Potential treatment for epilepsy seizures and tech trends to watch in 2022, insights with Dr. Deirdre Kilbane, Walton Institute

Dr. Deirdre Kilbane is Head of Division of the Emerging Network Laboratory (ENL) in Walton Institute at Waterford Institute of Technology, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the School of Physics in University College Dublin. Deirdre received a BSc in Experimental Physics along with a PGD in Education from University College Dublin (UCD). She was awarded a PhD in Mathematical Physics from the National University of Ireland Maynooth for her thesis ‘Searches for signatures of quantum chaos’. 

From 2014-2016 she was a Marie Curie Fellow of ultrafast surface science in the Aeschlimann Laboratory, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. She joined the TSSG in 2018 and is coordinator and principal investigator of the EU Horizon2020 FETOpen project PRIME. The aim of this multidisciplinary project is to develop a living brain implant that can sense and suppress epilepsy seizures before they happen.

The vision of ENL is to develop innovative technologies for 5G/6G wireless, and quantum communication networks. The team’s background is in information communication science, and they have a wide range of expertise in beyond 5g wireless communications, Internet of Things (IoT), network security and knowledge defined networks. The main research interests of Dr. Deirdre Kilbane centre around developing implantable medical devices to enable personalised medicine via the internet of bio-nano-things with a particular focus on neurodegenerative disorders and epilepsy.

She is also interested in quantum technologies for quantum communication, sensing and imaging. Her research combines nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, quantum physics and molecular communications to develop innovative technologies for Agriculture, Healthcare and ICT. Dr. Kilbane is a member of three SFI Research Centres, Future Neuro (for neurodegenerative disorders), CONNECT (for communication networks) and VistaMilk (for digitalizing dairy).

Walton Institute is a cornerstone of ICT research and development activity in Ireland since 1996.

Based Waterford Institute of Technology’s West Campus at Carriganore, Walton Institute undertakes cutting edge research blending fundamental science with real world commercial applications.

The aim of the Institute is to investigate futuristic next-generation technologies, to verify their capabilities and applicability for today’s society, and to work in collaboration with industry to ensure their commercialisation.

The Walton Institute encourages inter-disciplinary research with prominent national and international reputation and competitiveness firmly positioning Waterford as Ireland’s Innovation Capital ™.

Walton Institute is named after the renowned physicist and Nobel laureate, Dr Ernest Walton, who was born in Co Waterford and awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1951 for being the first to split the atom.

Walton’s specialist areas include:

 Precision Agriculture

 Future Health

 Intelligent Transport Systems

 Smart Energy

 Cybersecurity and Privacy

 The Brain Initiative