Health Research Board

The HRB Clinical Research Facility, Galway (CRFG) is a joint venture between Galway University Hospitals (GUH) and National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG), funded by the HRB, and has been in operation since March 2008. The CRFG (www.crfg.ie ) provides the infrastructure, physical space, facilities, expertise and culture needed to optimally support patient-focused research studies and clinical studies aimed at understanding a range of diseases and translating the knowledge obtained through this research work into reimbursed, regulatory approved advances in patient care as speedily as possible.  

The Department of Health and Children has awarded €6.8 million, through the HRB, to fund construction of the new building, which is expected to be fully operational in 2013. This will provide Galway with world class facilities for researchers and industry and will enhance research development capacity in the medical device and pharmaceutical sectors. The CRFG will be built along with translational research laboratories which will provide facilities for processing and analysis of biospecimens. The HRB has been funding the running costs of CRFG since 2008, which is currently operating from rented accommodation and GUH until the new building is available.    

The CRFG leadership team is Director Professor Frank Giles and Associate Director Professor Martin O’Donnell with the CRFG Principal Investigators including Professor Laurence Egan and Professor Tim O’Brien. This leadership team has extensive international pre-clinical, translational, and clinical research experience allied to global regulatory and reimbursement achievements.  

The CRFG operational team includes a Nurse Manger and team of specialist nurses who assist in all aspects of the research process from coordination of activities, patient treatment and assessment to data collection; a Biostatistics team offering support to clinical and translational researchers in the preparation of grant applications, study design, statistical support and analysis; a Quality and Regulatory Affairs Manager who advises and assists with regulatory and ethical submissions to the Irish Medicines Board and the Central Ethics Committee; and an Information Systems and Data Management team providing data management expertise and IT support at every stage of the project.  

The CRFG Principal Investigator team is comprised of representatives from a wide range of specialities including: Oncology; Surgery; Cardiology; Endocrinology; Pharmacology; Gastroenterology; Nephrology; Anaesthesia; Intensive Care Medicine; Obstetrics & Gynaecology; General Practice and Psychiatry.  

Please see www.crfg.ie for further information and contact details.