Orla Sheils

Biography

Professor Orla Sheils is: . Director of the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI), . Professor in Molecular Pathology and . Director of Medical Ethics at the School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin. She has a PhD in Molecular Pathology from Trinity College Dublin and a MA in Medical Law and Ethics from Kings College London. The underlying theme of her research is to understand the causes and molecular basis of the development of disease, with particular reference to cancer, and to apply this knowledge to improving disease prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment. She has a particular interest in developing novel molecular diagnostics. Translational research is the common theme throughout Prof Sheils' research, linking identification of disease processes with targets for early disease detection or classification. She has been an independent investigator since 2001 and has supervised 24 students to PhD level. Her department currently has 6 students pursuing the degree of PhD by research. She works closely with industry bringing novel technologies and applications to the translational research setting.

Research Interest

 Autoimmunity; Bioinformatics; Biomedical ethics; Cancer genetics and cell biology including metastasis; Cervical cancer; Commercialisation of scientific research; Diagnostics; Endocrine function and disease; Environmental Carcinogenesis; Foetal, maternal and neonatal physiology; Gene transcription in human cancer; Gynaecology oncology; HASHIMOTO THYROIDITIS; Immunochemistry and immunogenetics; Inflammatory bowel disease; Intra and intercellular signalling; Medical Law; Medical Sciences, Research; Membrane and protein trafficking; Oncogenes, apoptosis and tumour development; Oral diseases and Oral medicine; Oral pathology; Pathophysiology; Prostate cancer; Quantitative and molecular genetics; Regulatory methods of gene expression; RET ONCOGENE ACTIVATION; RNA processing, stability and degradation; Role of oestrogens in age related urogenital diseases; SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION; TAQMAN RT-PCR; Thyroid Cancer; Tumour immunology and immunotherapy; TYROSINE PHOSPHORYLATION; Virology and viral pathogenesis