As Ireland marks Clinical Trials Day today, the Health Research Board (HRB) is underlining its commitment to strengthening the country’s clinical trials ecosystem as part of a wider drive to improve health outcomes through research and evidence.
At the heart of the HRB Strategy 2026 – 2030, Bringing Research to Life, is a focus on advancing clinical trials so more patients can access a broad range of healthcare interventions aimed at improving patients’ health care and or health outcomes.
The strategy sets out a coordinated approach to expand participation, grow investigator-led and commercial trials, and Real-World Evidence (RWE) studies across all healthcare settings to maximise people’s access to trials in trusted, regulated and safe environments.
This includes working with partners across government, healthcare and industry to build a more agile trials system, alongside investment in networks, infrastructure and skills.
The aim is to increase both the number and quality of trials while ensuring participation is open, inclusive and patient centred.
This will enhance the capabilities and capacity of practitioners and researchers to design, conduct, oversee and report on the full spectrum of investigator-initiated trial types required to deliver safe, more effective and more equitable care across acute, primary, public health and community settings.
The HRB is also strengthening the foundations that make trials possible, including continued support for the National Research Ethics Committees to streamline approvals and uphold high standards of governance and participant protection.
Recent initiatives underline this commitment. In 2025, the HRB launched the Investigator-Led Clinical Trials (ILCT) programme supporting definitive intervention trials, feasibility studies and embedded methodological research.
With planned investment of around €12 million, the programme is designed to sustain a pipeline of clinically relevant research.
Alongside this, the HRB Trials Methodology Research Network continues to strengthen trial design and delivery. Through Study Within a Trial funding, researchers can improve recruitment and retention, reducing research waste and increasing efficiency.
Complementary Core Outcome Set funding supports standardised outcomes across trials, improving comparability and ensuring patient-relevant measures are consistently reported.
The HRB is also investing in the wider evidence ecosystem. Our Capacity Building in Evidence Synthesis programme supports the infrastructure needed to generate and apply high quality evidence, informing trial design and decision making.
The HRB is investing in the EU ERA4Health EffecTrial programme to support Irish involvement in multinational pragmatic clinical trials on non-communicable diseases. The call funds comparative‑effectiveness studies of existing interventions in real‑world settings.
Ireland is strongly represented, with Irish partners in three of the seven funded projects.
This enhances Ireland’s role in European clinical research collaboration and real‑world evidence generation.
Clinical Trials Day, marked annually on 20 May, recognises the first recorded clinical trial carried out by James Lind in 1747. Today, it highlights the importance of participation and the progress achieved through clinical research.
This year’s campaign theme is ‘Research Rising’, highlighting the people at the centre of clinical research, from participants and families to researchers and healthcare professionals, and the collective effort driving progress in improving patient care.
The HRB will attend the European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN) International Clinical Trials Day Conference, along with the Scientific Partner and members of the research community.
This includes European Correspondents (EuCo) – national representatives who connect ECRIN with clinical research teams in their own countries and help support international collaboration.
For the HRB, the day is both a celebration and a call to action. With an ambitious new strategy in place, the HRB is positioning Ireland to expand access to clinical trials, strengthen research capacity and ensure that evidence continues to drive improvements in care.
