Ian Darragh

Name: Ian Darragh

Contact Number: No office number

Email address: Ian.darragh2@mail.dcu.ie

Room Number: XB30

Qualifications to date: BSc. (hons) Sport Science and Health (DCU), MSc. Molecular Medicine (TCD)

Research Title: Exercise training and exercise factors

Year Commenced: 2020

Anticipated year of completion: 2023

Supervisor: Dr. Brendan Egan & Prof. Lorraine O'Driscoll

Research Summary:

During exercise, there are changes in the presence of hundreds of individual circulating factors (primarily proteins, nucleic acids and metabolites). These factors are collectively termed "exercise factors" and are generally speculated to assist in mediating some of the health benefits of exercise. My research focuses on examining whether the presence of exercise factors is altered at rest in association with exercise training. We have performed a cross-sectional study where three groups of individuals (strength trained athletes, endurance trained athletes and untrained controls) provided blood samples at rest (~40 hours post exercise) and I aim to comprehensively profile different types of exercise factors (specifically metabolites, cytokines and extra-vesicular RNA) to determine whether athletes have altered circulating profiles of bioactive molecules in comparison to sedentary individuals. The results of my research will provide some basic insight into how exercise may elicit durable changes that are beneficial to health.

Acknowledgements: Irish Research Council