Ciaran Morrison

Professor Ciaran Morrison obtained a B.Sc. in Biochemistry at the University of Galway, then undertook an M.Sc. by Research in Microbiology under the supervision of Prof. Frank Gannon, also at Galway. He was then selected for the international Ph.D. Programme of the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna, graduating 'mit Auszeichnung' from the University of Vienna in 1997. Morrison was awarded a Foreign Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to undertake postdoctoral research in Kyoto University with Prof. Shunichi Takeda. He was then awarded a European Molecular Biology Organisation Longterm Postdoctoral Fellowship for postdoctoral research with Prof. Bill Earnshaw at the University of Edinburgh. In October 2002, Morrison returned to the University of Galway to set up his own group with an Investigator award from Science Foundation Ireland. He became a Senior Lecturer in 2005 and received a Personal Professorship in 2011. To date, he has received 4 Investigator awards from SFI. Morrison's major research focus is on how cells maintain genome integrity, specifically on the interplay between the centrosomes/ centrioles/ primary cilia and the DNA repair/ checkpoint machinery, a theme that is of particular relevance in cancer biology. From 2014-2016, he was academic lead on the SFI-funded International Strategic Cooperation Award with Japan. He was Head of the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Galway from 2017-2021 and Visiting Professor at the University of Geneva from October 2021-March 2022. 

Overview: Centrosome abnormalities and amplification are common characteristics of tumour cells. Aneuploidy and chromosomal instability are highly correlated with the appearance of multiple centrosomes. Supernumerary centrosomes can cause mitotic abnormalities, such as the formation of multipolar spindles, potentially giving rise to abnormal chromosome segregation. Normally, centrosome amplification is tightly regulated during the cell cycle. Previous work from our group has demonstrated that DNA damage leads to centrosome amplification, although the mechanisms involved remain unclear.

One goal of our work is to understand how DNA damage is signalled to the centrosome duplication apparatus and to define the impact this has on centriole structure and proliferating cells. We want to understand whether centrosome amplification is a physiologically-relevant trigger of programmed cell death through indefinite arrest or mitotic catastrophe, or a potential contributor to genomic instability and tumourigenesis. We also explore how components of the centrosome regulate DNA repair and cell cycle checkpoint activities. Several key proteins of the centriole and the pericentriolar material are directly involved in control of the cell cycle, before and after DNA damage and we want to establish how they carry out the different functions that they have been assigned. We are using reverse genetics and cell biology in cultured cells to explore these questions.

Keywords: Cell cycle; genome stability; centrosomes; centrioles; cilia; mitotic effects of DNA damage; DNA double-strand break repair; cellular senescence.

Coordinator, BI453 (Biochemistry final-year project);

Coordinator, BI451 (Research paper analysis);

Contributor, BI449 (Molecular & Cellular Biology); BI447 (Literature review); BG4101 (Advanced skills for Biotechnologists); BI207 (Metabolism and cell signalling); BI2102 (Genetics & genomics: seminars)