Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) Ireland is delighted to announce the inaugural Michael Greene CRY Summer Studentship. The student research bursary honours the memory of Michael Greene, founding chair of CRY, who formed the charity in 1996 following the sudden death of his son Peter. Michael and his wife Marie worked devotedly and tirelessly for the charity before Michael stepped down in 2018. He died in October 2022, aged 79, leaving a legacy that continues to impact the lives of hundreds of families and individuals across Ireland.

The first Michael Greene CRY Summer Scholarship has been awarded to Daniel Diez Clarke, a biomedical engineering student at Trinity College Dublin. The 2023 bursary will  be used to complete his study: ‘Engineering disease in a dish models of cardiac disease’, under the supervision of Professor Michael Monaghan at the Monaghan lab,  Trinity College Dublin.

Biomedical engineering is a branch of engineering which encompasses medical device implants, diagnostics and therapy, and in recent decades the engineering of living tissues in the lab using materials and living cells.

Monaghan’s lab engineer and design beating heart cells created from human stem cells, which are donated directly from healthy consenting adults (similar to blood donation). These human stem cells have the potential to be directed towards becoming any adult cell type in the body.

Specifically, researchers in the lab generate cells that constitute those populating the heart. Using these tools, they are able to create micro beating heart tissues and use these to study heart mechanics and disease. It I hoped that Daniel’s work will build towards the repertoire of materials that can be used in these systems to make them more realistic of the heart tissue in our bodies. This work has far-reaching effects both in terms of studying heart attacks and related inflammation, and towards studying human stem cells obtained from consenting adult carriers of gene mutations linked to inherited cardiac conditions which could cause SADS.

“We are honoured to be the inaugural recipients of this bursary,” said Prof Monaghan.

“Michael Greene’s dedication to CRY and the cause it represents underlines the devastating impact SADS can have on families and communities. We do not take this bestowment for granted and it begins the journey to advancing our models in the lab and leveraging future research in this field through external fundings. Student summer internships are hugely important in motivating our next generation of researchers and give a much need impetus to interest in research among the next generation. This activity alone will raise awareness of CRY and the fantastic work they do with patients and families.’

Daniel began working in the lab earlier this year, alongside a team of expert researchers in the field of biomaterials and regenerative medicine.

“I’m delighted to have received the first student summer internship with CRY,” he said.

“I greatly admire the efforts of CRY to spread awareness and offer much needed support to those affected by Sudden Cardiac Death and for Cardiovascular Risk in Younger People. With 10,000 people carrying genetic mutations for cardiac conditions, the work is much needed and I am so glad to be able to contribute to the research through this program. 

“I have only just began working in the Monaghan Lab, and have just started using some of the techniques and research methods which I thought I would only see in lectures. Although at first, it was daunting, with the help of the researchers in the Monaghan Lab, I have become more and more confident in what I have been doing. I still have a long time to go with this studentship, and am hugely excited to continue learning and applying myself in this field.”