Annette T. Byrne

Annette Therese Byrne is an Irish physiologist, Professor and Head of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Precision Cancer Medicine group. Her research considers metastatic colorectal cancer and glioblastoma.

Early life and education Byrne started her scientific career at University College Cork, where she earned a bachelor's degree in physiology. For her graduate studies, Byrne joined the University of York, where she studied the role of apoptosis during preimplantation development in mammals. After earning her doctorate, Byrne was awarded a fellowship to in gynecologic oncology at the UCSF School of Medicine. Here she investigated the angiogenesis targets that are important in the progression of ovarian cancer. After completing her fellowship, Byrne joined Pharmacyclics Inc, an AbbVie pharmaceutical company in Silicon Valley. At Pharmacyclics Byrne studied chemotherapy sensitiser drugs. Angiopredict looked to offer personalised medicine for people with metastatic colorectal cancer. a Horizon 2020 project that looked at microsatellite stable (MSS) RAS mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (MSS RAS mt mCRC). COLOSSUS uses multiomics to identify new subtypes of MSS RAS mt mCRC and to develop personalised treatment protocols. Glioblastoma is the most aggressive and lethal of all brain tumours, with 85% of patients dying within two years of diagnosis.

In 2024, she was made a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

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