Dr. Roisin Kelly-Laubscher is a Lecturer in Pharmacology & Therapeutics at University College Cork, Ireland. Her Ph.D. research focused on arterial hemodynamics, the arterial endothelium, and the endothelial glycocalyx. In 2006, she started a postdoctoral position at the Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research at the University of Cape Town (UCT) where she worked under the guidance of Prof. Lionel H Opie and Prof. Sandrine Lecour. From August 2009- Feb 2018, she was appointed to an academic post at UCT. While there her research focused on the role of ethanolamine and the endothelial glycocalyx in cardioprotection. More recently, she has begun to focus on cardioprotection in drug-induced cardiotoxicity.

 She is also a Teaching & Learning Fellow in the Centre for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning at UCC. She has been involved in life sciences education research since 2011 and has worked on a diverse range of topics, e.g. Wikis in teaching and learning, the experience of first-generation science students, LCT semantics in biology curricula, and the use of journal articles in teaching scientific writing to undergraduates. More recently, she joined the Core Concepts of Pharmacology research team.

Dr. Roisin Kelly-Laubscher’s research focuses on the identification and development of cardioprotective agents for the treatment of cardiac pathologies. To do this she uses cellular and preclinical models of cardiac pathology including; myocardial infarction, drug induced cardiotoxicity and cardiac hypertrophy. Through her research she has identified ethanolamine as a novel cardioprotective agent in myocardial infarction. Her current research focuses on the delineation of the mechanisms of this protection. A better understanding of how ethanolamine protects the heart may lead to the identification of more specific drug targets.

Another aspect of her current research centres on the identification of novel cardioprotective agents that can minimise the damage caused by anti-cancer drugs. More and more people are surviving cancer due to early detection methods and better treatment options. Unfortunately, many of the drugs used to treat cancer can also damage the heart and so there is a need for cardioprotective agents that can protect the heart during cancer treatment. 

Dr Kelly-Laubscher welcomes enquires from students interested in discussing MSc or PhD opportunities and post-doctoral researchers wishing to join the research group. If you would like to discuss such possibilities, please contact me on roisinkelly@ucc.ie

I mainly teach on the BSc Medical and Health Sciences programme and am second year coordinator for this programme. However, I also contribute to modules in other programmes and am a Teaching and Learning Fellow with the Centre for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning.  Further details of each module can be found by clicking the module name.

Undergraduate Teaching:
PT1020 Introduction to Pharmacology
PT2020 Introduction to Toxicology- Course Co-ordinator
PT2021 Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology- Course Co-ordinator
MH2020 Research Methods in Medical Sciences
PT3020 Pharmacology of Disease
PF3009 Gastrointestinal, Hepatic and Endocrine Systems
MH3010 Structured Literature Project in Medical and Health Sciences
MH3050 Advances in Translational Medicine
PT4021 Immunopharmacology and Chemotherapy
PT4022 Drug Discovery and Development- Course Co-ordinator
PT4023 Endocrine, Metabolic and Reproductive Pharmacology- Course Coordinator
PF4016 Pharmacy Research Project
MH4010 Research Project in Medical and Health Sciences

Postgraduate Teaching