Dagmara Niedziela
Dagmara is a postdoctoral researcher in UCD and a group leader for this project, under mentorship of Prof. Grace Mulcahy. She completed a PhD in Infection Biology in UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, and afterwards worked in UCD Centre of Food Safety before joining the group of Prof. Grace Mulcahy. In her current position, Dagmara works as a bioinformatician, analysing large genomic and transcriptomic datasets. She also obtained individual funding for the dog-owner pilot study from UCD School of Veterinary Medicine. Dagmara is passionate about studying the microbiome and animal health, and has previously worked as a nutritionist and a fitness instructor, so the interactions of the microbiota with diet and activity are her main interests.
Grace Mulcahy
Grace is a Full Professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin. From January 2007 - September 2016 she was Dean of Veterinary Medicine, and during this time worked to ensure the current position of the school as leading international player in veterinary education and research, and to advance research across the "One Health" spectrum, utilising synergies between its health professional schools.
She leads an active research group with interest in helminth immunology, using ruminant fasciolosis as a model system to understand immunoregulation mediated by helminths, the results of co-infection between helminths and other pathogens and relationships between gut helminths, the microbiome and inflammation. She has also been involved in studies of equine cyathostomins, anthelminthic treatment and their associations with the immune response and gut microbiota of the horse.
Having started her scientific career as a virologist studying foot-and-mouth disease, she is currently leading a Science Foundation Ireland Rapid Response COVID-19 study, UPCOM, as well as the REFOHCUS project.
Rob Shiel
Robert Shiel qualified from University College Dublin (UCD) in 1999. After four years in small animal practice in the United Kingdom, he returned to UCD to undertake a residency in small animal medicine and obtained the Diploma of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine - Companion Animals (Internal Medicine) in 2007. He completed a PhD at UCD in the area of canine thyroid function, and the effects of non-thyroidal illness, in 2011. After four years working as a lecturer at Murdoch University, Western Australia, Robert returned to UCD as a Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine in November 2014. Research interests include small animal endocrinology, neurology and genomics.
Monica Augusto
Monica graduated from UTAD, Portugal in 2001. After a couple of years in small animal general practice, she completed one-year rotating internship at the R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh in 2003 and later a Small Animal Internal Medicine residency at GUVS, University of Glasgow. Following a short period at the University of Liverpool (Oncology service), Monica worked in a private referral hospital in Winchester, UK for several years before moving back to academia as a Staff Clinician at the RVC, London. Monica has been a Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine at UCD since September 2017. She is a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ECVIM).
Kevin Murtagh
Kevin graduated from University College Dublin Vet School with first class honours. He then worked in small animal first opinion practice in the UK for over 2 years. This was followed by 18 months as a small animal vet in Sydney, Australia. He then undertook a rotating internship at the University of Liverpool, UK, followed by a 3-year residency in Internal Medicine in the same institution. He subsequently remained as a lecturer in Internal medicine for a further 18 months. He returned to Sydney and worked as an internal medicine specialist for 1 year. He came back to the UK in May 2017 to take up a position as internal medicine specialist at Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists, Winchester, where he remained until September 2019. He was then appointed assistant professor at UCD. Kevin was awarded the RCVS certificate in Internal Medicine in 2012 (Cert SAM), the European Diploma in Internal Medicine in 2016 (Dip ECVIM-ca) and was subsequently was awarded RCVS recognised specialist status in 2017. His main areas of interest include emergency medicine, acute kidney injury, GIT disease and hepatic disorders.
You can watch Kevin’s talk on what to do when getting a new puppy (opens in a new window)here.