Case Study B - Xuemei Liu

Xuemei Liu is as close to being a native of the small Irish county of Carlow, as a lady hailing from Shandong province in China can get. Her relationship with this rural idyll and its charming capital, Carlow Town, began in 2001 when Xuemei arrived to begin an Honours Bachelor of Science in Industrial Biology in the Institute of Technology Carlow. After graduating, she decided to pursue a research Masters on Bioinformatic Design for Microarrays and Biosensors.

Using the latest microarray technology (which allows for the compiling of huge amounts of biological information from tiny samples), Xuemei’s research focused on the fascinating topic of engineering genetically modified bacteria to degrade some of the environment’s most toxic and stubborn pollutants.

The research went brilliantly according to Xuemei, and her peers obviously agreed as she was awarded a Gold Medal for Excellence in Industrial Biochemistry & Microbiology. Today, she is at home in her newly bought house in Carlow; on maternity leave from her good job as a drug discovery researcher in UCD’s Conway Institute and adding the finishing touches to her PhD. Xuemei is certainly doing China, and Carlow, proud.