Research Interests
Dr O’Hara was awarded a B.A. Mod. (Natural Science) in Trinity College Dublin, she then obtained her M.Sc. in Biomedical Science in Trinity College. Dr O’Hara studied Serum Amyloid A and other inflammatory markers in patients with arthritis. This work was carried out in the Education & Research Centre, Department of Rheumatology, St. Vincent’s University Hospital while affiliated to UCD and was awarded her PhD in 2002.
Following this she was offered a Post-doctoral position in Harvard University, but chose to take up a Post-doctoral position in Royal College of Surgeons Ireland with Professor BJ Harvey, where she investigated the rapid effects of steroid hormones via different signalling pathways.
My current research interests include the role of Serum amyloid A and other inflammatory markers and signalling pathways in arthritis patients as well as investigating the endocrine and hormonal response of GAA players to competitive match play. I am also interested in investigating Serum amyloid A as a biomarker in different fish species.
Engagement and Collaboration
- Supervised HRB Medical Summer students, B.Sc. (Hons.) and M.Sc. students while in St Vincent’s University Hospital.
- Collaborated with Biotrin during her PhD studies.
- Advised students who entered the Young Scientist Competition 2012. Both students won the Self-Help Africa award and were given a trip to Africa as their prize. The same students also won the SciFest prize in IT Carlow and also participated in the Google Science competition.
- Supervised numerous 4th year students who carry out a laboratory based project as part of their degree.
- Established a Journal Club forum in the Science and Health Department.
- Has been an external SFI Commercialisation (Proof of Concept) Grant assessor.
- Was awarded a Strand 1 grant and collaborated with Dr Ursula Fearon, Dept. of Rheumatology, St. Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH).
- External examiner for Institute of Technology Tallaght, and Dundalk Institute of Technology.
- Examined MSc theses for Tralee Institute of Technology.
Current Research Students
- Sandra Bohan: Serum Amyloid A as a biomarker in fish. Co-supervisor.
- Laura Coleman: A longitudinal study looking at the inflammatory responses and signalling pathways of arthritis patients. Co-supervisor.
- Cian Gormley: The Neuromuscular, endocrine, hormonal and physiological responses of Gaelic games players to competitive match-play. Co-supervisor.
Past Research Students
Laurence O’Neill: Can analysis of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in matched synovial fluid and serum determine the inflammatory state of knee osteoarthritis?
Areas of interest as a supervisor include
- Biochemistry; Inflammation; disease; Molecular biology.
- Teaching and Learning.
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Mullan R.H., Bresnihan B., Golden-Mason L., Markham T., O’Hara R., FitzGerald O., Veale D.J. and Fearon U. Acute-phase serum amyloid A stimulation of angiogenesis, leukocyte recruitment, and matrix degradation in rheumatoid arthritis through an NF-kappaB-dependent signal transduction pathway. Arthritis Rheum. 2006 Jan; 54(1):105-14.
O’Hara R., Murphy E.P., Whitehead A.S., FitzGerald O. and Bresnihan B. Local expression of the serum amyloid A and formyl peptide receptor-like 1 genes in synovial tissue is associated with matrix metalloproteinase production in patients with inflammatory arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2004 Jun; 50(6):1788-99.
O’Hara R., Murphy E.P., Whitehead A.S., FitzGerald O. and Bresnihan B. Acute-phase serum amyloid A production by rheumatoid arthritis synovial tissue. Arthritis Res. 2000; 2(2):142-4. Epub 2000 Feb 24.
Conference Proceedings and Papers
O’Hara R., Murphy E.P., Whitehead A.S., FitzGerald O. and Bresnihan B. ‘Acute phase SAA production by synovial tissue’. Irish Journal of Medical Science.
O’Hara R., Murphy E.P., Whitehead A.S., FitzGerald O. and Bresnihan B. ‘Serum amyloid A stimulates the production of matrix metalloproteinases in rheumatoid arthritis.’ Irish Journal of Medical Science.
Poster and Oral Presentations
1997: Irish Society of Rheumatology, Mater Hospital, Dublin 7. (Poster).
1998: Irish Society of Rheumatology, Blanchardstown Hospital. Title: ‘Serum amyloid A in rheumatoid arthritis’. (Oral & Poster).
British Society of Immunology, Queens University, Belfast. Short-listed for poster presentation. (Oral & Poster).
Short-listed Speaker for Hassan Yanni Biomedical Prize, Annual Symposium, Education & Research Centre, St. Vincent’s University Hospital. Title: ‘Serum amyloid A in rheumatoid arthritis’. (Oral)
1999: Presentation for Health Research Board Unit Grant Inspection. Title: ‘The role of FPRL-1 in A-SAA mediated MMP-1 production’. (Oral).
Irish Society of Rheumatology, St. James’ Hospital, Dublin. (Poster).
Irish Society of Pharmacologists, Killiney Court Hotel, Dublin. (Poster).
American College of Rheumatology, Boston, MA, USA. (Poster).
2000: American College of Rheumatology, Philadelphia, USA. (Poster).
Selected speaker 10th Anniversary Annual Symposium, Education & Research Centre, SVUH, Dublin 4. Title: ‘Biological Effects of Acute phase proteins’. (Oral).
2001: Irish Society of Immunology, SVUH, Elm Park, Dublin 4. Title: ‘A pathophysiological role for serum amyloid A in rheumatoid arthritis’. (Oral).
Irish Society of Rheumatology, SVUH, Dublin 4. Title: ‘A pathophysiological role for serum amyloid A in rheumatoid arthritis’. (Oral).
Irish Society of Rheumatology, SVUH, Dublin 4. (Poster).
2002: Irish Society of Rheumatology, SVUH, Dublin 4. (Poster).
American College of Rheumatology, New Orleans, LA, USA. (Poster).
2003: Rapid Responses to Steroid Hormones, Florence, Italy. (Poster).
2005: BioNet Conference. (Poster).
2014: Teaching & Learning, MATL Research 2014, June 2014. ‘Some factors which influence 1st year undergraduate student performance in the Biosciences’. (Poster).
Postgraduate Students Conferences and Orals
2014:International Congress on the Biology of Fish. Title: ‘Serum Amyloid A and its use as a Biomarker.’ Sandra Bohan, David Dowling and Rosemary O’Hara.
O’Neill, L., Rankin, P., and O’Hara, R. (2014). Human Specimen Analysis for Biomarkers to Improve Arthritis Detection. In: IT Carlow Research Day.
2015: Inaugural Postgraduate Conference in IT Carlow. Title: ‘Stress and Environmental Pollution.’ Sandra Bohan, David Dowling and Rosemary O’Hara.
O’Neill, L., Rankin, P. and O’Hara, R. (2015). Can assessment of synovial fluid and blood specimens for pro- and anti-inflammatory markers predict the type of arthritis patients develop? In: IT Carlow Research Day.
O’Neill, L., Rankin, P. and O’Hara, R. (2015). Can assessment of synovial fluid and blood specimens for pro- and anti-inflammatory markers predict the type of arthritis patients may develop? In: Inate Immunity Conference. Barcelona.
Environ Conference, Institute of Technology, Sligo. Title: ‘Serum Amyloid A and its use as an Indicator of Environmental Pollution.’ Sandra Bohan, David Dowling and Rosemary O’Hara.
2017: Coleman, L, Rankin, P. and O’Hara, R. (2017). A longitudinal study looking at the inflammatory response, novel biomarkers and signalling pathways of Osteoarthritis patients. In: IT Carlow Research Day.
Dissertations
O’Neill, L. (2017). Can analysis of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in matched synovial fluid and serum determine the inflammatory state of knee osteoarthritis? M.Sc. Institute of Technology Carlow.
Manuscripts in preparation for peer review
O’Neill, L., Rankin, P., Edwards, S. and O’Hara, R. (In preparation, 2018).IL-10 and IL-6 showed significant difference in serum between the healthy and disease group indicating the potential use of these cytokines a biomarkers for knee osteoarthritis. To be submitted to Arthritis and Rheumatology.
O’Neill, L., Rankin, P., Edwards, S. and O’Hara, R. (In preparation, 2018). Analysis of matched synovial fluid and serum confirmed local secretion within the joint of knee osteoarthritis patients where cytokine concentrations were higher in synovial fluid than serum in many instances. This helped determine the inflammatory state of knee osteoarthritis in patients. To be submitted to Arthritis and Rheumatology.