Molecular Parasitology Laboratory

🎓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

Eve O’Kelly Awarded Irish Society for Parasitology William C. Campbell Award 2025 « Life Sciences# « Cambridge Core Blog Eve O’Kelly Awarded the Irish Society for Parasitology William C. Campbell Award 2025. Eve O’Kelly is a PhD candidate in the Molecular Parasitology Laboratory (MPL) lead by Prof. John P. Dalton at the...

🎉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.

🎉 Happy 95th Birthday, Prof. | School of Natural Sciences at the University of Galway 🎉 Happy 95th Birthday, Prof. Bill Campbell! 🎉 Celebrating the incredible achievements of Prof. Bill Campbell, a Donegal-born scientist who made history by winning the county's first Nobel Prize te...

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.🐑🌿

The 3rd Pathogen Biology Ireland (PBI) Conference, held on 6th June 2025 at the University of Galway, marked another successful year of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration in infectious disease…... The 3rd Pathogen Biology Ireland (PBI) Conference, held on 6th June 2025 at the University of Galway, marked another successful year of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration in infectious disease ...

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!

All work and no play make Parasitologists dull scientists! Enjoying a few local chicharrones with the Cabada team.

Jesús López and Richie Lalor from the Molecular Parasitology Lab in Galway met with our Peruvian colleagues in Cusco, Peru. We're thrilled with how well our diagnostic tests performed - and how successful the collaboration was!

We are grateful to @researchireland.bsky.social for funding this work!

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...

📢 Join us for a FREE @isctglobal.bsky.social webinar: ‘Early-Stage Professionals: How to Develop Competitive Proposals for Securing Independent Research Funding’.

🌟 Learn grant-writing tips from our own Prof. Dalton!

More information & registration here👇 isct.informz.ca/informzdatas...

Guess who's back? 🤗
It’s only the start of the year, but Jesús is already hard at work, preparing diagnostics for the liver fluke (Fasciola) infections to be distributed to collaborative laboratories worldwide. 👏
Thanks to funding from @researchireland.bsky.social!

#Fasciola #Diagnostics