When it comes to immunologists, Prof Luke O'Neill is something of a rock star.

irstly, he is the lead singer of a band called The Metabolix, which has performed for colleagues and students at the Trinity Ball.

He already had a high profile before Covid-19 hit, but now he is a household name.

O'Neill is one of a number of medical professionals who have become regulars on our TV screens and airwaves since the advent of Covid-19. Broadcasters are increasingly calling on medical experts to discuss and advise as Ireland, like other countries, tries to navigate the global pandemic.

Prof O'Neill told the Irish Independent he had been talking to the public about immunology for years "but nobody was listening".

"Covid-19 has been an opportunity to tell people about science, and I think it's a great privilege.

"Some of us [the medical professionals] have tried to be a reassuring presence. The more science you have out there, the better," he said.

He believes scientists, who are often paid by the taxpayer through State funding or grants, have a responsibility to talk to people through the media. - particularly when they have expertise that can benefit or help inform public health measures.

He has been steadily building a media profile as an accessible and entertaining science commentator for almost a decade.

The professor is a popular choice for broadcasters who want to present science in a plain-speaking or even humorous way.

He has had a regular slot answering questions about science on the Pat Kenny show on Newstalk for seven years. Kenny has described O'Neill as "as rare a creature and exotic a discovery as the Galapagos Islands". He regularly writes for the Sunday Independent, and Virgin Media's Six O'Clock Show has Prof O'Neill on regularly enough to describe him as the "resident boffin".

His ability for simply and effectively explaining science has also led to him regularly appearing on RT Junior to help talk about Covid-19 to children.

In 2016, he appeared on Eureka! The Big Bang Query - a comedy science quiz for RT.

Prof O'Neill was raised in Bray, Co Wicklow, and earned a degree in biochemistry at Trinity College in 1985, followed by a PhD in pharmacology from the University of London in 1988.

He now lives in Dublin with his wife Margaret Worrall, who is also a scientist. He has two children.

In 2007, Prof O'Neill was appointed chair of biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin. In 2011, he became the founder director at the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute.

Prof O'Neill has been listed among the top 1pc of most-cited researchers in his field, and is recognised as a top immunologist internationally.

In 2016, he was made a Fellow of the prestigious Royal Society for his immunology research. He helped found Inflazome in 2016, and the company's research into a drug that could stop a gene called NLRP3 - which is very active in inflammatory brain diseases - has attracted international attention.

He is also listed as a co-founder of Sitryx - a bio-pharmaceutical company that was set up in 2018 following Trinity College research into disease therapy.

His third book, Never Mind the B#ll*cks, Here's the Science, will be published next month.

It follows the publication of his first book Humanology in 2018 and a children's book, The Great Irish Science Book, in 2019.

Irish Independent

Link:
Never mind the Metabolix: Prof Luke O'Neill - the popular scientist who moonlights as rock star - Independent.ie