DrHilary Cassidy

My research interests in the past have included the application of OMIC technologies for the identification of novel urinary biomarkers of renal disease. In the past I have utilized Proteomic, Genomic and Metabolomic techniques to identify candidate biomarkers for further validation in clinical cohorts collected in conjunction with Beaumont Hospital and St Vincent's hospital. I am also interested in the role of the cilia in renal injury or disease; and I am particularly interested in the cilia as an untapped source of urinary biomarkers. I am currently working as part of the international SmartNanoTox project, a horizon 2020 project concerned with gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity associated with inhaled nanoparticles in order to identify properties of concern for new nanomaterials, with the aim of reducing the need for blanket toxicity and extensive animal testing in the future. My research focus as part of this collaboration is the establishment of new methods for the analysis of nanomaterials isolated from BALF and tissue samples by mass spectrometry.

My research group is based in Systems Biology Ireland UCD and is focused on toxicology, renal disease and cancer, with a view to identifying new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for clinical use. We also aim to utilize OMICs approaches and data analytics to identify the differential signaling within renal cancer with an aim of improving the current understanding of disease onset and progression.

I am also one of three PIs forming the UCD Centre for Toxicology (www.toxicology.ucd.ie), where the overall focus includes the development of alternatives methods in toxicity testing for chemical screening and the establishment of novel accurate models of renal cell injury, applicable to the study of chemical agents such as environmental toxicants.