We took a look at some of the most exciting, innovative researchers working across a diverse range of sectors.
The dynamic world of research has the power to transform how we live, from the cellular to the planetary level. From space travel and pharma to engineering and everything in between, research is crucial to advancing the human species.
It would be impossible to list all of the brilliant minds working in research right now, but here are just a few whose endeavours deserve recognition.
Valeria Nico
Associate professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Limerick, Dr Valeria Nico’s main focus is on the very current topic of energy harvesting.
Nico’s area of expertise is the powering of small electronic devices without using traditional batteries, but instead using vibrational energy harvesting, that is the creation of energy by converting mechanical vibrations into electricity.
Currently Nico is an investigator at Connect, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Future Networks, where she leads a project on the development of novel vibrational energy harvesting techniques.
She is also involved in various national projects, has authored several international publications, serves as a reviewer for major journals on the topic of energy harvesting and has presented at a number of international conferences.
Francisco Matorras Weinig
Prof Francisco Matorras Weinig is a researcher in the Department of Modern Physics at the University of Cantabria in Spain and at the Cantabrian Institute of Physics (IFCA).
He started off his research career studying particle physics with the LEP accelerator at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Geneva. His work with CERN resulted in hundreds of publications, including the discovery of the Higgs Boson.
His research in Geneva has also made him the Spanish scientist with the most searches on the Google Scholar list and the thousands of articles he has authored have generated more than 300,000 citations.
Jennifer Buchli
Jennifer Buchli is the NASA International Space Station (ISS) program chief scientist where she supports the full suite of research on the space station from launch to landing, the results of which enable future exploratory missions and work to benefit humankind.
To ensure the space station is used to its full potential, for the benefit of NASA research and as a space for the US National Laboratory, Buchli provides scientific strategy and recommendations to the ISS programme.
Emma Teeling
Prof Emma Teeling is a professor of zoology at University College Dublin. Her area of expertise is in the study of bats, their healthspan, resistance to disease and how this might translate to human ageing and illness.
For 12 years, Teeling has led pioneering research into wild bats, presenting them as a new model for better health outcomes in mammals. She is the founder and director of the Centre for Irish Bat Research and also the founding director of BAT1K, an international consortium of scientists, technologists and bat enthusiasts.
She successfully leads a prolific, internationally renowned research team, has secured more than €4.4m in research funding, was previously listed as one of the top 100 women scientists in Ireland and has been recognised with prestigious awards, including the Science Foundation Ireland President of Ireland Young Researcher Award.
She is also a Chevalier in the Ordre des Palmes académiques, a notable civilian decoration in France, and has presented her research at several international events, including the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Alain Chan Kwo Chion
Dr Alain Chan Kwo Chion is a senior postdoctoral fellow at the RCSI School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences and the Irish Centre for Vascular Biology. He and his colleagues recently released a paper identifying a new method to fight the common blood disorder von Willebrand disease.
The findings which were uncovered by Chion and the RCSI team could have a significant impact on future healthcare for people living with the condition and indeed other disorders of the blood. Chion has lent his expertise to 40 scientific publications.
Ronald C Kessler
Dr Ronald C Kessler, is the McNeil Family professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. His research primarily focuses on the social determinants of mental health and illness as studied from an epidemiological point of view.
He has authored more than 700 publications, is a member of both the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and has been the recipient of a number of awards and honours recognising his contribution to science and mental health.
He is also the co-director of the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative and is involved in evaluating a number of innovative programmes for the prevention and treatment of mental illness in high-risk segments of the population, for example an army-based programme that studies the risks and factors for suicide among army personnel.
Nada Jabado
Dr Nada Jabado is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, a senior scientist in the Child Health and Human Development Programme at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and a paediatric haemato-oncologist at Montreal Children’s Hospital.
Her studies are largely in the area of childhood brain tumours and she has spearheaded research into the genetic and molecular differences between brain tumours found in children in comparison to adults.
Jabado’s team were the first to discover a new molecular mechanism, histone mutations, in human disease, which has enabled the development of more personalised treatment programmes for children with cancer.
For her research into the genetic defects that can cause aggressive brain tumours in children, Jabado was named the North American laureate at the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International awards.
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