Funding Awarded

Advanced, automated compound screening for the identification of therapeutic agents in Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency.

Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency (MSD) is an extremely rare, fatal, yet untreatable condition. It is caused by the inherited deficiency of an enzyme (called FGE) that activates a whole family of 17 other cellular enzymes named sulfatases. Sulfatases are indispensable for the degradation of a subset of intracellular molecules. Thus,...

Autophagy induction as a novel therapeutic strategy for MSD

The lysosomal degradation pathway of autophagy has a crucial role in different pathophysiological conditions, such as infection, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer and ageing. In particular, autophagy plays an important role in the pathophysiology of a family of inborn errors of metabolism due to defect in the activity of lysosomal...

The microbiome as an environmental trigger for autoimmune epilepsy (MICA)

Autoimmune epilepsy is a rare form of drug-resistant epilepsy characterised by frequent seizures in later life. Patients may respond to immune therapy, but causation of disease is poorly understood, and more targeted treatments are required. This gap in knowledge is the major priority for epilepsy specialists, and the area of greatest...

Elucidation of the role of SARM1 in retinal homeostasis and oxidative stress induced retinal degeneration

Photoreceptor cells found in the back of our eyes convert light into signals that allow us to see. Death of these cells and the cells that nourish them, called RPE cells, is termed retinal degeneration and is characteristic of blinding diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa. Millions of people...

Towards novel anti-infective with enhanced wound-healing for diabetic foot infections : Co2 releasing star shaped micro biocidal polymers

It is estimated that 422 million people worldwide are living with diabetes and among them, a common and serious problem is the development of diabetic foot infection. One in five patients with diabetes are hospitalised with a diabetic foot wound (DFW) at least once in their lives. Infected DFWs are treated by removal of infected tissue...

Combining Electrochemotherapy with a Toll Like receptor agonist for the treatment of lung cancer

Successful cancer treatment aims to totally eliminate the entire tumour and the risk of recurrence. Treatment currently relies on removal of the primary tumour by surgery or radiotherapy followed by control of the remaining dispersed cancer cells in the whole body usually by chemotherapy. At the Cork Cancer Research Centre (CCRC) we...

Preoperative Exercise to Improve Fitness in Patients Undergoing Complex Surgery for Cancer of the Lung or Oesophagus

Treatment for people with cancer of the lung or the oesophagus (food-pipe) often involves surgery. This surgery is complex and there is a high risk that patients will develop severe complications afterwards, mainly lung or heart problems, leading to a longer hospital stay and higher hospital costs, and impacting greatly on recovery and...

Evaluation of the role of MxA and ISGylation in chemosensitivity in oesophageal cancer

Many oesophageal cancers develop resistance to the drugs currently used to treat this disease. This allows the cancer cells to survive and the cancer can come back again at variable times after the initial treatment. Research already performed by this group has identified genetic differences between cancer cells that respond well to...

Incorporation of sensor technology to provide clinical meaningfulness for existing standardised measurement scales in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a progressive and ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure. People with ALS experience loss of mobility and arm function, breathlessness and chest infections, loss of speech and swallow and in 30-50%, cognitive and behavioural...

Novel Neurophysical Biomarkers of Heterogeneous Network Degeneration in Motor Neuron Disease for Quantifying the Progression and Outcome in Clinical Trials

Motor Neurone Disease (MND)/Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a terminal neurological condition in which the neurones (neural cells) that control movement degenerate. Despite encouraging results from studies in animals, translation of new treatments to humans has been disappointing. The aim of this study is to provide scientific...

Evaluating a novel macrolide based early intervention in the clinical management of chronic infections and inflammation in Cystic Fibrosis

Chronic persistent respiratory disease is a leading cause of death worldwide. Despite years of global research, the clinical management of respiratory disease, including the life-limiting genetic disease cystic fibrosis (CF), remains a significant challenge. Treatment options are extremely limited, due in part to the increased pathogen...

Gold-drug: Targeting a novel dual inhibitor drug with gold nanoparticles for improving radiation response in oesophageal cancer

Oesophageal cancer (cancer of the food pipe) has low survival rates and a very poor response to treatment. Sadly, this cancer type is on the rise in Ireland and is linked with increasing obesity rates. Unlike many other cancer types, we are still only using treatments that have existed for decades - chemotherapy drugs with radiation...

The role of sialylated-alpha-1 antitrypsin in resolution of acute and chronic inflammation

Alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency (AATD) is a hereditary disorder that results in the rapid progression of lung disease, especially in smokers. Specific treatment for this disorder is available in the form of weekly intravenous injections of AAT. This is referred to as augmentation therapy and studies have shown that augmentation...

Compound library screening in a zebrafish model of MSD to identify novel therapeutic compounds

Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency (MSD) is currently an untreatable disease and while we know some of the processes inside cells that cause or influence the disease, there is still much to be understood. While progress has been made from studying simple cell culture systems, this does not tell us about how different disease changes may...

Targeting autophagy in nephropathic cystinosis

Cystinosis is a genetic disorder due to a gene defect called cystinosin, where a toxic metabolite called cysteine collects in the cells due to a defect in lysosomes. This results in the kidneys become leaky to protein, water and salts, which results in growth failure, severe dehydration and developmental delay in children. A subtype of...

Role of TWEAK/Fn14 pathway in mediating muscle pathology in SMA

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a devastating disease caused by loss of both nerve cells and muscle function. While the nerve is the major affected cell type, therapies specifically aimed at improving muscle function ameliorate survival and/or symptoms in SMA models. Thus,developing muscle-

Application of next generation sequencing for the genetic characterisation of Irish retinal degeneration patients

A key objective of the current study is to clinically and genetically characterise an extended group of 700-800 Irish patients with inherited retinal degenerations (IRD). The team have significant prior experience in the clinical and genetic evaluation of patients with inherited retinal degenerations. They believe it is timely to...

Resolution of inflammation by metabolic reprogramming in the inflamed joint

Arthritis is a leading cause of disability that affects up to 15% of the population and is the most common cause of pain in Irish society, including children. 2% suffer from inflammatory arthritis (IA) such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). IA causes joint damage and disability and is associated with...

MicroRNAs in the mechanism of ketogenic diet therapies and as biomarkers in paediatric epilepsy

Epilepsy is a disease caused by imbalances in electrical activity in the brain. Anyone can have epilepsy but it is particular common in children. Patients experience seizures (fits), which disrupt their lives and can be directly harmful to the developing brain. Although we have a number of drugs to stop seizures, they fail to work in...

Peer-to-peer motivational interview intervention for smoking, alcohol and physical activity among at-risk adolescents in low SES communities: A feasibility trial

Unhealthy behaviours established during adolescence often persist into adulthood; we will examine the effects of training adolescents (13-18 years) in a proven method for behaviour change (motivational interviewing) for smoking cessation, alcohol consumption and exercise promotion among adolescents in low SES communities. Peer-led...

Towards host-directed therapies to overcome immune impairment in cigarette smokers during mycobacterial infection

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection which causes approximately 1.5 million deaths worldwide each year and it is estimated that one third of the worlds'population is latently infected with TB. In this proposal we aim to investigate the role of alveolar acrophages in the immune response to TB infection. Alveolar macrophages are...

Unravelling the mechanisms of azoospermia and potential future treatments in male cystinosis patients

Cystinosis is a rare inheritable disorder in which cystine, a small protein, accumulates in all cells throughout the body. Patients suffer from progressive renal failure due to extensive proximal tubular and glomerular dysfunction, but also various endocrine organs become affected later in life. Patients can be treated with cysteamine,...

AVERT: Autoimmunity relapse prediction using multiple parallel data sources

In most causes of autoimmune disease, where the body's immune system attacks an individual's own body, the condition relapses and remits. This means that strong medications to suppress the immune system bring the patient into remission, but they remain at risk of suffering a flare of their disease. In the autoimmune kidney condition...

Pioneering advances for control of myopia in children - the SHIELD initiative

Short-sightedness (or myopia) is the commonest eye problem in Ireland and is growing all over the world. It now affects up to 90% of young adults in Asia and up to 50% in Western countries. As well as the costs and frustrations of not being able to see well without glasses, myopia is also bad for the health of our eyes. As we get older...

Ketamine for relapse prevention in recurrent depressive disorder: a randomised controlled pilot trial (The KINDRED Trial)

Depression is projected to become the second greatest cause of disability worldwide by 2020. It can be a chronic disorder, with 5-9 episodes of depression per lifetime. The first six months following successful antidepressant treatment represents the highest risk period for relapse, with 40-60% relapse rates in persons with...

Identifying the aetiology of diabetic progenitor cell dysfunction in osteoporosis

Diabetes changes how a person's body gets energy from the food they eat. When we digest food, sugar is released into the blood and is used by the body's cells for energy. People with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) do not produce insulin and are therefore not able to use the sugar in the blood for energy. Patients with T1DM have to inject...

Comparative mass spectrometric profiling of the dystrophin complexome in normal versus pathological muscles with differing degrees of fibre degeneration

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most commonly inherited neuromuscular disease of early childhood. The disorder affects almost exclusively boys due to the fact that the defective gene is located on the X-chromosome. The skeletal musculature, the respiratory system,the heart and the central nervous system are majorly affected in...

Bacteria in human tumours

It is becoming apparent that the relationship between humans and bacteria can influence various diseases. Deeper understanding of the bacteria that live in our body is enabling identification of i) potential causes of and ii) potential treatments for disease. The Tangney lab at the Cork Cancer Research Centre has recently discovered...

An investigation of the mechanisms lining C5orf30 with tissue damage in RA

Around 40,000 Irish people have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), around half being adults of working age. Advances in our understanding of the how joint inflammation develops in RA have resulted in greatly improved treatments with improved outcomes for most patients, particular those with severe disease. Despite these remarkable achievements...

HRB Clinical Research Coordination Ireland

Clinical Research Facilities and Centres (CRF/Cs) have been developed in each of the five applicant universities, providing the infrastructure and specialist staff to facilitate collaborative research but they lack an overarching support structure with which to coordinate multicentre clinical trial activities. One key exception is...

Investigate the impact of bile aspiration on chronic respiratory infection - bile paradigm

This study proposes to investigate the unexplained link between gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR) and severe respiratory disease. During GOR, bile, normally found in the duodenum and stomach, is refluxed to the throat and subsequently aspirated into the airways and lungs of patients. A high prevalence of this phenomenon is seen in...

Identification of drugs that can safely and effectively maintain visual function in models of inherited retinal degeneration

Inherited Retinal Degenerations (IRD) are a diverse group of conditions resulting in blindness. This is often traumatic to the affected patient and families, and can cause significant socio-economic impact. Gene or stem-cell therapy show promise as treatments for IRD. However, these approaches are hampered by high costs and treatment...

Inherited retinal degenerations: All Ireland Retinal Degenerations Partnership (AIRDP)

Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is the most common inherited disorder of the retina affecting approximately one in 4000 people. The symptoms of RP are night blindness, tunnel vision and reduction of central vision. Although the symptoms of RP are broadly similar in most people, the genetic causes are complex with over 50 genes being...

Altered lipid raft cholesterol content contributes to the dysregulated activity of neutrophils in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

Alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency (AATD) is largely unrecognized and under diagnosed. This hereditary disorder results in the rapid progression of lung disease, especially in smokers. Specific treatment for this disorder is available in the form of weekly intravenous injections of AAT. This is referred to as augmentation therapy...

Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency: Which is important phenotype, level, activity or all three?

Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency (AATD) is generally regarded as a rare condition but more recently, evidence points towards it being a condition that is relatively common but rarely diagnosed. The most severe form of this genetic disorder, where people carry two bad AAT genes (Z) is known as ZZ-AATD and this affects around 2000...

Modelling cystinosis with human stem cells and the therapeutic potential of aspartate

Cystinosis is a rare genetic disease that causes the amino acid cystine to accumulate in the body due to mutations in the CTNS gene. In its severest form, cystinosis causes kidney failure before the age of 10. Treatment is limited to cysteamine, a cystine-depleting drug, but this only slows the progression of the disease. The toxic...

Drug eluting contact lenses for cystinosis therapy

Cystinosis is a metabolic disease characterized by accumulation of cysteine crystals in various tissues including cornea. Cystinosis patients begin showing ocular symptoms at the age of 16 months and without appropriate treatment, the entire peripheral stroma and endothelium can be packed with crystals. Eventually complications such...

Restoring immune balance in patients with patients with primary Sjogrens Syndrome (pSS) by modulating microRNA expression

Sjogren's Syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease which affects 0.3-0.5% of people in the developed world. SS can occur at any age but is most common between the ages of 40 and 60. Women are 9 times more likely to suffer from SS than men. Specialised secretory glands that produce saliva, tears, and bowel secretions are targeted for...

Cancer Prevention Fellowship 2013

Research Programme for mid-career researchers working in Republic of Ireland (RoI) to become NCI Cancer Prevention Fellows at the prestigious National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the USA.

This programme provides training at post-doctorate level from the health professions, biomedical, and behavioural sciences to become...

Antiviral agents for infectious mononucleosis

Review objective: To assess the effectiveness of antiviral therapy in improving outcomes for patients with Infectious Mononucleosis (IM). IM is a clinical syndrome that is usually associated with EBV infection. Although generally not considered a serious illness, IM can lead to significant loss of time from school or work due to...

Institutional smoking bans for reducing smoking prevalence and tobacco consumption

Review objective: The objectives of this new review are twofold. The proposed new review will explore evidence specifically focusing on the impact of institutional smoking bans in workplaces, health care facilities and in other public places, so-called meso-level data. The update of the original review will assess the evidence since...

Aspirin and anti-inflammatory drugs for the prevention of dementia

Review objective: To evaluate the effects of aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the prevention of dementia. In view of the perceived association between inflammation and Alzheimer's disease and stroke or multiple strokes arising from multiple infarcts in vascular dementia, research has focused on assessing...

Wound cleansing for treating venous leg ulcers

Review objective: To explore the impact of wound cleansing on the healing rate of venous leg ulcers. Leg ulcers are a major health care problem, in terms of treatment, cost, recurrence and chronicity (Posnett and Franks, 2008). Indeed, for venous leg ulcers, with a prevalence of 49,000-1.3 million in the EU 27, the annual associated...

Interventions to improve end-of-life care in dementia

Review objective: To determine the effectiveness of interventions to improve end-of-life care for people with dementia. For the purposes of this review, end-of-life care is defined as the care required when death is imminent for those with advanced dementia and for those with dementia of any severity who are in the terminal phase of an...

Interventions for breast cancer awareness amongst women of all ages

Review objective: To assess the effects of interventions to develop breast cancer awareness amongst women. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in females globally (Jemal et al., 2011). Early diagnosis of breast cancer is linked to more favourable outcomes and longer survival...

Patient Education for the prevention of venous leg ulceration

Review objective: To determine the impact of patient educational interventions on the prevention of venous leg ulceration. The population for this review will include people over 18 years with a history of venous leg ulceration in any healthcare setting. Venous leg ulceration occurs as a result of impaired return of venous blood from...

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) for perineal pain in the early postpartum period

Review objective: To determine the efficacy and safety of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in relieving perineal pain in the early postpartum period. Perineal pain is commonly experienced by women after childbirth, particularly, although not exclusively, following episiotomy, spontaneous tears or bruising (Lawn and...

Irish Platform for Patients Organisations Science and Industry

IPPOSI brings together patient groups, scientists, clinicians, industry and other key decision makers to discuss and build consensus on issues relevant to delivering treatments to people with unmet medical needs. On behalf of the DOH, the HRB has been co-funding IPPOSI with between 40-50% of their annual income since 2007. The...

ER stress induced microRNAs in insulin resistance

The obesity epidemic has caused in a substantial increase in the incidence of type two diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Approximately 2.4 million people in Ireland are overweight/obese. Diabetes and its complications take a significant portion of the healthcare budget annually. T2DM results from the inability of the beta-cells of the pancreas...

The efficacy and effectiveness of capnogaphy monitoring during intravenous conscious sedation with midazolam for oral surgery

Dentists use sedation to help patients accept difficult procedures and to relieve anxiety. During sedation, the well-being of the patient is monitored by the dental team. When carried out according to recognised guidelines, intravenous dental sedation is considered to be very safe. For some patients, dental sedation is a useful...

Direct acting antivirals in Hepatitis C: developing a personalised model of care

Hepatitis C virus infection, which affects 170 million people worldwide, is a major global health problem, and is a leading cause of chronic liver disease, liver cancer and cirrhosis. The current treatment options for Hepatitis C infection fail to clear the virus in about 50% of patients. Two new antiviral drugs have just been licensed...

Multimodal characterisation of the benign prostate

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is a condition that will affect most men as they age, resulting in swelling of the prostate and causing problems when they try to pass urine. It is rare in men less than 40 but can be found in over 70% of men over the age of 70. Current treatment for BPH involves either tablet medication or surgery....

A randomised controlled trial to measure the effects of an augmented prescribed exercise program on mobility, quality of life and healthcare utilisation for frail hospilised older medical in-patients

Older people can become less physically independent following a hospital stay. Up to one third become newly dependant on walking aids and others remain more dependent in the long-term, affecting physical and psychological health and increasing the burden on carers and healthcare. Although many factors can influence this deterioration,...

Concealed pregnancy in 21st century Ireland. Concealing and revealing by explaining: the care study

There are many reasons why women choose to hide their pregnancy from friends and family and this study is trying to out why. Women who conceal a pregnancy are particularly vulnerable and may conceal right until, or even after, birth and as such represent an important issue for society. Risks of concealment are huge in terms of maternal...

Nervous system sensitisation in people with osteoarthritis of the knee: A prospective cohort study

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease commoningly affecting the large joints such as the hip or knee. Ostheoarthritis is one of the ten most disabling diseases in developed countries according to the World Health Organisation. Pain and loss of function are the main symptoms. Current treatments including anti-inflammatory drugs,...

Maternal health And Maternal Morbidity in Ireland (MAMMI) - Sexual Health Strand

The aim of this study is to identify if, and how women having their first baby in Ireland experience sexual health problems (SHPs) while pregnant and up to 12 months after childbirth. Within this aim are several objectives: a) To correctly estimate the number of women experiencing SHP while pregnant and up to 12 months after childbirth...

Functional capacity and thought disorder in first episode psychosis: an investigation of their clinical correlates and predictors over the first year of illness

Psychosis is an illness that affects up to 3% of the population and it can often impact severely on an individual's mental health, quality of life and productivity. It is characterised by symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations in addition to lack of motivation and general withdrawal. If identified and treated at an early stage,...

The ability of urinary albumin excretion and estimated kidney function to predict short term all cause and cardiovascular mortality in community dwelling individuals

Cardiovascular (CV) events such as stroke, heart attack and heart failure are the most common causes of death and adult disability. A priority in population-health is to accurately identify patients who are at increased risk of CV events, so that we can introduce effective preventative therapies in appropriate populations. Kidney...

Natural honey to eradicate nasal MRSA - a randomised control trial

Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) is a frequent coloniser of normal skin and a common cause of blood stream infection "sepsis". The widespread use of antibiotics has led to the emergence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Meticillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the term used to describe S.aureus bacteria resistant to...

Does early detection and treatment of psychosis improve employment outcomes?

A recent development within the mental health services is the focus on early detection and treatment, referred to as early intervention. This change in approach is most advanced in the treatment of psychotic conditions like schizophrenia. Evaluation of early intervention for psychosis services have shown that they are superior to...

Role of extra-oesophageal reflux in the development and severity of non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis

Bronchiectasis is a chronic debilitating respiratory disease characterised by severe, recurrent chest infections with resultant high rates of morbidity and mortality, escalating public health costs and profound reductions in productivity and quality of life. In approximately 50% of cases, the cause of bronchiectasis is unknown...

Probing the metabolic response to vasculitic injury: towards a tool for non-invasive monitoring of immune activation in ANCA vasculitis

A major unmet need in the care of patients with glomerulonephritis (GN) is a sensitive and specific means of identifying both the presence and absence of active vasculitic injury. I propose to undertake an in-depth PhD programme involving research that will incorporate pre-clinical and clinical tools to study the urinary metabolomic...

Structured Population and Health-services Research Education (SPHERE) Programme I

The SPHeRE Programme was established to respond to an identified need to strengthen population health and health services research (PHHSR) capacity in Ireland in order to lessen the gap between research findings, health policy and health outcomes. The HRB-funded SPHeRE Programme is driven by three core institutions (RCSI, TCD and UCC)...

Designing and implementing effective behaviour change interventions to improve population health and health services in Ireland

Priority issue: To improve population health by developing, using and advocating use of scientific methods for studying behaviour change.

Key objectives of the proposal:

1. To establish the Health Behaviour Change Research Cluster/Centre (HBCRC) at NUI Galway. 
2. To establish expert working groups in 3...

3. Economics of Personalised Heath

   Advances in science have increased the prospect of diagnosing, treating and preventing illness in a more personal way. Improved understanding of how individuals may benefit from tailored therapies will permit a better match and more informed choice by users and health care professionals. However, the discovery of personalised health...

4. Improving care for people with diabetes: A population approach to prevention and control

   Diabetes is a common, disabling and deadly condition. In Ireland it is estimated that nearly 1 in 10 adults have diabetes, many of whom are undiagnosed. Currently diabetes costs the state approx. €580 million per annum and this will rise significantly in coming decades. Major changes are underway with a move to providing more care of...

5. Psychological therapies for chronic pain and adjustment difficulties in multimorbid health conditions

   A significant number of people have chronic (long-term) health problems and some of these have so-called 'multimorbidities' this means a number of physical symptoms or diseases occurring at the same time, for example arthritis and depression or high blood pressure, diabetes and chronic pain. In the first part of this study, we will...

6. Health Economics: the development and analysis of the health technology assessment infrastructure in Ireland and an analysis of the quality

   The overall vision is to create conditions that will allow for a sea change in the quantity and quality of health services research in Ireland, addressing specific needs articulated in the policy documents of various stakeholder and; secure NUI Galway's role as a national resource supporting the application of economic methods to...

7. Development of a Bayesian Unit for Health Decision Sciences

   This proposal will develop a Bayesian unit for health decision making. A Bayesian approach formalises the bringing together of data from structured sources/trials with existing knowledge and uses formal decision criteria to identify optimal courses of action for a given health related problem/question. The centre will prioritise three...