UCD projects awarded funding as HRB invests €12.4m in healthcare research

Posted 17 September, 2024

Five UCD projects have been awarded funding as the (opens in a new window)Health Research Board (HRB) announces €12.4 million to address health challenges.

A total of 29 Investigator-Led Projects (ILPs) from six universities across Ireland have been awarded funding under three overarching themes; patient-oriented research, population health research, and health service research.

Each project will be funded for a maximum of four years. 

The five research projects at UCD have received €2,154,914 of this funding, and include research on topics such as lung adenocarcinoma, epilepsy, brain injury patient outcomes, and endometriosis.

“The ILP scheme illustrates the HRB’s commitment to support high-quality investigator-led research,” said Dr Mairead O’Driscoll, Chief Executive at the Health Research Board.

“We want to create new internationally relevant knowledge that will help to address major health challenges in society. And we want to make a positive impact on tomorrow’s health care.”

The UCD projects awarded funding under Patient-Oriented Research and Population Health Research themes:

• ‘Precision RNA therapeutics for lung adenocarcinoma’ - (opens in a new window)Dr Rory Johnson, UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, UCD Conway Fellow and Lead at the GOLD Lab. 
• ‘Targeting m6A regulating enzymes to control aberrant gene networks in epilepsy’ - (opens in a new window)Dr Gary Brennan, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Sciences and UCD Conway Fellow.
• ‘The role of protein glycosylation in the pathogenesis of endometriosis and association with microbiome’ - Dr Radka Fahey (Saldova), Adjunct Associate Professor at UCD School of Medicine.
• ‘PRECISION-ABI: Developing a precision medicine approach to improve acquired brain injury patient outcomes’ - (opens in a new window)Professor Alistair Nichol, Chair of Critical Care Medicine at UCD School of Medicine and Director of the Irish Critical Care-Clinical Trails Network.
• ‘TERRA (Tracking and Evaluating Real-world Rhythms and Analytics)’ - (opens in a new window)Dr Cailbhe Doherty, UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science.

The ILP is the HRB’s largest award scheme, and this latest round of funding brings the total number of grants supported under this scheme in the past five years to 56 awards with a combined value of €20.6m. 

The next round is expected to open around August 2025. 

By:  David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations (with materials from Emma Loughney, UCD Research and Innovation)

To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie