Bernard Drumm

Email: info@icbc.ie

I completed my BSc in Biopharmaceutical Science at Dundalk Institute of Technology and began my career in ion channel pharmacology investigating the movement of calcium ions within and between cells. I am interested in the origins of calcium oscillations seen in the interstitial cells of cajal (ICC) from the urethra. Calcium oscillations in these cells can be recorded using confocal microscopy and my research will incorporate the use of caged compounds which can be made active following exposure to specific wavelengths of light (a process known as photolysis).  Using cell dispersion techniques and rapid acquistion confocal microscopy I have been able to isolate single ICC cells and observe the origins and propagation of calcium signals. Moving onwards in my PhD, I hope to combine the imaging technology that I currently use along with state-of-the-art patch clamp techniques to be able to simultaneously record ion channel currents along side intracellular calcium movement. I hope in studying the mechanisms underlying calcium oscillations in health and disease, I will assist in understanding how drugs can be developed to better control smooth muscle tone in diseases such as urinary incontinence.

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