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DR Ailish Breen

Jt Lecturer

Contact Details

Jt Lecturer
Address

E: Breen.Ailish@itsligo.ie
 
researcher

Biography

Dr Ailish Breen is a lecturer in Biopharmaceutical Science.  She teaches across the biomedical, medical device and pharmaceutical  programmes to Level 7, 8 and 9 students.  She is also year tutor for Third year biomedical science students.

She is a biomedical engineer and obtained her PhD in the field of tissue engineering for the treatment of chronic ulcers in diabetic patients.  The work was focused on the optimization of a biomaterial scaffold for sustained release of a therapeutic gene to modulate wound healing in vivo.  The research resulted in several awards including best poster at the European Society for Gene Therapy in Finland, 2004, Engineer's Ireland Biomedical Research medal finalist, HRB Communications award and Faculty of Engineering best poster prize.   She has authored over 30 conference papers, including an invited plenary presentation at the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society meeting in London, 2008.  Dr  Breen has secured in excess of 500,000 in funding from sources such as Enterprise Ireland, SFI Research Frontiers Programme, HRB Basic Research Grant and NUI Galway and IT Sligo bursary schemes.   Funding was obtained for projects concerned with gene delivery from novel biomaterial scaffolds. 

Dr Breen spent three years in Industry working as Scientific Development Officer in the management of bioassays for the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Industry.  Her current research interests include developing and optimising novel natural biomaterials for tissue engineering, drug release applications and antimicrobial coatings.  

In the last three years, Dr Breen has coauthored six journal articles of high impact and two book chapters, bringing her publication number to 13 and h-index to 11.

She has also published separately on the use of blended learning to create an authentic learning experience and has a research interest in blending workplace engagement into undergraduate study using online technology and the principles of authentic learning.

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zbh3C40AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao


Research Interests

Research interests include the investigation and modelling of therapeutic drug/gene delivery from biomaterials.  An application under investigation is the controlled delivery of fatty acids for enhanced gene expression in bioprocessing.  Other areas of interest are the evaluation of the biocompatibility of graphene composites for drug delivery and evaluation of novel marine derived biomaterials for controlled drug delivery and biosensor applications.

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2021) 'Biomedical Applications of Electrospun Graphene Oxide'
Grant, Jamie J.,Pillai, Suresh C.,Hehir, Sarah,McAfee, Marion,Breen, Ailish (2021) 'Biomedical Applications of Electrospun Graphene Oxide'. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 7 (4):1278-1301 [Details]
(2021) 'Electrospun Fibres of Chitosan/PVP for the Effective Chemotherapeutic Drug Delivery of 5-Fluorouracil'
Grant, Jamie J. and Pillai, Suresh C. and Perova, Tatiana S. and Hehir, Sarah and Hinder, Steven J. and McAfee, Marion and Breen, Ailish (2021) 'Electrospun Fibres of Chitosan/PVP for the Effective Chemotherapeutic Drug Delivery of 5-Fluorouracil'. Chemosensors, 9 (4) [DOI] [Details]
(2020) 'Ternary Metal Chalcogenide Heterostructure (AgInS2-TiO2) Nanocomposites for Visible Light Photocatalytic Applications'
Ganguly, P. and Mathew, S. and Clarizia, L. and Kumar, R. S. and Akande, A. and Hinder, S. J. and Breen, A. and Pillai, S. C. (2020) 'Ternary Metal Chalcogenide Heterostructure (AgInS2-TiO2) Nanocomposites for Visible Light Photocatalytic Applications'. Acs Omega, 5 (1):406-421 <a href="http://://WOS:000507578300044" TARGET="_blank"> [DOI] [Details]
(2020) 'New insights into the efficient charge transfer of ternary chalcogenides composites of TiO2'
Ganguly, Priyanka and Kumar, R. and Muscetta, Marica and Padmanabhan, Nisha T. and Clarizia, Laura and Akande, Akinlolu and Hinder, S. and Mathew, Snehamol and John, H. and Breen, Ailish and Pillai, S. (2020) 'New insights into the efficient charge transfer of ternary chalcogenides composites of TiO2'. Applied Catalysis B-environmental, [Details]
(2019) 'Theoretical and experimental investigation of visible light responsive AgBiS2-TiO2 heterojunctions for enhanced photocatalytic applications'
Ganguly, P. and Mathew, S. and Clarizia, L. and Kumar, R. S. and Akande, A. and Hinder, S. and Breen, A. and Pillai, S. C. (2019) 'Theoretical and experimental investigation of visible light responsive AgBiS2-TiO2 heterojunctions for enhanced photocatalytic applications'. Applied Catalysis B-Environmental, 253 :401-418 <a href="http://://WOS:000469904500045" TARGET="_blank"> [DOI] [Details]
(2019) '2D Nanomaterials for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production'
Ganguly, P. and Harb, M. and Cao, Z. and Cavallo, L. and Breen, A. and Dervin, S. and Dionysiou, D. D. and Pillai, S. C. (2019) '2D Nanomaterials for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production'. Acs Energy Letters, 4 (7):1687-1709 <a href="http://://WOS:000475827900026" TARGET="_blank"> [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'Toxicity of Nanomaterials: Exposure, Pathways, Assessment, and Recent Advances'
Ganguly, P. and Breen, A. and Pillai, S. C. (2018) 'Toxicity of Nanomaterials: Exposure, Pathways, Assessment, and Recent Advances'. Acs Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 4 (7):2237-2275 <a href="http://://WOS:000438475500002" TARGET="_blank"> [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'Antimicrobial activity of photocatalysts: Fundamentals, mechanisms, kinetics and recent advances'
Ganguly, P. and Byrne, C. and Breen, A. and Pillai, S. C. (2018) 'Antimicrobial activity of photocatalysts: Fundamentals, mechanisms, kinetics and recent advances'. Applied Catalysis B-Environmental, 225 :51-75 <a href="http://://WOS:000424719300006" TARGET="_blank"> [DOI] [Details]
(2009) 'Fibrin-Lipoplex System for Controlled Topical Delivery of Multiple Genes'
Kulkarni, Mangesh and Breen, Ailish and Greiser, Udo and O'Brien, Timothy and Pandit, Abhay (2009) 'Fibrin-Lipoplex System for Controlled Topical Delivery of Multiple Genes'. Biomacromolecules, 10 (6):1650-1654 <a href="http://://WOS:000266860700042" TARGET="_blank"> [DOI] [Details]
(2009) 'Fibrin as a delivery system for therapeutic drugs and biomolecules'
Breen, A. and O'Brien, T. and Pandit, A. (2009) 'Fibrin as a delivery system for therapeutic drugs and biomolecules'. Tissue Eng Part B Rev, 15 (2):201-14 [DOI] [Details]
(2009) 'Fibrin scaffold promotes adenoviral gene transfer and controlled vector delivery'
Breen, A. and Dockery, P. and O'Brien, T. and Pandit, A. (2009) 'Fibrin scaffold promotes adenoviral gene transfer and controlled vector delivery'. J Biomed Mater Res A, 89 (4):876-84 [DOI] [Details]
(2009) 'Fibrin-lipoplex system for controlled topical delivery of multiple genes'
Kulkarni M, Breen A, Greiser U, O'Brien T, Pandit A. (2009) 'Fibrin-lipoplex system for controlled topical delivery of multiple genes'. Biomacromolecules, 10 (6):1650-1654 [Details]
(2008) 'Assessment of Wound Healing in the Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Rabbit Ear Model'
Breen, Ailish and Mc Redmond, G. and Dockery, R. and O'Brien, T. and Pandit, A. (2008) 'Assessment of Wound Healing in the Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Rabbit Ear Model'. Journal of Investigative Surgery, 21 (5):261-269 <a href="http://://WOS:000259899900006" TARGET="_blank"> [DOI] [Details]
(2008) 'The use of therapeutic gene eNOS delivered via a fibrin scaffold enhances wound healing in a compromised wound model'
Breen, A. M. and Dockery, P. and O'Brien, T. and Pandit, A. S. (2008) 'The use of therapeutic gene eNOS delivered via a fibrin scaffold enhances wound healing in a compromised wound model'. Biomaterials, 29 (21):3143-51 [DOI] [Details]
(2007) 'Stereological methods to assess tissue response for tissue-engineered scaffolds'
Garcia, Yolanda and Breen, Ailish and Burugapalli, Krishna and Dockery, Peter and Pandit, Abhay (2007) 'Stereological methods to assess tissue response for tissue-engineered scaffolds'. Biomaterials, 28 (2):175-186 <a href="http://://WOS:000242310500007" TARGET="_blank"> [DOI] [Details]
(2006) 'Optimization of a fibrin scaffold for sustained release of an adenoviral gene vector'
Breen, A. and Strappe, P. and Kumar, A. and O'Brien, T. and Pandit, A. (2006) 'Optimization of a fibrin scaffold for sustained release of an adenoviral gene vector'. J Biomed Mater Res A, 78 (4):702-8 [DOI] [Details]

Honours and Awards

  Year Title Awarding Body
2007 Finalist Biomedical Engineering Award Engineers Ireland
2004 Best Poster Prize European Society of Gene Therapy

Employment

  Employer Position From / To
Charles River Laboratories Preclinical Services Ireland Ltd Validation Engineer 01-MAY-12 / 16-SEP-12
Charles River Laboratories Preclinical Services Ireland Ltd Project Manager / Scientific Development Officer 01-OCT-08 / 31-JUL-11

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2003 National University of Ireland Galway Bachelor of Engineering Biomedical Engineering
2008 National University of Ireland Galway PhD Biomedical Engineering
2012 National University of Ireland Galway Diploma of Education Education

Teaching Interests

I have a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PDE) and am passionate about teaching and learning.

Modules taught:
Medical Device Manufacturing
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Formulation and Delivery Systems
Industrial Placement and Case Studies
Operations Management
Project Management
Scientific Communications
Information Technology

Interested in using blended learning to create an authentic learning environment.  I have recently created a MOOC for Medical Device Manufacturing.  My class followed the MOOC in a flipped learning environment.

In collaboration with other researchers within IT Sligo, we have a focus on advancng the concept of workplace engagement and mentoring using online technology.


Modules Taught

  Term (ID)) Title Link Subject
202100 Advanced Therapy Medicinal Pro 31440Advanced Therapy Medicinal Pro
202100 Advanced Therapy Medicinal Pro 43994Advanced Therapy Medicinal Pro
202100 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS 2 21327SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS 2
202100 FORMULATION AND DELIVERY SYSTE 33864FORMULATION AND DELIVERY SYSTE
202100 INDUSTRIAL PLACEMENT AND CASE 32546INDUSTRIAL PLACEMENT AND CASE
202100 TISSUE ENGINEERING 21620TISSUE ENGINEERING
202100 Technical Report Writing 34533Technical Report Writing
202100 MEDICAL DEVICE TECHNOLOGIES 31448MEDICAL DEVICE TECHNOLOGIES
202100 MEDICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY PROJECT 32550MEDICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY PROJECT
202100 PROJECT MANAGEMENT 33872PROJECT MANAGEMENT
202100 PHARMACEUTICAL OPERATIONS EXCE 31376PHARMACEUTICAL OPERATIONS EXCE
202100 LEAN SIGMA 33939LEAN SIGMA
202100 MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURING 21596MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURING
202100 Advanced Therapy Medicinal Pro 34791Advanced Therapy Medicinal Pro
202100 IT3 and Instrumentation 32646IT3 and Instrumentation
202100 PROJECT MANAGEMENT 22535PROJECT MANAGEMENT
202100 MEDICAL DEVICE TECHNOLOGIES 34794MEDICAL DEVICE TECHNOLOGIES
202100 Technical Report Writing 34532Technical Report Writing
202100 FORMULATION AND DELIVERY SYSTE 22519FORMULATION AND DELIVERY SYSTE