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Dr. Cara Martin

Associate Professor (Histopathology)
Associate Professor (Molecular Medicine Ireland)
      
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Dr. Cara Martin

Associate Professor (Histopathology)

 Cara.Martin@tcd.ie

 3531 4085674/4085674/4085430

Associate Professor (Molecular Medicine Ireland)


Dr Cara Martin is an Associate Professor in Molecular Pathology, Tumour Biology and Cancer Screening in the Discipine of Histopathology, Trinity College Dublin. She obtained her PhD from Trinity College in 2004, her MSc in Biotechnology from National University of Ireland, Galway in 1998, and BSc (Hons) from National University of Ireland, Galway in 1996. She currently leads the HPV Research Group based in Trinity College and the Coombe Women and Infant's University Hospital. Her research programme consists of translational health services based research and basic research approaches in female gynecological cancers, head and neck cancers and other HPV associated cancers. She is co-founder, lead investigator and programme manager of CERVIVA, The Irish Cervical Screening Research Consortium (www.cerviva.ie), which is a health services based research program Cara leads the molecular epidemiology work packages within the various CERVIVA projects and is leading the HPV primary screening pilot study and the ECHO Study [Epidemiology of HPV in Oral Cancers in Ireland]. She was PI/co-ordinator on a number of European FP7 funded projects in the area of cervical cancer screening and diagnostics, including SYSTEMCERV, AUTOCAST and MicroActive. To date, she has published 81 peer reviewed publication and has filed 2 patents. Her-h index is 27 and she has >3500 citations.
  Apoptosis   Apoptosis, molecular control   Autism   Bioinformatics   Biology   Cancer genetics and cell biology including metastasis   Cell cycle control   Cervical cancer   Chromosome structure and dynamics   Commercialisation of scientific research   Community health and general practice   Cytology and Cancerology   DNA polymorphisms, evaluate chimerism after bone marrow transplant   DNA transcription and translation   DNA typing   Drug development and evaluation   Environmental Carcinogenesis   Epidemiology   Gene therapy   Gene transcription in human cancer   Genetic/Molecular epidemiology   Genomic structure and function, molecular approaches to gene function   Gynaecology oncology   Health attitudes and behaviour   Health management   Host, Pathogen interactions   Human genetics   Imaging Techniques   Infertility   Intra and intercellular signalling   Medical Sciences, Research   Medical technology   Membrane and protein trafficking   Molecular population genetics   Nuclei acid chemistry, structure and folding   Oncogenes, apoptosis and tumour development   Pathology   Population based intervention trials   Regulatory methods of gene expression   RNA processing, stability and degradation   Stem Cell biology and hematopoiesis   Therapeutic and Clinical oncology   Tumour immunology and immunotherapy   Virology and viral pathogenesis
Project Title
 CERVIVA-Vax: Monitoring the impact of HPV vaccination in Ireland
From
01/02/2018
To
31/01/2022
Summary
Funding Agency
Health Research Board, Ireland
Programme
Investigtor Led Programme
Project Title
 Enhancing the Evidence Base for Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Ireland: Building Improvements from the Intervention-Specific to System-Wide Levels
From
01/07/2018
To
30/06/2022
Summary
Funding Agency
Health Research Board, Ireland
Programme
Emerging Investigator Awards (EIA)
Project Title
 CERVIVA: The HPV Educate Project
From
01/12/2017
To
30/11/2018
Summary
Funding Agency
Health Research Board, Ireland
Programme
KEDS (Knowledge exchange and dissemmination scheme)
Project Title
 What influences cervical screening uptake in older women and how can screening programmes translate this knowledge into behaviour changing strategies? A CERVIVA-CervicalCheck co-production project
From
03/10/2017
To
02/09/2019
Summary
and mortality. To achieve these benefits, high coverage is essential. In Ireland, the coverage target is 80%. While overall coverage has risen (from 61% to 79%) since the programme started in 2008, it has consistently been lower in older (50-60 years) than younger (25-49 years) women. This distinctive pattern is not seen in other countries with organised programmes and the reasons for it are unknown. Women in their early 50s are at risk of developing cervical cancer and screening at that age substantially reduces cancer risk for the subsequent 30 years. Thus, it is important to attain high screening coverage in older women. This CERVIVA-CervicalCheck co-production project will generate evidence on the influences on cervical screening participation among older women in Ireland, to inform development and implementation of evidence-based strategies to increase screening coverage in this group. A mixed-methods design will be used, underpinned by a theoretical framework of behaviour change. Phase 1 will involve in-depth interviews exploring influences on, barriers to, and enablers of, cervical screening participation; older and younger women and women with adequate and inadequate screening histories will be compared. Phase 2 will involve a postal survey of older women, comparing those with adequate and inadequate screening histories, to identify the most important influences on screening participation and inter-relationships between these. Phase 3 will triangulate phase 1 and 2 results and undertake a behavioural analysis to begin to generate evidence-based solutions for how screening participation may be changed. The findings will be translated by the National Screening Service into strategies to improve participation in older women, thereby optimising effectiveness of cervical screening in Ireland and delivering health gains for individual women and the population. The knowledge gained may also be applicable to other screening programmes in Ireland.
Funding Agency
Health Research Board, Ireland
Programme
Applied Partnership Award
Project Type
Research
Project Title
 CERVIVA studentship for ECHO study
From
01/04/2016
To
31/03/2019
Summary
Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a collective term for a range of cancers arising in the mucosal lining at various sites in the head and neck, including the oral cavity, oropharynx and larynx. It is the sixth most common cancer in the world, with more than 630,000 new cases diagnosed each year and 350,000 deaths. In Ireland, more than 400 new cases of HNC present annually. HNC was traditionally considered to be a disease of the elderly and of men, with many cases believed to be due to cumulative exposure to tobacco and alcohol. However, in North America and Europe incidence rates have been increasing over the past few decades, especially in younger people and in women- populations less likely to have strong histories of tobacco or alcohol exposure. The rising incidence has tended to be limited to particular sites, most notably squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, tonsil and tongue. These trends have pointed to the emergence of a new risk factor- HPV. HPV DNA has been found to be present in a significant proportion of HNCs. In a major meta-analysis published in 2005, 36% of cancers of the oropharynx (including the tonsil) were HPV positive (Kreimer 2005) and, in a more recent meta-analysis, HPV16 accounted for 96% of HPV-positive squamous cell carcinomas of the oropharynx (Mehanna 2012). In a major meta-analysis published in 2014, 45.8% of cancers of the oropharynx (including the tonsil) were HPV positive (Ndiaye et al). The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has concluded that there is strong epidemiological evidence for a casual role for HPV16 in the aetiology of cancers in the oropharynx and tonsil. Evidence around cancers of the oral cavity and larynx are more controversial. In the 2005 meta-analysis 24% of these cancers were HPV positive. However results of case-control studies have been inconsistent and the range in prevalence in individual studies is wide. Results of various studies based on inferred HPV status, and some clinical trials of oropharyngeal squamous cell cancers, suggest that patients with HPV-positive cancers have a better prognosis than HPV-negative cancers. If confirmed at the population level, these observations raise the possibility that HPV-related cancers may be treated less aggressively (Arbyn 2011). There are significant uncertainties in the evidence-base around HPV in HNC. Studies have been conducted in a limited number of populations and many have been small and included selected samples. Prevalence of HPV positivity at specific sites and sub-sites is uncertain, especially over time. While HPV16 has been reasonably well investigated, the prevalence of other HPV types is less clearly established. Moreover, the impact of HPV status on survival at various sites in the head and neck requires further exploration. This study will generate the first data on HPV prevalence and genotype distribution, and associations between HPV status and outcome, in head and neck cancers in Ireland. Given the potential impact HPV vaccination may have on these cancers this is an essential piece of research.
Funding Agency
The Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital
Programme
Studentship
Project Type
PhD studentship

Page 1 of 5
Details Date
Member of the Scottish HPV Archive Steering Group 2018
Chair of CERVIVA Steering Group 2011
Member of HSE/ICS HPV Communications Planning Group established by the Irish Cancer Society 2017
I represent CERVIVA as an active member of the National HPV Vaccination Alliance www.hpvalliance.ie 2017
I represented Ireland at the HPV Prevention and Control Board meeting for the UK and Ireland 30/11/2017
Member of the expert review panel for the HIQA Health Technology Assessment of Primary HPV Screening 2016-2017
Journal reviewer for Elsevier Journal of Gynaecologic Oncology, BMC, Lung, PloS one and Journal of Oncology. 2008
Established and lead CERVIVA PPI Panel. This panel now includes members of the 221plus patient advocacy group. 2018
Advisor to DIT Cellular and Molecular Cytopathology Training School 2017
External teaching to DIT BSc in Biomolecular Science 2014
External teaching on BSCCP Colposcopy Training Course (Basic and advanced training) 2016
Scientific Advisor for Eurofins-Gynae-Screen Ltd 2015
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
Details Date From Date To
Member of the International Papillomavirus Society 2017 Present
Member of HPV vaccination Alliance 2017 Present
Member of International HPV Awareness Group 2018 Present
Member of Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital Research Ethics Committee 2014 Present
Deputy chair of CWIUH Research Ethics Committee 2020 present
LEWIS, F., WARD, M. P., SAADEH, F. A., O'GORMAN, C., MAGUIRE, P. J., BEIRNE, J. P., KAMRAN, W., IBRAHIM, E., NORRIS, L., KELLY, T., HURLEY, S., HENDERSON, B., KANJUGA, M., O'DRISCOLL, L., GATELY, K., ONER, E., SAINI, V. M., CADOO, K., MARTIN, C., O'LEARY, J. J. & O'TOOLE, S. A., A pilot study evaluating the feasibility of enriching and detecting circulating tumour cells from peripheral and ovarian veins in rare epithelial ovarian carcinomas, European Journal of Surgical Oncology, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
McMahon, Martin and Asi, Ercan and Dimitrievska, Vera and Gozum, Sebahat and Ilgaz, Aysegul and Martin, Cara and O'Connor, Mairead and Sykes, Kate and Knapp, Peter, Advancing a Universal European Cancer Prevention Methodology for People With Intellectual Disability: Findings From CUPID Workshops in Ireland and TÃŒrkiye, British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 2025, Notes: [Cited by: 0; All Open Access, Green Open Access, Hybrid Gold Open Access], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Bates M, Mullen D, Lee E, Costigan D, Heron EA, Kernan N, Barry-OCrowley J, Martin C, Keegan H, Malone, V, Brooks R, Brooks D, Logan, JM, Martini, C, Selemidis S, McFadden J, ORiain C, Spillane CD, Gallagher MF, McCann A, OToole S, OLeary JJ, P53 and TLR4 expression are prognostic markers informing progression free survival of advanced stage high grade serous ovarian cancer, Pathology - Research and Practice, 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Rourke, Micheal and Fitzpatrick, Patricia and Popoola, Olalekan and Boms, Rewhandamzi and Mooney, Therese and Heavey, Laura and Mohan, Caroline Mason and Martin, Cara M. and Jessop, Lucy and Russell, Noirin E., The effect of HPV vaccination on the rate of high-grade cytology in 25-year-old women attending cervical screening in Ireland, Irish Journal of Medical Science, 193, (2), 2024, p665 â€" 668 , Notes: [Cited by: 3], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Giubbi, Chiara and Martinelli, Marianna and Latsuzbaia, Ardashel and Cuschieri, Kate and Elasifer, Hana and Iacobone, Anna Daniela and Bottari, Fabio and Piana, Andrea Fausto and Pietri, Roberto and Tisi, Giancarlo and Odicino, Franco and Arbyn, Marc and Cocuzza, Clementina Elvezia and Perdoni, Federica and Landoni, Fabio and Martella, Silvia and Preti, Eleonora Petra and Guerrieri, Maria Elena and Passerini, Rita and Ghi, Maria Eugenia and Bagella, Maria Paola and Marrazzu, Adriano and Muresu, Narcisa and Sechi, Illari and Dettori, Arianna and Rio, Arcadia Del and Njoku, Ruth Chinyere and Moncur, Sharon and Anthony, Geraldine Breda and McPherson, Sharon and Salinaro, Federica and Gozzini, Elisa and Gargiulo, Franco and Sartori, Enrico and Ferrari, Federico and Caruso, Arnaldo and Caccuri, Francesca and Martin, Cara and Ibrahim, Ola and O'Leary, John, Clinical Performance of OncoPredict HPV Screening Assay on Self-Collected Vaginal and Urine Specimens Within the VALHUDES Framework, Journal of Medical Virology, 96, (11), 2024, Notes: [Cited by: 4; All Open Access, Hybrid Gold Open Access], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
LEWIS, F., BEIRNE, J., HENDERSON, B., NORRIS, L., CADOO, K., KELLY, T., MARTIN, C., HURLEY, S., KANJUGA, M., O'DRISCOLL, L., GATELY, K., ONER, E., SAINI, V. M., BROOKS, D., SELEMIDIS, S., KAMRAN, W., HAUGHEY, N., MAGUIRE, P., O'GORMAN, C., SAADEH, F. A., WARD, M. P., O'LEARY, J. J. & O'TOOLE, S. A., Unravelling the biological and clinical challenges of circulating tumour cells in epithelial ovarian carcinoma, Cancer Letters, 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
White, Christine and Reynolds, Stephen and Murphy, Katherine and Keegan, Helen and Naik, Padma and O'Brien, Roisin and Pilkington, Loretto and Sharkey Ochoa, Imogen and Glesson, Grainne and Russell, Noirin and Nuttall, David and Tewari, Prerna and Wright, Fiona and O'Toole, Sharon and Sharp, Linda and Flannelly, Grainne and O'Leary, John J. and Martin, Cara M., Performance of the HPV E6/E7 mRNA Aptima HPV assay combined with partial genotyping compared with the HPV DNA Cobas 4800 HPV test for use in primary screening: Results from the CERVIVA HPV primary screening study in Ireland, International Journal of Cancer, 154, (1), 2024, p53 â€" 64 , Notes: [Cited by: 5], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Mohamed BM, Ward MP, Bates M, Spillane CD, Kelly T, Martin C, Gallagher M, Heffernan S, Norris L, Kennedy J, Saadeh FA, Gleeson N, Brooks DA, Brooks RD, Selemidis S, O'Toole S, O'Leary JJ., Ex vivo expansion of circulating tumour cells (CTCs)., Scientific reports, 13, (1), 2023, p3704 - 3704, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Lazniewska J, Li KL, Johnson IRD, Sorvina A, Logan JM, Martini C, Moore C, Ung BS, Karageorgos L, Hickey SM, Prabhakaran S, Heatlie JK, Brooks RD, Huzzell C, Warnock NI, Ward MP, Mohammed B, Tewari P, Martin C, O'Toole S, Edgerton LB, Bates M, Moretti P, Pitson SM, Selemidis S, Butler LM, O'Leary JJ, Brooks DA., Dynamic interplay between sortilin and syndecan-1 contributes to prostate cancer progression., Scientific reports, 13, (1), 2023, p13489 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Nuttall, David S. and Anderson, Wilma J. and Savage, Amanda J. and Denton, Karin and Martin, Cara M. and O†Leary, John J., Calibration of the Becton Dickinson FocalPoint GS slide profiler is essential for optimal performance: Avoiding the algorithm supersaturation cascade effect pitfall, Cancer Cytopathology, 131, (6), 2023, p383 â€" 391 , Notes: [Cited by: 0], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
  

Page 1 of 12
Martin CM, Molecular Biomarker Approaches to Cervical Cancer Screening for Improved Outcomes. , Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI) Annual Conference, TTMI St James, 23/03/2018, 2018, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
O'Leary JJ, White C, Spillane C, Naik, P, O'Brien, R, Reynolds, S, Pham, T, Pilkington, L, Sharkey Ochoa, I, Bolger, N, Barry O'Crowley, J, Tewari, P, O'Toole, S, Sweeney, M, Keegan, H, Normand, C, Sharp, L, Flannelly, G, Martin, CM. , Cervical screening: A new way forward (tests of risk and tests of disease) [version 1; referees: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations]., HRB Open Research, 1, (3), 2018, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Martin CM, White, C, Flannelly, G, O'Leary JJ., CERVIVA Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Primary Screening Pilot, Cancer Professional, (Autumn), 2018, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Martin CM, An update from the CERVIVA HPV Primary Screening Study in Ireland. , CervicalCheck Colposcopy Forum , Dublin, 24/11/2017., 2017, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
White C, Reynolds S, Naik P, O' Brien R, Pham T, Sharkey Ochoa I, Powles C, Bolger N, Barry O'Crowley J, Tewari P, O'Toole S, Normand C, Sharp L, Flannelly G, O'Leary JJ, Martin CM on behalf of CERVIVA the Irish Cervical Screening Research Consortium. , A comparison of HPV DNA and HPV mRNA Assays in a Primary Screening Population, Laboratory Investigation, 2017 97: 85-126; , 2017, Published Abstract, PUBLISHED
Martin CM, Keynote Lecture: Tomorrows HPV Challenges, Northern Ireland Colposcopy Conference 2015, outh West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. , 24/04/2015, 2015, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Martin CM, HPV and cervical disease the essential guide, BSCCP Basic Training Course, RCPI, Dublin, 08/10/2015, 2015, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Martin C, Astbury, K, O'Leary, JJ. , Molecular Biomarkers in Cervical Cancer, Cancerwise, 4, (2), 2005, p15 - 19, Journal Article, PUBLISHED