Fergal O Brien
Associate Professor
Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering
Trinity College Dublin
Ireland
Biography
Prof. Fergal O'Brien is a graduate in mechanical engineering from Trinity College, Dublin. He subsequently carried out research for his PhD in the area of bone biomechanics between RCSI and TCD (awarded 2001). Following his PhD, he was a Fulbright Scholar and carried out research in orthopaedic tissue engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in collaboration with in Harvard Medical School. In May, 2003 he left the US to take up a position as Lecturer in Anatomy in RCSI. He has subsequently developed one of the largest tissue engineering/regenerative medicine groups in Ireland and has been involved in the acquisition of over EUR12 million in grant funding, has published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed international journals, filed 6 patents and graduated 16 PhD students since 2003. He has been awarded a number of scientific honours including a Fulbright Scholarship (2001), New Investigator Recognition Award by the Orthopaedic Research Society (2002), Science Foundation Ireland, President of Ireland Young Researcher Award (2004), Engineers Ireland Chartered Engineer of the Year (2005) and in 2009, a European Research Council (ERC) Investigator Award (Eur 2 million). He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland (Engineers Ireland). He has served as a reviewer for over 50 scientific journals and a grant reviewer for agencies in Europe, Australia, Canada and USA. He is currently Treasurer of the Biomedical Division of Engineers Ireland, Committee Member of the Bioengineering Section of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland, Editorial Consultant for the Journal of Biomechanics and Subject Editor (Tissue Engineering) for the Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials. For more information and current news on the Bone & Tissue Engineering Research Group in RCSI: www.rcsi.ie/boneresearch. Office Contact Details: Email: fjobrien@rcsi.ie. Tel. 01-4022149, Fax. 01-4022355
Research Interest
Animal Model; BIODEGRADABLE IMPLANT; BIODEGRADABLE POLYMERS; Bioengineering; Biological Engineering; Biological Modeling; Biological Polymers; Biomaterials; Biomechanics; Biomechanics, Biomedical Engineering; Biomedical Engineering; Biomedical Research, Multidisciplinary; Biopolymeric Materials; Bioreactors; Biotechnology; Bone; Bone Diseases; BONE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT; BONE LOSS; BONE MASS; bone microdamage; BONE REGENERATION; bone remodelling and repair; BONE TURNOVER; BONE-DENSITY; BONE-RESORPTION; CARTILAGE; Cell and tissue development; Cell and tissue maintenance, repair and ageing; Cell signalling, proliferation & differentiation; Cellular Biology; Chemicals/Materials; Composite materials; Engineering underpinning biomedicine; Fatigue/Fracture; FRACTURES; Materials technology, engineering; Maxillofacial surgery; Mechanical Engineering; Mechanical Properties, Materials; Medical Devices; Medical Devices Engineering; Medical Sciences, Research; Musculoskeletal System; Orthopaedic surgery; Orthopedics; osteoporosis; SCAFFOLD; Stem Cell; Stem Cell Biology; TISSUE ADAPTATION; Tissue Culture; tissue engineering
Publications
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Khayyeri H, Checa S, Tägil M, O Brien FJ, Prendergast PJ, Tissue differentiation in an in vivo bioreactor: in silico investigations of scaffold stiffness., Journal of Materials Science. Materials in Medicine, (Epub ahead of print), 2010
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Healy C, Kennedy OD, Brennan O, Rackard SM, O Brien FJ, Lee TC, Structural adaptation and intracortical bone turnover in an ovine model of osteoporosis., Journal of Orthopaedic Research , 28, (2), 2010, p248-51
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Haugh MG, Murphy CM, McKiernan RC, Altenbuchner C, O Brien FJ, Crosslinking and mechanical properties significantly influence cell attachment, proliferation, and migration within collagen glycosaminoglycan scaffolds., Tissue engineering. Part A, 17, (9-10), 2011, p1201-8
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Claro T, Widaa A, O Seaghdha M, Miajlovic H, Foster TJ, O Brien FJ, Kerrigan SW, Staphylococcus aureus Protein A Binds to Osteoblasts and Triggers Signals That Weaken Bone in Osteomyelitis., PloS one, 6, (4), 2011, pe18748
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Brennan MA, Gleeson JP, Browne M, O Brien FJ, Thurner PJ, McNamara LM, Site specific increase in heterogeneity of trabecular bone tissue mineral during oestrogen deficiency., European Cells & Materials, 21, 2011, p396-406
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Fergal J O Brien, Biomaterials and scaffolds for tissue engineering, MATERIALS TODAY, 14, (3), 2011, p88-95
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Eric Farrell, Sanne Both, Kathrin I Ödorfer, Wendy Koevoet, Nicole Kops, Fergal J O Brien, Robert J Baatenburg de Jong, Jan A Verhaar, Vincent Cuijpers, John Jansen, Reinhold G Erben, Gerjo JVM van Osch, In-vivo generation of bone via endochondral ossification by in-vitro chondrogenic priming of adult human and rat mesenchymal stem cells, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 12, (31), 2011
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Ciara M. Murphy, Amos Matsiko, Matthew G. Haugh, John P. Gleeson, Fergal J. O Brien, Mesenchymal stem cell fate is regulated by the composition and mechanical properties of Collagen-Glycosaminoglycan scaffolds, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 2012
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Erica G. Tierney, Garry P. Duffy, Alan J. Hibbitts, Sally-Ann Cryan, Fergal J. O Brien, The Development of Non-Viral Gene-Activated Matrices for Bone Regeneration Using Polyethyleneimine (PEI) and Collagen-Based Scaffolds, Journal of Controlled Release, 2012
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Ramesh, Ashwanth Levingstone, Tanya O Byrne, John M. O Brien, Fergal J. , SARS/ASIT academic & research surgery prize winner: An in vivo study of bioactive multilayered scaffolds for regeneration and repair of osteochondral defects , International Journal of Surgery , 11 , (8 ), 2013, p591
