Medical Science student wins top European and national awards for her final year research project
Hayley Foy-Stones’ project looks at the HPV virus and its association with head and neck cancers
A GMIT Medical Science student, Hayley Foy-Stones from Rhode in Co Offaly, has won top national and international awards for her final year research project, titled “The association of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) with P16ink4a in Head and Neck Cancer”.
Earlier this year at a conference of the Academy of Clinical Science & Laboratory Medicine in Dublin, Hayley took the top award in the undergraduate competition, winning the president's prize for her paper and presentation on the project.
In October she went on to represent Ireland at the European Association for Professionals in Biomedical Science (EPBS) in Portugal, winning the ‘Martin Nicholson overall award’. This award is granted by the EPBS to the medical scientist with the best scientific poster presentation in Europe and following the extensive judging of projects from all over Europe.
Hayley then proceeded to win the ‘Student Research Project of the Year 2018’ at the Irish Healthcare Awards which took place that same month (Oct) in Dublin.
Dr Seamus Lennon, Head of the GMIT Department of Biopharmaceutical & Medical Science, paid tribute to Hayley for her hard work and talent, saying: “Hayley’s great work ethic paid off and she deserves the several accolades which she has obtained for her research work.”
“Students of the Medical Science course complete a seven-month clinical work placement in a hospital laboratory. Hayley completed her placement in the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore, and she returned there to complete her fourth-year research project. It was during this project that Hayley completed her novel work on the HPV virus and its association with head and neck cancers.”
“Staff in the School of Science here are delighted with her achievements, first in Europe for one of our students! This is the third time in nine years that a GMIT student has won the Europe-wide competition. All this success is a testament to the students, the applied nature of the course, and the lecturers on the Medical Science programme."
For further information about the GMIT B.Sc. (Hons) in Medical Science, see: https://www.gmit.ie/medical-science/bachelor-science-honours-medical-science
Issued by: Regina Daly
GMIT Communications Officer
GMIT, Dublin Road, Galway
Tel. 091 742826 / 087-9618355 (m) regina.daly@gmit.ie
www.gmit.ie/news
