Body and Mind

Can you listen to brain waves? Can Artificial Intelligence save lives? Two puzzling questions led to an engineering solution with a high potential impact from the first days of life. You will see examples of use for some outstanding technology developed at University College Cork by two researchers (Dr. Emanuel Popovici, Dr. Andriy Temko) and their teams. You will listen to how neonatal brain waves sound, find out how some tiny devices can facilitate the recognition of brain abnormalities in newborns by medical professionals with any level of training and learn the power of open data.

Sarah will talk about how she use's stem cell technology to generate a disease in a dish model of Parkinson's disease from a simple skin biopsy donated by patients.

Saoirse's research is centred around the use of nanoparticles to deliver drugs to the back of the eye. These nanoparticles are formed when two natural biocompatible materials, with opposing charges interact with one another. The chosen drug is a chemical that is naturally produced in the body and is involved in several processes that maintain a healthy cellular environment. However, the concentration of this chemical begins to decline as we age, resulting in increased cellular dysfunction and damage. Acting as a vessel, the nanoparticles will carry this chemical into the eye after application.

Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem, with an increasing number of bacteria being resistant to current antibiotics. Essential fatty acids have potent antimicrobial activities against a range of multi-drug resistant bacteria, such as MRSA, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus & fungi, making it a suitable candidate for the next antimicrobial treatment. In addition, the FA is found to prevent and disrupt biofilm formation, contain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, wound healing properties & can relieve dry eye disease. This FA could be used in a wide range of applications.