Dundalk IT host international Smooth Muscle Conference

Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) recently hosted a 2-day international conference led by DkIT’s Dr Bernard (Ben) Drumm and supported by The Physiological Society titled “Command and Control: Regulation of Smooth Muscle Function”.

The conference catered for over 50 attendees, with more than 80% of those coming from overseas, and more than 50% of attendees at the senior Professor level. Participants arrived from all over the UK (London, Manchester, Strathclyde, Oxford), as well as several attendees from the United States, Australia, Spain and India. 

This event was the inaugural Smooth Muscle themed conference by the Physiological Society and the first Society conference in Ireland in more than 8 years.

Dr Ben Drumm who hails from Dundalk said: “We were delighted at DkIT to host this international conference on campus with our colleagues from The University of Manchester and The University of Strathclyde. 

“This Physiological Society sponsored symposium brought the top minds in smooth muscle physiology from all over the world on to our campus, symbolizing the strategic importance of the DkIT Smooth Muscle Research Centre as a hub of state-of-the-art life science research in Ireland”.

Smooth muscle is a major tissue type in the human body, vital for normal gastrointestinal, urinary, airway, vascular and reproductive function. Diseases resulting from smooth muscle disorders are numerous, ranging from asthma, incontinence, stroke, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, pre-mature labour and even neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

This conference represented a meeting of worlds and expertise, where research from the entire breath of smooth muscle tissues and organs was presented and discussed. This conference’s aim was to allow young up and coming investigators, trainees and students, the opportunity to showcase and discuss their work alongside recognized and established international experts.

The DkIT Smooth Muscle Research Centre academics who spoke at this notable event included Professor Keith Thornbury, Director of the DkIT Smooth Muscle Research Centre. Professor and lecturer at DkIT, he is an expert on ion channel pharmacology and smooth muscle physiology. Professor Thornbury spoke about new discoveries from the research group at DkIT on novel targets for treating airway diseases such as asthma and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Dr. Tuleen Alkawadri, a Postdoctoral Scholar also from DkIT’s Smooth Muscle Research Centre also presented her key findings from her PhD work at DkIT, outlining novel mechanisms for controlling smooth muscle function in the airways.

Dr Ben Drumm further added “I’d like to extend a massive thank you to Dr. Edel Healy for all the logistical support, DkIT President Diarmuid O’Callaghan for his excellent opening address and all the team at the Smooth Muscle Research Centre in Dundalk for their work.

“Congratulations to my fellow organizers Harry Pritchard at The University of Manchester and Calum Wilson and Matthew Lee from University of Strathclyde. Also well done to my PhD student Neha Gupta who, along with fellow DkIT PhD student Mitchell Mercer, was awarded the joint Early Career Poster Prize!”