University Medical Center Groningen
Alan trained as a medical laboratory scientist with a focus in haematology and blood transfusion at the Dublin Institute of Technology. Following a year in a hospital blood transfusion lab, he undertook a M.Sc in Regenerative Medicine at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He then worked as a Marie Curie research associate at the University of Birmingham before commencing his PhD. An avid follower of politics and current affairs, he also enjoys cycling, fishing and is really interested in food.
Alan visits the University of Birmingham - July 2017
I’ve just returned from my first secondment to the University of Birmingham to learn sample prep for NMR. Nuria was busy teaching me metabolite extractions for 1D and 2D NMR and we also ran real-time NMR on primary AML samples. Some 13C labelled glucose tracer studies were also practiced and I’m now getting set up in Groningen to start prepping my own samples here. It was really nice being back in Birmingham and getting to know the fellows there more. It was also nice introducing them to some of my other other Marie Curie friends there. Ulrich kindly invited us to his house for a BBQ to meet Professor Brian Schaffhausen, who discovered PI3 kinase. Many thanks to him and all of his lab for being so welcoming and I look forward to my next secondment.