgalway.bsky.social College of Science and Engineering Research and Innovation Day 2025!

They’re back!👏 Our brilliant team members Jesús López and Richie Lalor had an incredible trip to the Peruvian Andes, working with Dr. Miguel Cabada’s fantastic group and applying ELISA techniques to diagnose human fasciolosis.

Nice to meet up with our friends and colleagues from Moredun Research Institute (MRI), Edinburgh, who are attending the annual meeting of the British Society of Animal Science held in Galway this week.

🦠🌍 Our PhD students are continuing World Parasite Awareness Day! @aistevit.bsky.social is ‘spreading the worm’ to the @uniofgalway.bsky.social Microbiology Society 🦠🧫🔬 #ParasiteAwareness #LiverFluke

✅ Thesis submitted! 👏🎉🥳 Big congratulations to Tadhg Kilbane on completing his Research Master’s thesis! 🎓📜 Thanks to @researchireland.bsky.social for funding.

🦠🌍 It's World Parasite Awareness Day! Our brilliant PhD student, Eve O'Kelly, is inspiring future scientists by sharing her career journey & advice with BSc Biotechnology students at @uniofgalway.bsky.social🎓🔬 #ParasiteAwareness #STEMCareers #Biotech #LiverFluke #Fasciola

Thesis submitted! ✅ now that's some fungi work! 🍄 Congratulations to our student Leo O'Sullivan for submitting his BSc thesis! In his project, Leo explored the potential anthelmintic properties of wild Irish mushrooms. Well done, Leo! 🎉 👏 #ThesisSubmitted #LiverFluke #Fasciola

Great to see TY students gaining hands-on lab experience at the School of Natural Sciences, @uniofgalway.bsky.social! Our lab is delighted to contribute to the journey and help inspire the next generation of scientists. Best of luck, Liam! 🔬🧪

We are thrilled to receive the 2025 Irish Society for Parasitology calendar! 📆✨A year full of fascinating parasite pictures awaits!😍🪱 Thank you Irish Society for Parasitology! 💫

Semester 2 is now in full swing at the University of Galway! Our PhD students are hard at work teaching the next generation of (worm) scientists👏🪱👩‍🔬👨‍🔬🧪

New year, new discoveries! 🎉 Our postdoc Richard Lalor explores how peptides derived from Fasciola hepatica, a parasitic worm, could offer a groundbreaking biotherapeutic approach to treating sepsis. Learn more about this exciting research from our lab!👇 journals.lww.com/shockjournal...