Dr. Cathal McCarthy is a Senior Lecturer and Principal Investigator in Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Cathal is also Vice-Dean in and Chair of the Research and Innovation Committee in the School of Medicine.

I graduated with a B.Sc. Microbiology from University College Cork. I undertook my Ph.D studies in Vascular Biology in Dublin Institute of Technology, investigating the pathways modulating placental insufficiency in Pre-eclampsia and IUGR. My postdoctoral studies in the School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Sciences in University College Dublin focused on the elucidation of novel atheroprotective networks mediating Conjugated Linoleic acid (CLA) induced regression of pre-established atherosclerosis using in vitro and in vivo models of disease. I joined INFANT in 2013 and the primary focus of my research is establishing the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in perinatal complications.

In 2018, I joined the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics as Lecturer on the BSc. In Medical and Health Sciences degree programme and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2023. Cathal's research focuses on perinatal pharmacology, in particular investigating the disruptive pathways causing pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes mellitus and the development of novel therapeutics to effectively treat these pregnancy complications.

Perinatal Pharmacology: Therapeutic interventions for the treatment of pregnancy complications and assessing their impact on fetal neurodevelopmental outcomes

Suspected Pre-eclampsia is the most frequent clinical presentation to obstetric day-care units in Ireland and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is the most common medical disorder of pregnancy in Irish women. Pre-eclampsia and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus are intrinsically linked to elevated risks of poor maternal and perinatal outcomes with serious long-term sequelae for mother and baby.

My group’s main research interests are:

(a) Developing novel effective therapies for Pre-eclampsia using the preclinical reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat model and ex-vivo and in vitro cellular models.

(b) Investigating the relationship between maternal inflammation in pre-eclampsia and fetal neurodevelopmental outcomes.

(c) Exploring the role of visceral adiposity and endogenous adipocyte signalling pathways in the development of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. 

I am Year 4 Coordinator for the BSc. programme in Medical and Health Sciences CK707 (https://www.ucc.ie/en/ck707/). I primarily contribute teaching to the Pharmacology and Translational Medicine modules on the BSc. Medical and Health Sciences.

Undergraduate Teaching:

PT1020 Introduction to Pharmacology (5 Credits)- Module Coordinator

MH1050 Introduction to Translational Medicine (5 Credits)

PT2020 Introduction to Toxicology (5 Credits)

PT2021 Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology (5 Credits)

MH2020 Research Methods in Medical Science (5 Credits)

PT3020 Pharmacology of Disease (10 Credits) - Module Coordinator

MH3010 Structured Literature in Medical and Health Sciences (10 Credits)

MH3050 Advances in Translational Medicine (5 Credits)

FM3003 Foundations of Medicine (10 Credits)

PT4021 Immunopharmacology & Chemotherapy (10 Credits) - Module Coordinator

PT4023 Endocrine, Metabolic and Reproductive Pharmacology (5 Credits)

PT4024 Current Topics in Pharmacology (5 Credits)

MH4010 Research Project in Medical and Health Sciences (20 Credits)