Dr Niall M Byrne graduated from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland with a First Class Honours in Biomedical Science (with Diploma in Professional Practice) in 2009. He subsequently completed his PhD at the University of Ulster in 2014 in the laboratory of Prof Stephanie McKeown and Dr Jenny Worthington, investigating the role of the tumour microenvironment in the response of prostate tumours to treatment. During the course of his PhD Niall cultivated an interest in developing strategies to overcome treatment failure and disease recurrance in cancer.

In September 2014 Niall relocated to Sydney, Australia to continue his research interests in prostate cancer, joining the laboratory of Prof Peter Croucher and Prof Mike Rogers in the Bone Biology Division at the world-leading Garvan Institute of Medical Research. During this time he worked as part of the multi-institutional ProMis program, and investigated the role of the bone microenvionment in controlling the fate of dormant tumour cells in prostate cancer bone metastasis and the impact of therapeutics on bone cells and dormant tumour cell reactivation (disease progression); utilising single-cell methodologies and intravital imaging techniques.

Niall returned to the UK in September 2019 to take up a research fellow position in the laboratory of Prof Jonathan Coulter in the School of Pharmacy at Queens University Belfast. Furthering his research interests in prostate cancer, he is currently developing novel multimodal nanotherapeutics, specifically functionalised gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to enhance the anti-tumour response of radiotherapy.

Niall was awarded a PhD scholarship from Prostate Cancer UK in 2009 to investigate the impact of androgen deprivation therapy on the prostate tumour microenvironment. During his studentship Niall was successful in obtaining several travel awards and prizes:

• Jan 2012: Cancer Translational Research Group Young Investigator Travel Award
• Dec 2011: CTRG Annual Retreat 2011: 1st prize for poster presentation
• Nov 2010: Biochemistry society annual meeting: Runner-up poster prize winner

After his PhD he relocated to Australia to take up a position as a Research Officer at the Garvan Institute as part of the prestigious PCFA funded ProMis programme. During this time, he was awarded for his research into tumour cell dormancy in bone metastasis:

• May 2017: CABS International Conference, Young Investigator Travel Award
• Aug 2016: St Vincent’s Precinct Postdoc Symposium: Runner-up poster prize winner

In September 2019 he relocated back to Northern Ireland and was appointed as a Research Fellow at Queen's University Belfast, and in January 2023 promoted to Senior Research Fellow.

Niall has been part of the organising committee of several international conferences and postgraduate committees. He has published in leading scientific journals including Cell and Clinical Cancer Research, has contributed to review articles, and is named as an inventor in a patent application. He has been invited to chair and present his research at both a national and international level. He is also a peer reviewer for several internationally recognised journals and conferences.

Niall has a keen interest in commercialisation of university research. In 2020, he successfully took part in the Innovate UK funded Midlands ICURe (Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research) pre-accelerator programme. This was followed by a successful application to Invest NI for their Proof of Concept award for which Niall served as the Co-Investigator/Delivery Lead. Since 2023, Niall has served as the Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of BXTA Nanotherapy Ltd, a joint venture company between BXTAccelyon Ltd (BXTA) and QUBIS, the commercialisation arm of QUB. The primary aim of this innovative biotech company is to advance the development and commercialisation of novel bifunctional nanotherapeutics to improve treatment outcomes for patients with cancer.

Contributed to the following modules on the BSc Pharmaceutical Biotechnology degree:

• PMY2021 Principles of Drug Action