O'Neill's research investigates inflammation, a highly complex process that is provoked in the body during infection by bacteria and viruses but also in response to major trauma and injury. Inflammation restores us to health but for largely unknown reasons it can go rogue and give rise to a whole range of inflammatory diseases which remain difficult to treat.[2][11]
He has worked on the innate immune system, which lies at the heart of inflammation. He has uncovered new molecules and biochemical processes that are triggered by sensors of infection and tissue injury, including the toll-like receptors[12][13][14][15] and inflammasomes, and the signals they drive that stimulate inflammation, notably cytokines in the interleukin-1 family. He has made pioneering discoveries in the area of metabolic reprogramming in immunity and immunometabolism. He is using his findings to help in the effort to develop novel anti-inflammatory medicines.[2] He has co-founded Inflazome with Matt Cooper which developed NLRP3 inhibitors and was acquired by Roche Ltd in 2020, and Sitryx with Houman Ashrafian, Johnathan Powell, Jeff Rathmell and Mike Rosenblum.
In 2023 he was appointed Chief Scientific Officer of Senda Biosciences, a company pioneering programmable medicines (https://www.sendabiosciences.com).
In 2019 he won the Landsteiner Award from the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In 2021 he won the UCD Biological Society George Sigerson Award for Inspiring Aspiring Scientists.
In 2022, he was made an honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Bath and was presented with an honorary lifetime membership award by the International Cytokine and Interferon Society (https://cytokinesociety.org/luke-oneill-2022/?amp=1).
O'Neill has a passion to engage with the general public on scientific topics. He has a weekly science slot with Pat Kenny on the Irish national radio station Newstalk and a Podcast entitled 'Show Me the Science'.
In 2018, he published Humanology: A Scientist's Guide to our Amazing Existence with Gill publishers.[19] In 2019, he published a science book for children, The Great Irish Science Book with Gill.[20] From 2020 onwards, he wrote for the Sunday Independent concerning the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland.[21] He contracted COVID-19 himself in December 2021, and experienced symptoms.[22]
In 2020 he won the An Post Irish Book of the Year Award for best popular non-fiction book for Never Mind the B*ll*cks, Here's the Science, published by Gill, which was a best seller.[23] He also won the Science Foundation Ireland Science Communicator of the Year Award, for his media work on COVID19.
In 2021 he published Keep Calm and Trust the Science: A Remarkable Year in the Life of an Immunologist, which is his diary covering the COVID-19 pandemic.[citation needed]
In 2023 he published 'To Boldly Go Where No Book has Gone Before', with Penguin Random House.
Personal life
O'Neill married Margaret Worrall in 1993. They have two sons.
^O'Neill, Luke (19 December 2021). "Covid might have got me in the end, but science saved me". Sunday Independent. Retrieved 19 December 2021. My Covid story began almost two weeks ago when I was identified as a close contact by someone at work. I was in a meeting with them that went on for about 45 minutes in a well-ventilated room with me over two metres away, so it just shows you. The HSE sent me three antigen tests. I took the first one and it was negative. I went about my business. But the second one I took two days later, as per the instructions, was positive... As the day went on, the symptoms began. My nose began running like a tap. Also sneezing. Then a dry cough began that was quite uncomfortable. And a thumping headache. No fever and no loss of smell or taste. I stayed in bed. These symptoms continued for about two days, and also fatigue. I felt wiped out for a day or so. But after three days I began to feel better... I've been symptom-free now for four days and through my 10-day isolation.