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Dr Cathal McCarthy
Lecturer & HRB Principal Investigator Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics University College Cork (UCC) Western Gateway Building 2nd Floor, Room 2.48 Cork, Ireland Tel.: 00353 21 4205970 Bio: http://research.ucc.ie/profiles/C007/cmccarthy |
Dr. Cathal McCarthy is the Principal Investigator of both the HRB-funded COMRADES Study: MitoChondrial DysfunctiOn and Metainflammation in PRe-eclampsiA and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and also the HRB-funded DIVINE study; “Dysfunctional mItochondria proVokes Inflammation iN prEeclampsia”
Cathal's research investigates the disruptive pathways causing pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes mellitus and the development of novel therapeutics to effectively treat these pregnancy complications. Pre-eclampsia (PE) and gestational diabetes (GDM) are two common complications of pregnancy and affect 15% of first time mothers. Both conditions share common pathophysiological features including oxidative stress, inflammation, insulin resistance and widespread vascular endothelial dysfunction. Mitochondria provide us with energy released from our food and are abundant in the placenta to cope with the increased energy demands during pregnancy. Emerging data has shown that mitochondrial dysfunction acts as a pathogenic mediator of oxidative stress and provokes inflammation. Cathal’s research is interested in the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in utero, in particular the redox and inflammatory signalling cascades. Cathal is also interested in exploring therapeutic strategies of directly targeting mitochondria and determining their capacity to mediate the sophisticated signalling networks of the adipose-placenta axis in pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes mellitus.
My group’s main research interests are: (a) Investigate the diagnostic significance of biomarkers of mitochondrial dysfunction in Pre-eclampsia. (b) Develop a novel effective therapy for Pre-eclampsia by directly targeting mitochondrial superoxide scavenging using the reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat model. (c) Define the metabolic, oxidative and inflammatory processes which mediate the immunopathology of Pre-eclampsia and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (d) Investigate the therapeutic potential of mitochondrial-targeted antioxidants in ameliorating insulin resistance and metainflammation in Pre-eclampsia and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
Cathal's research investigates the disruptive pathways causing pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes mellitus and the development of novel therapeutics to effectively treat these pregnancy complications. Pre-eclampsia (PE) and gestational diabetes (GDM) are two common complications of pregnancy and affect 15% of first time mothers. Both conditions share common pathophysiological features including oxidative stress, inflammation, insulin resistance and widespread vascular endothelial dysfunction. Mitochondria provide us with energy released from our food and are abundant in the placenta to cope with the increased energy demands during pregnancy. Emerging data has shown that mitochondrial dysfunction acts as a pathogenic mediator of oxidative stress and provokes inflammation. Cathal’s research is interested in the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in utero, in particular the redox and inflammatory signalling cascades. Cathal is also interested in exploring therapeutic strategies of directly targeting mitochondria and determining their capacity to mediate the sophisticated signalling networks of the adipose-placenta axis in pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes mellitus.
My group’s main research interests are: (a) Investigate the diagnostic significance of biomarkers of mitochondrial dysfunction in Pre-eclampsia. (b) Develop a novel effective therapy for Pre-eclampsia by directly targeting mitochondrial superoxide scavenging using the reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat model. (c) Define the metabolic, oxidative and inflammatory processes which mediate the immunopathology of Pre-eclampsia and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (d) Investigate the therapeutic potential of mitochondrial-targeted antioxidants in ameliorating insulin resistance and metainflammation in Pre-eclampsia and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus