Mayo man gets OBE for contribution to science
Dr Martin Walsh pictured with his mother Carmel Quinn and wife Dr Emanuela Floravanti, following his OBE award.
Westport man, Dr Martin Walsh, has received an OBE for his contribution to science.
Martin, along with his wife Dr Emanuela Floravanti, daughter Ciara, son Matteo, mother Carmel Quinn (previously the Lodge Road, now Upper Quay, Westport), sisters Caroline McHale (Ballyvary) and Pauline Morrin (Westport) and extended family were recently at Windsor Castle for the event.
They attended an honours investiture where Martin officially received an OBE, awarded by King Charles III in his first birthday honours list in July of last year. Martin received the honour for services to science during the Covid-19 pandemic. The event was hosted by heir-to-the-throne Prince William.
Martin is Life Sciences Deputy Director at Diamond Light Source (Diamond), which is the UK’s national synchrotron facility located just outside Oxford.
A synchrotron is a type of particle accelerator which can be thought of as a very powerful microscope. The synchrotron produces a very bright source of light across the range of the electromagnetic spectrum from infrared, to visible light and X-rays. However, Diamond primarily exploits the intense X-rays generated (10 billion times brighter than the sun!) to help scientists understand the structure and makeup of many materials, including biological samples.
Martin’s research group, together with other scientists at Diamond, diverted all their expertise at the end of January 2020 to carry out research to understand the workings of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is the causative agent of Covid-19. They used the intense source of X-rays at Diamond to aid in drug discovery by determining the structures of the viral proteins that can be thought of as the molecular machinery of the virus.
These proteins are essential for the virus to allow it to infect, replicate and cause disease. The aim was to rapidly produce experimental data that could be used for drug and vaccine development.
This early work inspired a unique crowd-sourced open science initiative, the Covid Moonshot project, which brought together scientists from across the globe to work on developing novel antiviral treatments for Covid-19.
The initiative has led to a novel drug candidate for Covid-19 and data generated from the initiative helped in the development of Ensitrelvir, which is an antiviral drug that has been approved for the treatment of Covid-19 in Japan and Singapore.
Martin’s research group, along with colleagues at Diamond and across the globe, continue to work together on both basic and applied research to aid the development of novel antivirals, not only to target SARS-CoV-2 but also other pathogenic viruses so that the world is better prepared for potential future pandemics.
