BioSciences Research Building
The €30 million Biosciences Research Building was enabled by major philanthropic support through Galway University Foundation. The building provides high technology science research space for over 300 scientists and researchers and is dedicated to chromosome biology research, cancer research, regenerative medicine and chemical biology.
It's collaborative approach builds on the University's role at the heart of Galway's MedTech sector and enhances the output of University of Galway's cluster of world-leading biomedical research groups in areas such as regenerative medicine and stem cell research, cancer biology, biomechanics and biomaterials.
"Here is an opportunity to work in a facility that is world class, that has all of the facilities that are required to allow your Imaginations to develop, to flow, to blow the roof off as it were, in terms of research and innovation."
An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, T.D on the official opening of the BioSciences Research Building
Research supported by Philanthropy in the BioSciences Research Building includes:
STEM Cell Biology at REMEDI
Drug discovery in the last 40 years has been impeded by the lack of human disease models to complement animal-driven research. The development of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology has revolutionised regenerative medicine and rendered the possibility of personalised medicine a reality. This technology allows stem cells to be created from small skin biopsies and these cells can be converted to any cell type in the body such as brain and heart cells. Philanthropic support through Galway University Foundation has strongly supported stem cell research and has supported the Professorship in Fundamental Stem Cell Biology awarded to Professor Sanbing Shen. His team has generated iPSC's from more than 30 individuals including healthy controls and patients with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Fragile X Syndrome, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Retinitis Pigmentosa and Long QT syndrome in collaboration with other clinicians and Institutes. Finding Functional abnormalities of patients and heart cells, which can be used to develop scalable drug screening assays, has been a major challenge.
Additional philanthropic support from Galway University Foundation has funded the purchase of Multiple Microelectrode Array (MEA) equipment. The MEA cell culture plates contain hundreds of micro-wires, upon which brain and heart cells can be placed. The electrical properties of the brain and heart cells can be recorded and compared with healthy cells before and after drug administration allowing novel therapies to be discovered. Research which is possible thanks to our donors.
