Siobhán McClean
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siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Siobhán McClean
@siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
940 followers 910 following 66 posts
Professor at UCD; Scientist➡️Infection; host-pathogen interactions; bacterial adaptation; Vaccines;vaccine advocacy; mum to 3; love walking in mountains #AndICycle #Inclusion; Sí/í
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siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
A recent study of 14 million children in England reported in the @newscientistnl.bsky.social shows children that were vaccinated against Covid had a two-fold *lower* risk of myocarditis than after Covid infection. There was also reduced risk of inflammatory conditions such as Kawasaki syndrome 🧪
Health Covid raised risk of heart issues in children more than vaccination
November 17, 2025 at 1:33 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
No actually. This very cool research was funded by the US National Cancer Institute and a whole host of cancer charities. See for yourself ⬇️
Paper link below as well.
List of funders of the research
November 1, 2025 at 2:29 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
On one of the last #83 busses
#spéirgorm
October 18, 2025 at 7:58 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
🧪A Society that listens to its membership and is prepared to act on feedback is a society that I’m proud to be a member of.
Congratulations @microbiologysociety.org for taking feedback on board for future Annual conferences. 🧫
Message from the Treasurer and Chair and Chair-elect of the Scientific Conferences Panel: Annual Conference 2026 Ever since our founding members set out to bring groups of microbiologists together for knowledge exchange and to forge new collaborations, our conferences have been essential to the Microbiology Society’s role. Every year, we celebrate our thriving microbiology community through our Annual Conference, which provides opportunities to amplify our members’ voices and advance the understanding of microbiology and the ways it can have an impact and influence in the world. We will shortly open registrations for Annual Conference 2026 in Belfast. At the Society, we know that the scientific landscape is changing and that our members face growing challenges and pressures at all career stages. We understand that attending events is a choice as well as a financial commitment, and that there are many meetings and conferences available to you. We believe that Annual Conference is a fantastic opportunity to meet with your community and benefit from the science, networking and professional development activities on offer. We want to make it the best it can possibly be. We have listened to your feedback following Annual Conference 2025, and in 2026, we will: Reinstate the two-day Conference rate Revise and enhance the catering with additional options on offer (we will continue to make provision for all dietary requirements) Increase the time allocated for poster sessions from two hour-long sessions to two 75-minute sessions (per poster) Introduce new content across the programme Deliver more cross-divisional symposia Offer pre-Conference workshops for training and networking We will continue to provide: Grants to attend Conference A free crèche for the duration of Conference Dedicated spaces across the venue, including quiet rooms, prayer rooms and nursing rooms Networking and social opportunities, including a session for anyone new to Conference
September 3, 2025 at 10:28 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Delighted to have trekked in the Andes (& survived). Having spent the last few yrs studying the effects of hypoxia on bacteria, I inadvertently performed my own in vivo hypoxia expt by hiking to 4600m, ie only 11.5 - 12 % oxygen availability🫁. The highest altitude I’d trekked before - 900m 😅
#Peru
Photo shows 3 people (myself and my 2 daughters) smiling in front of a sign which reads “Abra Salkantay - Alt 4600 msnm”
August 27, 2025 at 9:10 AM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
🧪Great talk by @mattvxwhelan.bsky.social in the @ucddublin.bsky.social Conway CLASS lecture.
Amazing images of HIV / Nuclear interactions
Title Slide reads “Visualising how HIV-1 signalling remodels nuclear pores to license infection” with an image of a CD4+ T cell Nuclear pore behind.
June 10, 2025 at 11:08 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Great talk by Yueran Hou in our lab @ucd-sbbs.bsky.social on her #klebsiella pneumoniae vaccine candidates at the #Microbiology Society conference in Liverpool
@ucddublin.bsky.social 🧪
Talk title Three novel effective vaccine antigens against Klebsiella pneumoniae infection
April 2, 2025 at 11:45 AM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Lovely talk @aaroncurtismicro.bsky.social at Microbiology Society annual meeting on your ex Vivo aspergillus fumigatus infection model. Very interesting proteomics analysis
@maynoothuniversity.ie 🧪🧪
Speaker on podium with title slide
April 2, 2025 at 11:08 AM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Unusual rainfall radar map for Dublin with a very smooth contour around the city. Is this a real atmospheric effect or a digital artefact? #MetEireann
Rainfall radar of Ireland showing rain everywhere except a very smooth, semi circle showing a rain free region all around the Dublin area.
March 29, 2025 at 1:43 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
I’ve had the wonderful privilege of visiting Petra in Jordan today in advance of the Women in STEM events tomorrow commemorating St Brigid’s day. We almost had the place to ourselves. Incredible place. It’s such a pity that Jordanian tourism has reduced to only 10% of what it was in recent years.
Incredible temple entrance facade cut into the red/pink coloured sandstone mountain. Two levels: lower level insists on 6 Columns and a massive doorway. Large tomb structures cut into the pink sandstone cliff. Lower door way above which there are a side view of steps leading upwards - all carved into the rock. Several arches carved into the pink rock, over which is another huge facade tomb structure.
February 1, 2025 at 3:34 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
We’d a great meeting of our @HEA-funded #NSRP @AIVRT All-island Vaccine Research &Training network @ucddublin.bsky.social Conway Institute Lots of progress made and we’ve planned some exciting collaborative studies 4 nxt 2 years
@annemoore.bsky.social
@valvanom.bsky.social
@nouranrezk.bsky.social
January 30, 2025 at 2:21 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Exam grading procrastination skircle! Skircle.me
Skircle image of the Bluesky users I’ve interacted with in recent months. My profile pic is in centre with 3 circles showing profile pictures of users I’ve interacted with.
January 3, 2025 at 11:45 AM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Hypoxia-adapted cultures developed resistance to 8/ 13 antibiotics tested, despite not being treated with abx; ⬆️ biofilm & ⬇️ pyocyanin & siderophore production. Two distinct patterns of adaptation to hypoxia were seen; the changes seen in one culture were markedly different from the other two
This table shows changes in antibiotic resistance of two independent hypoxia, adapted cultures. They were more resistant to fluoriquinolones, ceftazidme, meropenem, and piperacillin,
December 30, 2024 at 12:26 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
People with CF are very susceptible to chronic infections from this bug. 🧪We’ve been looking at how infections change from being acute (more treatable) infections to being persistent long-term chronic infections. @jdrabinska.bsky.social exposed PA cultures to 6% oxygen for 28 days & found that …
Image shows cultures in flasks being exposed to normal oxygen levels or 6% oxygen, and then it illustrates them being analysed by sequencing, proteomics or phenotyping.
December 30, 2024 at 12:18 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
A generation of children are at huge risk. It’s incredible.
Vaccines work and have been proven to work. 🤦‍♀️
Diphtheria, for example, still has a fatality rate of 10% to 30% but we don’t hear about it much because of the DTp vaccine (D for diphtheria) - but it’s not gone. Prevalent in :
Text shows diphtheria prevalent in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Asia, South Pacific, Eastern Europe and Middle East.
December 14, 2024 at 1:06 AM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Good point!
ESKAPE is an acronym for 6 bacteria that are very resistant to antibiotics & major causes of life-threatening hospital-acquired infections. It’s very likely that these bugs will make relatively simple surgeries eg hip replacements life threatening with ⬆️ risk of untreatable infections.
November 28, 2024 at 3:38 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
One of the @aivrt.bsky.social PhD researchers Caoimhe Shields presenting her recent data on public awareness of #Vaccines Both sides of the Irish border agree “Vaccines are important for health” but 90% had never heard of ESKAPE pathogens 😬

@valvanom.bsky.social 🧪
Caoimhe Shields stands by her poster which outlines data on public awareness of AMR and vaccines
November 28, 2024 at 1:34 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Trying to get the message out that #Vaccines are the best chance we have against antimicrobial resistance. Our #HEA #NSRP funded @aivrt.bsky.social network is training the next generation vaccinologists and developing vaccines against #AMR bugs. @ucddublin.bsky.social @valvanom.bsky.social
November 28, 2024 at 1:28 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Delighted to be at the first ever #North-SouthResearchProgramme conference representing our All-island Vaccine Research & Training network @aivrt.bsky.social with @valvanom.bsky.social & Caoimhe Shields.
#VaccinationWorks 🧪
Conference opening slide for the Hea-funded North South Research programme
November 28, 2024 at 10:21 AM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
It’s just not the same anymore…
November 21, 2024 at 12:19 AM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Our @aivrt.bsky.social network, funded by @HEA_Ireland aims to address #AMR by developing #vaccines against antimicrobial resistant bacteria.
Our simple message on World AMR Awareness week is:
Time is running out for antibiotics.
Now is the time for vaccines to stop AMR
#NSRP
@ucdpress.bsky.social
Heading: all Ireland, Vaccine, research and training alliance. Time is running out for antibiotics now is the time for vaccines. The image shows a map of the island of Ireland and highlights with inlaid images that we are developing better vaccines against bacterial infections using better adjuvants, vaccine delivery systems and micro-needle patches . We are also examining the psychology of Vaccine hesitancy on the island of Ireland.. almost 5 million people died in 2019, from bacterial infections due to antibiotic resistance. Vaccines against 24 pathogens could reduce the number of antibiotics needed by 22%. Our network AIVRT is developing vaccines to prevent five of these bacterial infections..
November 20, 2024 at 2:02 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Image from Ice Age movie, featuring cartoon characters from the film, Sid, Manny etc against icey landscape
November 18, 2024 at 1:19 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Couldn’t choose between my food pics- sometimes they outnumber the scenery when I’m
away. So here’s 4, including this year’s plum jam making 😋
November 17, 2024 at 1:15 AM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Our All-island Vaccine research network meeting was very enjoyable last week We heard excellent presentations from the 11 PDRs & PhD researchers. We’re making great progress. Funded by HEA NSRP, AIVRT brings tog UCD,TCD, UCC & QUB teams to focus on Vaccines for ESKAPE pathogens & Vaccine hesitancy🧪🧫
The photo shows all the researchers involved in the AIVRT network, 28 in total, standing outside Saint Jameses Hospital. Everyone is well wrapped up because it’s cold!
January 24, 2024 at 2:11 PM
siobhanmcclean.bsky.social
Our All-island Vaccine research network meeting was very enjoyable last week We heard excellent presentations from the 11 PDRs & PhD researchers. We’re making great progress. Funded by HEA NSRP, AIVRT brings tog UCD,TCD, UCC & QUB teams to focus on Vaccines for ESKAPE pathogens & Vaccine hesitancy🧪🧫
The photo shows all the researchers involved in the AIVRT network, 28 in total, standing outside Saint Jameses Hospital. Everyone is well wrapped up because it’s cold!
January 24, 2024 at 2:11 PM