School of Biotechnology
Biography
Anne Parle-McDermott is Professor in Genetics at the School of Biotechnology and is currently Head of School and the DCU Biotechnology Lead for Biodesign Europe. She is Principal Investigator of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory and a PI of the National Institute of Cellular Biotechnology and the Water Institute. Her research interests are in the complementary areas of functional genetics as it relates to human health and the application of DNA-based methodologies for diagnostics and biosensor development. She teaches a range of modules on Eukaryotic genetics and genomics and associated nucleic acid based molecular technologies.
Expertise
Research Interests:
Prof Anne Parle-McDermott is Principal Investigator (PI) of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory based in the School of Biotechnology. She is also a PI of the National Institute of Cellular Biotechnology and the Water Institute at DCU. Her research interests lie within the domains of basic and health-related research and the application of DNA-based methodologies for diagnostics and biosensor development.
The basic and health-related aspects of her research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanism of how folate nutrition plays such an important role in human health ranging from pregnancy to ageing using a combination of genetics, genomics, biochemistry and cell biology methodologies. This research will have relevance for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of common human disease.
The applied aspects to her research are centred around DNA-based technologies for diagnostics and biosensor development. Prof Parle-McDermott has over 25 years of experience working with DNA and the concepts, expertise and this wealth of knowledge are now being applied to a range of diagnostic and biosensing challenges including species detection in environmental DNA (eDNA), contamination in the food and beverage industry and human health monitoring.