- Contact details:
- m.oconnell@uea.ac.uk
- Part of
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Biography
I am Professor of Cell Biology in the School of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmacology at UEA. My group investigates therapeutic targets for inflammation, infection and cancer by studying cell signalling pathways in various in vitro human models of disease. Examples include members of the NF-kappa B, Nrf2 and Egr-1 signalling pathways, which are all modulated during infection. In addition, we explore the potential of plant and microbial natural products as therapeutics or nutraceuticals for inflammation and chronic age-related diseases.
I achieved a BSc in human nutrition at Trinity College Dublin and a diploma in dietetics at Dublin Institute of Technology in 1990. I then undertook a PhD and post-doc in Trinity College in cell biology and immunology. I moved to The Scripps Research Institute in California as an American Heart Association research fellow, studying gene regulation in inflammation. There, I discovered the role of IKK beta in lipopolysaccharide signal transduction pathways in monocytes.
From 1999-2006, I was a senior research scientist and Deputy Head of the Micronutrient Research Section at the Medical Research Council’s Human Nutrition Research Centre in Cambridge, working on the regulation of gene expression in inflammation and vascular disease and the role of cellular and dietary antioxidants in disease. I then joined UEA as a Senior Lecturer and was promoted to Professor in 2016.