Every year, tens of thousands of people in Ireland are diagnosed with cancer. Research is an important part of understanding and tackling the disease, but can we box clever about how we fund that research into the future? 

A new report from the Health Research Board, Cancer Research Investment in Ireland (2019–2022), has mapped the types of cancer research funded in Ireland in those three years, and has identified gaps that can be addressed. 

The HRB carried out the study to help support the National Cancer Research Group (NCRG), which was established by the National Cancer Control Programme, as they develop a new strategy for funding cancer research in Ireland, according to Oonagh Ward, an author on the publication.  

“We know that research can have a huge impact on cancer treatments and care and patient outcomes, and research has really come to the fore in the current National Cancer Strategy, which started in 2017,” says Ward, who is Head of Research and Innovation Infrastructures at the HRB.   

“With this report we wanted to provide an evidence base for a more co-ordinated approach for supporting cancer research as we develop the next national strategy, due to start in 2026.” 

A bigger picture of cancer-research funding in Ireland  

The report, which was published in early December 2024, includes data from eight research-funding bodies across Ireland.  

Four of them are national funding agencies – the HRB, Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council (now Research Ireland) and Enterprise Ireland – and four are charities – Breakthrough Cancer Research, the Irish Cancer Society, Conor Foley Neuroblastoma Cancer Research Foundation and OvaCare. 

“It’s the first report of its kind in Ireland,” says Ward. “It’s the first time that these funding bodies have shared information about cancer research in order to get a collective view of what is being funded nationally.” 

The report authors – Ward, Gavin Lawler and Chiara Mizzoni – gathered data about investments in cancer-related research projects, programmes and supporting infrastructure in Ireland from 2019 to 2022, and used the United Kingdom (UK) Health Research Classification System (HRCS) to identify the areas of research that were funded.  

“We had the data classified by an external expert so that the research areas could be analysed,” explains Ward. “And throughout this process we worked closely with the funders to ensure accuracy and resolve any questions about the grant classifications.” 

The resulting analysis found that the funders involved in the report invested more than €106 million combined in Ireland through 397 cancer research grants between 2019 and 2022.  

Within that, the HRB made the highest cancer-related research funding commitments of almost €42 million across 51 grants, followed by Science Foundation Ireland (now Research Ireland), which invested €26.7 million across 32 grants. The cancer charities made investments of €22.9 million across 207 awards, which equated to about one-fifth of the total. 

“The report does not offer a complete picture, but it does give us a good sense of the funding landscape for cancer research in Ireland,” says Ward. “It provides a collective view across the funders of the resources that are being invested.” 

Mind the gaps 

One of the HRB report’s major findings is that cancer research being funded by these bodies in Ireland focuses more on interventions to treat cancer and less on prevention of the disease in the first place, notes Ward.  

“The bulk of funding commitments went to the development and evaluation of treatments and how the disease arises,” she explains. “There was far less funding for cancer-related research that looks at health services, preventing disease and promoting wellbeing.” 

The analysis also highlighted the predominance of Dublin-based institutions in securing funding. 

However, Ward emphasises that the study is a snapshot of the funding bodies involved, and the research classification system used.  

“We don’t know if other funding bodies, for example at European level, are providing investment for the areas of research we identified as gaps and spread out across Ireland,” she says. “And public and patient involvement or PPI is a key aspect of cancer research, but it was not captured in the classification system used.”    

Next steps 

The evidence in the report will now be shared with the National Cancer Research Group to help inform the development of a comprehensive research section for the next national cancer strategy, due in 2026, according to Ward.   

“We can’t be strategic without evidence, so this report gives us some context about the current levels of investment and the potential gaps and opportunities for research in Ireland’s next national cancer strategy,” she says.  

The study also provides a benchmark against which future changes and progress can be evaluated, she adds.  

“We want to be able to do a similar exercise in a few years to assess changes that correspond with updating the strategy, to monitor the impact and continue to ensure that we are funding cancer research in Ireland in the most effective way we can as a nation.”