Rate My Professor Justin McCarthy

Returning to academia in 2002 as a Lecturer in the School of Biochemistry & Cell Biology at University College Cork, McCarthy was appointed Director of Biotechnology in 2004, Senior Lecturer from 2012 to 2020, and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies for the College of Science, Engineering & Food Science from 2017 to 2020. His research delineates the physiological importance of presenilin proteins in neurodegeneration, extending to cancer and immune surveillance. He characterizes presenilin-mediated gamma-secretase activity and its roles in Alzheimer's disease and signalling events, identifies presenilin-interacting proteins and novel gamma-secretase substrates, studies post-translational modifications of presenilins, and explores therapeutic inhibition of gamma-secretase activity. Key publications encompass 'In Silico Identification of Potential Phosphorylation in the Cytoplasmic Domain of Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule' (ACS Omega, 2020), 'Regulated intramembrane proteolysis, innate immunity and therapeutic targets in Alzheimers disease' (AIMS Molecular Science, 2016), 'Secretase Activity Is Required for Regulated Intramembrane Proteolysis of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) Receptor 1 and TNF-mediated Pro-apoptotic Signaling' (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2016), 'A ubiquitin-binding CUE domain in presenilin-1 enables interaction with K63-linked polyubiquitin chains' (FEBS Letters, 2015), and 'Loss of Presenilin 2 Function Is Associated with Defective LPS-Mediated Innate Immune Responsiveness' (Molecular Neurobiology, 2015).