Westport native receives OBE for contribution to science during Covid-19 pandemic

A MAN reared in Westport who is now deputy director at one of the UK’s top science laboratories has formally received an OBE from King Charles III.

Dr Martin Walsh, OBE along with his wife Dr Emanuela Fioravanti, daughter Ciara, son Matteo, mother Carmel Quinn (previously the Lodge road, now Upper Quay, Westport) sisters Caroline McHale (Ballyvary) and Pauline Morrin (Westport) recently attended an honours investiture at Windsor Castle where he officially received an OBE, awarded by King Charles III in his first birthday honours list in July of last year.

Dr Walsh received the honour for services to science during the Covid-19 in pandemic in an event the event was hosted by William, The Prince of Wales. 

The award recognised the work of not just Dr Walsh’s research group but the work done by everyone at Diamond where work continues with researchers from across the globe. 

Dr Walsh 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 to help scientists to 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. 

Dr Walsh’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. 

Dr Walsh’s first full-time job was in Westport’s country fresh (thanks especially to Sean Langan and Michael Kelly) where he spent a year working before going to Galway to study science at UCG (now known as the University of Galway).

He later worked in ‘plastics’ in Allergan (now known as Abbvie) during the Sean Casey/Liam Friel during his time in university.