DrAmalia Naranjo Lucena

Amalia graduated as a veterinarian in 2013 from University of Córdoba (Spain) and then completed a Master degree in Biotechnology at the same university. Her PhD research was performed at the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine under the supervision of Professor Grace Mulcahy and Dr Annetta Zintl. Her thesis entitled ‘Epidemiological and Immunological Consequences of the Co-infection of Fasciola hepatica with Calicophoron daubneyi and Mycobacterium avium sub-species paratuberculosis (MAP)’ was funded by the EU H2020 PARAGONE grant. The effects of liver fluke on concurrent rumen fluke infections and the progression of Johne’s disease were explored using a multidisciplinary approach involving spatial predictive modeling, in vitro cell culture experiments and immunohistopathology. She is now working as a Post-Doctoral researcher under an SFI grant titled 'Application of new and emerging technologies to develop vaccines against Fasciola hepatica'. Her research is focusing on analysing the systemic and local immune response of sheep to fasciolosis by RNA-seq. This will aid investigate the differences between infections in cattle and sheep, and maybe help create a vaccine that mimics the infection in cattle to eliminate acute infections in sheep. In addition, she is collaborating on other projects that relate to the spatial distribution of ticks in Ireland and the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi, cyathostomins in horses and the alterations in the gut microbiota during acute larval cyathostominosis, or the feed of juvenile and adult Calicophoron daubneyi parasites.