Dr Niamh Buckley graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 2002 with a First Class Honours Degree in Biochemistry.  She then carried out her Ph.D. training in the Department of Oncology (Queen’s University Belfast) under the supervision of Prof. Paul Harkin.  Following this, she then worked as a post-doctoral researcher with Dr Paul Mullan in the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology (Queen’s University Belfast).  During this time, she investigated the role of the breast and ovarian tumour suppressor gene, BRCA1, in stem cell regulation and mammary gland differentiation.

Dr Buckley was awarded the prestigious Breast Cancer Now fellowship in 2013 to develop novel biomarkers and therapeutic strategies in BRCA1-mutant and/or triple negative breast cancer.  In 2016 she was appointed as a Lecturer in Personalised Medicine and Pharmacogenomics in the School of Pharmacy (Queen’s University Belfast).  She was then promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2020 and is an active member of the Nanomedicine and Biotherapeutics Cluster. Dr Buckley is also an associate member of the Patrick G Johnson Centre for Cancer Research (PGJCCR) at QUB. Her research focuses on the integration of in vitro, in vivo, bioinformatics and pathology approaches to identify key pathways underpinning poor outcome breast cancer and use detailed knowledge of this biology to identify appropriate targeted treatment options, personalising therapy in an area of unmet clinical need.

Dr Buckley has secured ~£5 million in competitive grant income from national and international funding boards in the last 2 years with >£750,000 as PIand has published in over 30 articles in leading Q1 journals with over 1100 citations. Her knowledge and expertise have been recognised by invitations to speak at national and international conferences and membership of the Breast Cancer Now Grant Review Committee and Tissue Access Committee. She has also been the recipient of several prestigious awards including European Association of Cancer Research (EACR) Young Scientist Award (2012), Roche Gold Medal Award (2011) and School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences Post-Doctoral Researcher of the Year (2012).

Breast Cancer

Triple Negative Breast Cancer

BRCA1

Ovarian Cancer

Personalised Medicine

Targeted Treatments

Biomarkers

Contributes to the following modules:

MPharm Degree

PMY3176 Advanced Delivery Systems for Large and Small Molecules (Module Co-ordinator)

PMY4005 Research Project

PMY4107 Advanced Pharmaceutical Care

BSc Pharmaceutical Sciences

PMY2021 Principles of Drug Action

PMY3176  Advanced Delivery Systems for Large and Small Molecules (Module Co-ordinator)

BSc Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

PMY2021 Principles fo Drug Action

PMY2026 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

PMY3027 Applied Biotechnology and Regulatory Affairs (Module Co-ordinator)

PMY3028 Biological Approaches to Disease Prevention and Treatment

Distance Learning Supervisor

PG Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy

MSc Clinical Pharmacy

Postgraduate Courses within SMDBS

MSc(Res) Cancer Medicine

MSc Molecular Pathology of Cancer