Researcher appeals for return of stolen laptops

A MEDICAL researcher, anxious about the safety of three years of detailed work which was stored on computers that were stolen from her, has appealed for the return of the vital data.

Dr Mary Herzig, a paediatrician in Galway, had nearly completed her research on children with cystic fibrosis when thieves struck.

The research material — contained on three laptops and a memory stick — was stolen in a night-time raid on her house in the suburbs of Galway last week while Dr Herzig and her husband slept upstairs.

Also taken with the computers and 4G memory stick were three digital cameras and a DVD player.

“I’m pretty much sick and a bit lost actually. I don’t care about the goods — it’s the data. It’s years of work. They were my lifeline and it’s kind of important work that was almost completed,” said Dr Herzig of her loss.

The material was being collated for a PhD thesis through Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital and the Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. The thesis was due to be published in June.

Cystic fibrosis is a condition that affects one-in-1,400 children in Ireland and is the country’s most common life-threatening inherited disease. Ireland has the highest incidence of the condition in the world.

Thirty or 40 years ago a baby born with cystic fibrosis was likely to live for only a few months. Today, with advances in research and treatment, the majority survive well into adulthood.

Dr Herzig is offering a €300 reward for the return of the memory stick or a copy of the master file. She can be contacted on [e-mail].

The theft was the second suffered by a research student in the past month. A third-year PhD student at NUI Galway lost 18 months of work when her laptop was stolen on St Patrick’s Day.