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| Over the past 14 years I have engaged at teaching at many levels in Universities in Ireland and the U.K. In particular, since October 2004 I have worked as a lecturer in Immunology in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin. In addition to delivering lectures and tutorials to junior and senior sophister students, for the past 4 years I have also lectured to students enrolled on the MSc course in Molecular Medicine (DMMC, St James' hospital, Dublin). I was also previously engaged in lecturing at TCD and at the University of Nottingham (England).
I have supervised student projects from diploma to degree level and in more recent years have supervised a number of PhD students.
I have organised and chaired sessions on Immunology and vaccines for a number of national and international conferences and acted as a peer reviewer for a number of Immunology journals and for grants in both the EU and the USA.
Since acquiring my PhD in 1994, my research has been principally in the fields of Immunology and vaccine adjuvant development. The projects I have worked on have included the piscine mucosal immune system, the use of biodegradable microparticles as vaccine delivery systems and the evaluation of plant lectins as bioadhesives, immunogens and immunomodulators. During this time I acquired expertise in biochemistry and immunology that is applicable to the range of projects I am now engaged in and will pursue in the future.
In recent years my principal research interest has been the elucidation of the mechanism of action of adjuvants and immunomodulators. In particular I have focused on on particulate vaccine adjuvants including biodegradable microparticles, alum and the cationic polysaccharide chitosan. This work includes basic research into the mechanism by which these systems activate the immune system and more applied work on the optimisation of these adjuvants for use in injectable and mucosal vaccines. The fundamental adjuvant research includes studies into the cell signalling pathways induced by these molecules which will facilitate a better understanding of their mode(s) of action. The applied research includes studies on targeting of particles to cells in order to increase their efficacy. I have a longstanding interest in the potential of plant lectins in mucosal vaccine delivery and identified plant lectins with potent vaccine adjuvant properties. However, the mode of action of these molecules is poorly understood and the potential of detoxified derivatives or lectin B subunits has not been studied. In conjunction with a number of collaborators, (Professor Uwe Pfüller, University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany; Dr AG Tonevitsky, Moscow; Professor Tomas Girbes, Universidad de Valladolid, Spain) I am engaged in studies on into the mode of lectin action and particularly into the signalling pathways induced by the lectins in cells of the immune system. There is tremendous scope for the application of plant lectins and their derivatives in vaccine delivery and as therapeutics.
The second major focus of my group if the identification of novel activators of the immune system. With support from the Meningitis Research foundation and the HRB we are investigating proteins from Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B as immunomodulatory molecules.
These studies involve collaborations with a number of Academic groups and Biotech and Pharmaceutical companies |
| Project title |
Mucosal vaccines for TB, HIV and malaria |
| Summary |
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| Funding Agency |
EU |
| Programme |
MUVAPRED |
| Type of Project |
|
| Date from |
2004 |
| Date to |
2009 |
| Person Months |
|
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| Project title |
Development of novel Liquid/Emulsion Drug Delivery System (LEDDS™) formulations for oral vaccination IP 2007 0451 |
| Summary |
Development of novel delivery systems for oral vaccination |
| Funding Agency |
Enterprise Ireland |
| Programme |
Innovation Partnerships |
| Type of Project |
Applied |
| Date from |
2007 |
| Date to |
2009 |
| Person Months |
24 |
|
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| Project title |
Does Epac mediate a cyclic AMP-inducible pathway in dendritic cells that promotes pro-inflammatory T cell responses? |
| Summary |
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| Funding Agency |
Science Foundation Ireland |
| Programme |
RFP |
| Type of Project |
|
| Date from |
2007 |
| Date to |
2010 |
| Person Months |
36 |
|
|
| Project title |
'The Identification of novel immunomodulatory factors from Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B' |
| Summary |
|
| Funding Agency |
Meningitis Research Foundation/Health Research Board |
| Programme |
|
| Type of Project |
Basic |
| Date from |
2007 |
| Date to |
2010 |
| Person Months |
36 |
|
|
| Project title |
Mechanism of action of alum as a vaccine adjuvant. |
| Summary |
|
| Funding Agency |
Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology |
| Programme |
|
| Type of Project |
Basic |
| Date from |
2006 |
| Date to |
2009 |
| Person Months |
36 |
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Cullen SP, Henry CM, Kearney CJ, Logue SE, Feoktistova M, Tynan GA, Lavelle EC, Leverkus M, Martin SJ, Fas/CD95-Induced Chemokines Can Serve as "Find-Me" Signals for Apoptotic Cells., Molecular cell, 49, 2013, p1–15
DOI |
Sharp, F., Ruane, D., Claas, B., Creagh, E., Harris, J., Malyala, P., Singh, M., O'Hagan, D.T., Pétrilli, V., Tschopp, J., O'Neill, L.A.J. and *Lavelle, E.C, Uptake of particulate vaccine adjuvants by dendritic cells activates the NALP3 inflammasome., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A, 106, (3), 2009, p870-875
Notes: [PMID: 19139407] TARA - Full Text
DOI |
| Lavelle, E.C., Grant, G., Pfuller,U. and O’Hagan, D.T, Type II ribosome-inactivating proteins from mistletoe are effective adjuvants when administered by mucosal and transcutaneous routes, Vaccine , Supplement 2, (S2), 2006 |
Sutton, C., Brereton, C., Keogh, B., Mills, K.H.G. Lavelle, E.C., A crucial role for IL-1 in the induction of IL-17 producing T cells that mediate autoimmune encephalomyelitis, The Journal of Experimental Medicine, 203, (7), 2006, p1685 - 1691
Notes: [PMID: 16818675]
Url
DOI |
Lavelle, E.C, Generation of improved mucosal vaccines by induction of innate immunity., Cellular And Molecular Life Sciences, 62, (23), 2005, p2750-2770
Notes: [PMID: 16237500 ]
DOI |
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Last Updated:20-JUN-2013 |