Email: helenakelly@rcsi.com
Tel: +353 (0)1 402 8595
Add: 111 St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
Biography
Prof Helena Kelly is Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences (PBS). A registered pharmacist, Helena graduated with a BSc (Pharm) from Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) and subsequently undertook her PhD in the area of stimuli-responsive hydrogels and sustained drug delivery in the Department of Pharmaceutics, TCD. After completing her PhD, Helena spent eight years in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry working across a range of areas including process development and scale up, technical manufacturing operations, clinical trial manufacture and the regulatory approval process. Helena returned to academia in the School of Pharmacy at RCSI in 2008. In March 2022 she was appointed as Deputy Head (Programmes Innovation) in PBS with responsibility for the implementation of two new programmes, an MSc in Technologies and Analytics in Precision Medicine (TAPM) and a BSc in Advanced Therapeutic Technologies (ATT). The development of these programmes has been funded through a €7.8m HEA Human Capital Initiative award titled 'Enabling Future Pharma -Beyond the Pill'. From a research perspective, Helena has a particular interest in the use of delivery platforms in translational research applications and is a principal investigator in the Tissue Engineering Research Group (TERG). She has been a Principal Investigator and deputy co-ordinator in two EU consortia, AMCARE (Advanced Materials for Cardiac Regeneration, FP7, 2013-2017) and DRIVE (Diabetes Reversing Implants for Enhanced Viability and long-term Efficacy, Horizon 2020, 2014-2018) where she led on the formulation of hydrogel delivery platforms for minimally invasive delivery clinical applications. She is the inventor of ChemoGel, a thermoresponsive hydrogel platform for intratumoral drug delivery, the development of which has been funded through the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund. In 2019, she participated in the NSF-SFI Innovation Corps (iCorps) programme for entrepreneur scientists and has a strong interest in the role of innovation in the HE section.
Research Interests
Helena's research interests are primarily focused on hydrogel technology in particular potential clinical applications for hydrogels as delivery vehicles or biomaterial carriers. She is particularly interested in developing integrated solutions for complex healthcare problems and collaborates with a multi-disciplinary team of people including clinicians, biomedical engineers and stem cell biologists. She has evaluated the potential of hydrogel platforms for applications across a range of clinical indications including tissue regeneration for cardiac applications, as an ECM to enhance cell viability, and for intra-tumoral delivery in oncology applications. The potential of hydrogel platforms in interventional oncology applications is a particular area of focus. Interventional oncology (IO) focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and cancer-related problems using targeted minimally invasive procedures performed under image guidance. Treatment for cancer is traditionally based around the three pillars of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation with immunotherapies playing an increasingly important role in certain cancers. Standard drug regimens are primarily delivered to the patient via intravenous (IV) injection, with the concomitant off-target toxic side effects leading to significant patient morbidity due to lack of specificity of treatment. Applying the principles of IO, Helena has developed a thermoresponsive hydrogel platform for the intra-tumoral delivery of chemotherapeutics. This ChemoGel technology is a patent-protected platform that is currently being evaluated for its commercialisation potential. Intra-tumoral delivery of chemotherapeutics provides potential benefits to treatment including minimally invasive administration, localisation of chemical payload at tumor site and subsequent reduction in off-target side effects. The use of this approach in combination with specifically designed drug delivery platforms allows for optimisation of this approach through improved delivery and retention at the tumour site, and prolonged duration of release and activity of drug.
Recent Publications
1. Simple technique for microscopic evaluation of active cellular invasion into 3D hydrogel constructs. [Journal Article] Simpson C, Cavanagh B, Kelly H, Murphy C Published 7 Feb 2023
2. A predictive oxygen durability model to analyze oxygen consumption of insulin producing cells encapsulated within a highly oxygenated hydrogel. [Journal Article] Domingo-Lopez DA, Levey RE, Brennan B, Carroll O, Gale SE, Millman JR, Mcdonough L, Kelly H, Ronan W, Duffy G Published 30 Sep 2022
3. The impact of epithelial–mesenchymal transition and metformin on pancreatic cancer chemoresistance: a pathway towards individualized therapy. [Journal Article] Kielaite-Gulla A, Andriusaityte U, Zdanys GT, Babonaite E, Strupas K, Kelly H Published 23 Mar 2022
4. Assessing the effects of VEGF releasing microspheres on the angiogenic and foreign body response to a 3D printed silicone-based macroencapsulation device. [Journal Article] Levey RE, Coulter FB, Scheiner KC, Deotti S, Robinson ST, McDonough L, Nguyen TT, Steendam R, Canney M, Wylie R, Burke LP, Dolan EB, Dockery P, Kelly H, Ghersi G, Hennink WE, Kok RJ, O'Cearbhaill E, Duffy GP Published 4 Dec 2021
5. A thermoresponsive chitosan/β-glycerophosphate hydrogel for minimally invasive treatment of critical limb ischaemia. [Journal Article] Herron C, Hastings CL, Herron-Rice C, Kelly H, O'Dwyer J, Duffy G Published 16 Oct 2021
6. Loco-regional drug delivery in oncology: current clinical applications and future translational opportunities. [Journal Article] Rossi SM, Murray T, Mcdonough L, Kelly H Published 16 Dec 2020
7. Synergistic use of biomaterials and licensed therapeutics to manipulate bone remodelling and promote non-union fracture repair. [Journal Article] Simpson C, Kelly H, Murphy C Published 27 Oct 2020
8. Implantable Therapeutic Reservoir Systems for Diverse Clinical Applications in Large Animal Models. [Journal Article] Duffy GP, Robinson ST, O'Connor R, Wylie R, Mauerhofer C, Bellavia G, Straino S, Cianfarani F, Mendez K, Beatty R, Levey R, O'Sullivan J, McDonough L, Kelly H, Roche ET, Dolan EB Published 1 Jun 2020
9. Evaluation of the activity of a chemo-ablative, thermoresponsive hydrogel in a murine xenograft model of lung cancer. [Journal Article] Rossi SM, Ryan B, Kelly H Published 27 May 2020
10. Supporting the use of sildenafil infusions in paediatric and neonatal intensive care – A compatibility study. [Journal Article] Alsalman F, Howlett M, Breatnach C, Kelly H, O'Brien F Published 11 Apr 2020
11. A bioresorbable biomaterial carrier and passive stabilization device to improve heart function post-myocardial infarction. [Journal Article] Dolan EB, Hofmann B, de Vaal MH, Bellavia G, Straino S, Kovarova L, Pravda M, Velebny V, Daro D, Braun N, Monahan DS, Levey RE, O'Neill H, Hinderer S, Greensmith R, Monaghan MG, Schenke-Layland K, Dockery P, Murphy BP, Kelly H, Wildhirt S, Duffy GP Published 1 Oct 2019
12. Tissue engineering: understanding the role of biomaterials and biophysical forces on cell functionality through computational and structural biotechnology analytical methods. [Journal Article] Almouemen N, Kelly H, O'Leary C Published 17 Apr 2019
13. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microparticles–development, characterisation, and in vitro assessment of bioactivity for cardiac applications. [Journal Article] Hameed A, Gallagher LB, Dolan E, O’Sullivan J, Ruiz-Hernandez E, Duffy GP, Kelly H Journal of Microencapsulation 36(3):267-277 Published 3 Apr 2019
14. A Custom Radiopaque Thermoresponsive Chemotherapy-Loaded Hydrogel for Intratumoural Injection: An In Vitro and Ex Vivo Assessment of Imaging Characteristics and Material Properties. [Journal Article] Rossi SM, Murray TE, Cassidy J, Lee M, Kelly HM Published 15 Feb 2019
15. Evaluation of the Immunomodulatory Effects of All-Trans Retinoic Acid Solid Lipid Nanoparticles and Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells in an A549 Epithelial Cell Line Model. [Journal Article] Payne C, Burke LP, Cavanagh B, O'Toole D, Cryan S-A, Kelly H Published 13 Feb 2019
