Young researcher of the month
Our young researcher of the month is Lorna Mulvey. Lorna is a PhD student with one of our associate academics, Dr Colin Selman, who has collaborations with MCSB and is primarly based in the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine. Lorna carried out research work this year at Colorado State University and has presented her research, won an award and published her first article!
About my research
I began my academic career with a degree in Zoology, at Trinity College Dublin. Following this I undertook an MSc in Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecology, at the University of Exeter, where I studied the effects of nutrition on reproduction and lifespan in Drosophila. Leading on from this I moved to Glasgow to undertake a PhD with Professor Colin Selman.
My research focuses on investigating the mechanisms involved in lifespan extension through dietary restriction (DR). Whilst it has been known for almost 100 years that DR extends lifespan across wide evolutionary distances, the mechanisms through which it acts are still unknown. Using three different recombinant inbred ILSXISS mouse strains, which vary in response to DR; from lifespan extension to lifespan shortening, my PhD has sought to identify the mechanisms involved in DR-induced lifespan extension. Ultimately by exploiting the genetic heterogeneity of these mouse strains may help identify the mechanisms through which DR acts to slow ageing. During my PhD I (1) examined how these animals respond metabolically to DR, (2) determined the impact of DR on mitochondrial function, as mitochondrial dysfunction is a well characterised hallmark of ageing, and DR is known to attenuate age-related mitochondrial dysfunction, and (3) investigated proteostasis in these mice using isotopic labelling.
Recent prizes and publications
In April 2016 I spent three weeks at the Translational Research on Aging and Chronic Disease Laboratory, at Colorado State University where I learned to determine protein synthesis rates of my isotopically labelled samples by GCMS, and also presented a seminar to the research group. In July of this year I was invited to present some of my PhD research at The Rank Prize Funds Mini-Symposium on Dietary Restriction and Ageing in Grasmere, and was awarded first prize for the best PhD presentation. Excitingly I have recently published my first research article in Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, entitled “Disentangling the effect of dietary restriction on mitochondrial function using recombinant inbred mice”.
About me
In my spare time I like to run, I completed my first half marathon last weekend, love to cook, enjoy good coffee and good beer!
If you would like to be nominated or nominate a Young Researcher of the Month, please contact Claire.Osborne@glasgow.ac.uk.