Funding Awarded

Medication without harm: Building a network and knowledge exchange programme.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has a Global Patient Safety Challenge: ‘Medication Without Harm’ which aims to reduce worldwide harm associated with medications by half over 5 years. Medication-related harm includes medication incidents, errors, adverse drug reactions (ADRs; harmful responses to medicine) and adverse drug events...

Psychosis in the Theatre

This project is about enhancing our public patient involvement (PPI) activities within our Clinical Doctoral Award (CDA) programme by using the Arts to give voice to and tell the story of the collective of people who are affected by psychosis. Our CDA, PSI-STAR (Psychosis Ireland Structured Training and Research Programme) includes...

Taking a World Cafe approach to improving understanding of psychosis and establishing a psychosis research PPI network

The primary aim of this project is to establish a psychosis research PPI network in Ireland. This will be done via a process of meaningful engagement and dialogue with people with lived experience of psychosis and other individuals and organisations with an interest in psychosis.

Specifically, we propose to host a series of...

Better Osteoarthritis Care: Delivering education and training for primary care health professionals in Ireland.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in Ireland. It is a condition of the joints that can cause pain, reduce mobility and result in poorer quality of life. It is more common in people over the age of 50 and often affects the knee and hip joints. To ensure that people with osteoarthritis receive ideal care, it is...

Tip of the iceberg: highlighting the long term health consequences of polycystic ovary syndrome.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a chronic health condition that affects up to 15% of all women. It is characterised by increased blood levels of hormones called androgens (such as testosterone), alongside irregular periods and multiple follicles on the ovaries on ultrasound. PCOS has traditionally been perceived as a purely...

The Ignition study: Sharing stories to improve the experience of transition for young people with cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a common cause of disability among children. All people with CP have a physical impairment. About 30% use a wheelchair and some children also have difficulties hearing, seeing and speaking. Children with CP are transferred from children’s health services to adult services at age 18. This can be challenging as...

Surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, but now what? Exploring the rehabilitation needs of people with brain tumours in Ireland

In Ireland, about 480 people are diagnosed with primary brain tumours every year. Many more people develop secondary brain tumours arising from other cancers. Brain tumours can shorten life span and cause many problems including muscle weakness, speech difficulties, loss of mobility and independence, difficulties thinking and...

Interrogation of novel Glioblastoma Subtypes towards an improved Precision Medicine Approach for Brain Tumour Patients

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most frequent and aggressive adult brain tumour. Sadly, 85% of patients die within two years, despite surgery and chemo/radiotherapy. Treatment resistance is related to cell types that make up the tumour (“tumour microenvironment” or “TME”). Specifically, the behaviour of TME cells such as blood vessel and...

Exploring the risk factors and consequences of cannabis use in adolescence using population-based data: the "CANNARISK" study

Over the past decade there has been an increase in the number of adolescents using cannabis worldwide. This is concerning because cannabis is increasing in strength with more serious long term effects on health such as psychosis and depression. The adverse effects of using cannabis are particularly pronounced in those who start to use...

‘Investigating the relationship between the Complement Pathway and outcomes in Psychosis; from Clinical High Risk to First Episode Psychosis’

Schizophrenia is amongst the most expensive disorders in terms of quality of life and societal cost. Based on current treatments more than 30% of schizophrenia subjects do not respond to treatments, including antipsychotic medications. While early intervention is known to be associated with improved outcome, we cannot tell in advance...

Study of rolE of PlateletS In Sepsis (SEPSIS)

Sepsis is a severe illness caused by a bloodstream infection and is the primary cause of death in-hospital. While antibiotics are the primary treatment for sepsis the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria along with the inability to culture bacteria from blood in many cases makes treating sepsis challenging. The...

ExamIning the diagnostic and functional role of a novel DNA meThylation signaturE in predicting ColoRectAl Cancer meTastasis - “INTERACT”

Ongoing scientific/clinical efforts have drastically improved survival rates (60-80%) of patients with early stage bowel (Colorectal) cancer. However, only 14% of advanced (stage 4) bowel cancer patients survive post-5 years of diagnosis. Currently, there are no effective approaches that can predict if a patient’s bowel cancer will...

Predicting and monitoring outcomes in Autoimmune Encephalitis (POTA)

Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain in which people have repeated seizures. 

Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is a rare cause of epilepsy. It is an inflammatory disease of the brain. This means that the body’s own immune system attacks healthy brain tissue, just like it would if it were infected by a virus or a bacteria, by...

Development of a gene activated construct targeting proinflammatory signalling to promote zonal regeneration of osteoarthritic cartilage

Cartilage is a specialised, layered tissue that coats the end of bones, facilitating low friction movement of the joints and providing cushioning from impacts. When cartilage is injured or degenerates, due to diseases such as osteoarthritis, these functions are impaired, causing inflammation, pain and significantly impacting quality of...

Participation in physical activity: what really matters to adolescents with physical disability?

Being physically active is hugely important for health. It improves physical and mental wellbeing and reduces the risk of health problems in adulthood. Young people with physical disability, especially adolescents, do less physical activity than their peers. We want to learn more about how we can support adolescents with physical...

Sustaining activity with arthritis (SAWA) following an Arthritis Ireland Be active with arthritis (BAWA) exercise programme

Best practice guidelines across the world always recommend those living with arthritis to be physically active. Research shows that being active can help people living with arthritis to do the things that they want to do for longer, reduce pain, improve quality of life and protect against getting other health conditions such as heart...

Interrogating the role of miRNA in predicting responses to novel modulator therapies in children with Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a hereditary condition effecting over 80.000 people worldwide with the highest incidence occurring amongst the Irish population. There is no cure for CF however the arrival of a new era of medication that can correct Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator gene (CFTR) mutations, the basic defect that...

Increased Thrombotic Risk in Patients with Myeloproliferative Neoplasms: Linking Inflammation, Metabolism and Hypercoagulability - the CLIMB study

Blood clotting is an important defence mechanism that prevents blood loss after injury, but when this process is not controlled, it can block blood vessels and cause life-threatening thrombosis. Individuals with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) generate excessive numbers of all blood cells, including white cells, which predisposes...

An investigation into the prevalence and experience of psychopathology and mental disorders among children and adolescents with cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common cause of physical disability in childhood. Most people with CP live well into adulthood. Although CP primarily affects a person’s ability to sit or move, many people with CP report experiencing mental health problems. Children and adolescents with CP who experience mental health problems are more...

Enhancing existing formal home support to improve and maintain functional status in older adults.

Ireland has an increasing ageing population and this has created the need for better and more integrated health and social care services. The benefits of physical activity for all ages are widely known. Physical activity programmes have been shown to improve older adults’ health and well-being and reduce falls, enabling the older adult...

Early Pregnancy Information Day 2022

The first trimester of pregnancy is a particularly important time not only for baby’s development, but also for the family that is adjusting to this big change. The woman is usually first seen by her GP to confirm the pregnancy, and discuss the options available to her for antenatal or maternity care. Often the mum-to-be will engage...

Structured Population Health, Policy and Health Services Research Education

The SPHeRE programme is the leading doctoral programme in Ireland for training the next generation of research leaders in Population Health and Health Services Research. Since 2007, the programme has provided a comprehensive integrated training model that produces graduates with a common understanding of population health and health...

Clinical Trial Feasibility Award - Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

No summary available

Children's Health Ireland

No summary available

An Education and eXercise intervention (EDX-Ireland) for gluteal tendinopathy in an Irish setting: a feasibility randomised controlled trial (LEAP-Ireland trial)

Gluteal tendinopathy is a chronic condition which affects tendons of the gluteal (buttock) muscles of the hip. This condition is also known as Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome (GTPS). It can result in significant pain that can last for months or years. It can disturb sleep and affect everyday activities such as...

The StrokeCog-R study: a randomised pilot study of a novel cognitive rehabilitation intervention in stroke

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in Ireland and worldwide. Many people are aware of the physical disabilities that occur following stroke, but are less aware of the cognitive problems that people experience. Cognitive problems, or cognitive impairment, include difficulties with thinking, memory, and concentration. They...

Expanding the lung donor pool: interventions to improve donor management, expand ex vivo lung perfusion and repair injured donor lungs

When people sustain injury to the brain after a fall, road traffic accident, or major brain bleed, they require care in an Intensive Care Unit. After major brain injury, a patient’s lungs also often fail – this is termed "Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome" (ARDS).

ARDS after brain injury is common and contributes significantly...

Precision diagnosis and care for families with pulmonary fibrosis in Ireland

diopathic-Pulmonary-Fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating fatal lung disease leading to death at an average of 3 years after diagnosis and while new drugs offer hope of slowing the disease, lung transplant is the only effective cure. Genetic factors contribute significantly to the risk of developing IPF. In Ireland our results from the IPF...

Linking 11-oxygenated androgens, skeletal muscle glucose metabolism and diabetes risk in polycystic ovary syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects up to 10% of all women. It is characterised by increased blood levels of hormones called androgens, as well as irregular menstrual cycles and multiple small cysts on the ovaries. Traditionally PCOS has been predominantly perceived as a reproductive disorder impacting on fertility. However...

Characterising problematic polypharmacy in older community-dwelling people attending general practice

As people grow older they are more likely to live with multiple chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis. As a result these people are prescribed multiple medications by their doctors. In Ireland, for example, 6 in 10 people aged over 65 years are prescribed five or more medications and 2 in 10 are prescribed 10...

iPASTAR-Improving Pathways for Acute STroke And Rehabilitation

Stroke is a disease of enormous global significance. It is a major cause of death and the commonest form of acquired physical disability in adults. Fragmentation of care results in inadequate coordination of the fundamental components of acute stroke care and fails to provide an effective integrated system for acute and rehabilitative...

Improving transition from child to adult health services for young people with cerebral palsy living in Ireland.

In Ireland, people with cerebral palsy (CP) receive healthcare from children's services up to the age of 18, after which they transfer to adult services. Poor management of the transition from child to adult health services can lead to poor health and increased hospital admissions. While there are practices that health professionals...

Evidence-based guidance in general practice: exploring general practitioner preferences, content prioritisation and dissemination

General practitioners (GPs) need resources to support their use of the most up to date information in their clinical practice. This is to make sure that patients are receiving the best care possible from their GP.Th e Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) produces research update guides for GPs to support their management of...

A new cell free DNA liquid biopsy assay to predict bevacizumab outcome in metastatic colorectal cancer patients

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in Europe with an estimated 420,000 new cases diagnosed and 230,000 related deaths anticipated in 2018. CRC is the 2nd most common and 2nd most fatal cancer in Ireland. Currently standard chemotherapy (FOLFOX) and bevacizumab [(BVZ); avastin] a drug which inhibits tumour blood...

Tracking Trajectories of Psychopathology from Infancy to Young Adulthood: an Irish national longitudinal cohort study

Approximately 30-50% of people will experience a mental disorder over the course of their life and the majority of mental disorders begin in adolescence. Despite a shift toward 'early intervention' strategies in many medical specialities, psychiatry lags behind in this regard. There is a pressing need to identify the early life...

The identification of plasma protein markers of antipsychotic drug treatment response in first episode psychosis; a proteomic analysis of baseline plasma samples from the OPTiMiSE and PSYSCAN studies.

Schizophrenia is amongst the most expensive disorders in terms of quality of life and societal cost. While early intervention is known to be associated with improved outcome there is little information on predictors of patient outcome following antipsychotic drug (APD) treatment. We seek to identify, for the first time, discriminative...

3D collagen-based scaffolds as gene delivery platforms for the treatment of human breast cancer

Gene therapy has recently become a potential method for the targeted treatment of cancer but successful delivery remains a real problem that hinders its use in the clinic. The aim of this study is to create and define three-dimensional (3D) lab-based models of breast cancer to mimic primary and secondary tumours, and to assess the...

Development of a Model of Care for Osteoarthritis in Primary Care in Ireland- A mixed methods study

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in Ireland. It is a condition of the joints that can cause pain and reduced mobility. It is more common in people over the age of 50 and often affects the knee and hip joints. This project aims to improve the care of people with osteoarthritis who attend their general practitioner...

Molecular evolution of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer

Approximately 20% of all breast cancers (BCs) are HER2-positive and this type of BC is particularly aggressive. Drugs that target HER2, such as trastuzumab (Herceptin), have improved our ability to treat HER2-positive BC. However, many women with HER2-positive BC are not cured following treatment, and more than 25% of women go on to...

Sláintemedicines - a roadmap to essential medicines entitlement for universal health coverage

According to the World Health Organisation, universal health coverage is an important goal for health systems. Ireland does not currently have universal coverage as some individual have to pay for services such as visiting their GP. Sláintecare is a plan to implement universal coverage in Ireland over a 10 year period. However, this...

Wound infections: biofilms and the search for novel antimicrobial agents

Wound infections are one of the most common bacterial infections that are seen both in the community and in the healthcare setting. Wounds may occur acutely or if they fail to heal within a timely reparative process of three months are considered to be chronic wounds. The most common bacteria that cause wound infections is...

Evidence synthesis and translation of findings for national clinical guideline development: addressing the needs and preferences of guideline development groups

National clinical guidelines aim to help healthcare providers and patients' make decisions about appropriate healthcare. These guidelines use the best available evidence, gathered from national and international research, to develop recommendations on a wide range of topics. These include preventing and managing specific conditions to...

Investigating breast cancer risk factors to understand breast cancer epidemiological outcomes

This proposal aims to expand cancer prevention research in Ireland through the assessment of breast cancer risk factors and their influence on clinically relevant characteristics of aggressive breast cancers.

Prior research has identified factors associated with increased risk of breast cancer development. One such known factor...

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club is the story of diabetes in pregnancy in Ireland. In a weekly, serialized, online graphic novel, we will follow the lives of women attending a Breakfast Club for women who have received a diagnosis of diabetes during their pregnancy. We will explore their experiences, from having a Glucose Tolerance Test, to meeting...

Medtrack KEDS

"Health professionals are the lifeblood of the health system"(President M Robinson), yet our junior doctors (NCHD-trainees) continue to report that responses for improving their working conditions have had "little tangible change or impact on their day-to-day working lives and training experience?. The RCSI research team has...

Development of a Teaching Programme for the Junior Cycle Mental health and Mental Ill-Health Module

Great progress has been made nationally on destigmatising mental health but it has not yet become a topic that people are universally comfortable with. A major change in the Junior Cycle in 2018 is the introduction of Wellbeing which directly addresses youth mental health through Strand 4 in the new Social Personal and Health Education...

Development of Book About Mental Health Problems For Children and Adolescents

There has been steady improvements in the quality of information available to people about mental health issues but a challenge remains to communicate this fully to children and adolescents. Much of the existing information is text heavy and can be off-putting for this age group. Presenting this information so that it is accessible...

Real Talk with Real Mums

?Real Talk with Real Mums? is a 10-episode podcast series looking at the issues of everyday pregnancy with medical professionals and the real women who have gone through the pregnancy journey. Each episode of c.30 minutes will tackle a different topic, from exercise in pregnancy (with a Physiotherapist), to mental health issues in...

Promoting National Awareness of Thrombosis in Pregnancy.

Women who are pregnant have a higher chance of developing blood clots (thrombosis) that can cause serious ill-health and can be fatal. Therefore, it is incredibly important that women who are pregnant, women of childbearing age and their families are aware of their risk factors for thrombosis in pregnancy. In the HRB-funded "HIGHLOW"...

LoVIC-Kids: Improving public awareness of abnormal bleeding symptoms

Congenital bleeding disorders (CBD) may result in increased bleeding at times of injury, surgery, childbirth or with periods (menstrual bleeding). Although an estimated 1-2% of the population are affected by CBD, most people are unaware that their bleeding symptoms are abnormal. In addition, there is limited awareness amongst many...

Control of neuronal proteostasis by stress-induced transfer RNA fragments (?tiRNA?) as a common stress pathway across neurodegenerative disorders.

This application is for supplemental funding through PA-18-591 for the recently funded grant (1R01AG058476-01), entitled ?Dysfunction of the autophagy-lysosomal pathway as a common mechanism of neurodegeneration,? and the JPND project to support collaborative studies between Dr. Finkbeiner?s lab (Gladstone) and the JPND RNA NEURO...

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...

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...

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...

Good vigilance practice in pregnancy: A multistakeholder approach to optimising the effectiveness of risk minimisation measures to prevent harms from teratogenic medicines

When new medicines are approved for use in the general population the drug company responsible for the medicine has to make sure that certain measures are in place to avoid unnecessary harm. These are known as risk minimisation measures (RMMs). This is particularly important when the medicine may cause harmful effects to an unborn...

Co-producing health and well-being in partnership with patients, families and communities: the role of the epilepsy patient portal

Claire a 35 year old teacher with a 10 year history of epilepsy attends the Galway University Hospital (GUH) where an electronic patient record (EPR) is used by the epilepsy service. Recently on a weekend trip to Waterford, Claire had a seizure resulting in a fall in the street and a minor injury. She was taken to the emergency...

Enhancing existing formal home support to improve and maintain functional status in older adults: A feasibility study on the implementation of the Care to Move (CTM) programme

Ireland has an increasing ageing population and this has created the need for better and more integrated health and social care services. The benefits of physical activity for all ages are widely known. Physical activity programmes have been shown to improve older adults’ health and well-being and reduce falls, enabling the older adult...

"Right Care": a programme of research to enhance safe and appropriate care for older patients in Ireland

We propose a structured PhD training programme for multi-disciplinary health researchers on the topic of “Right Care” for older people. This research programme will examine how right care can be given at the right time and in the right setting, so that older people get the greatest benefit and the lowest harm from health interventions....

Managing complex multimorbidity in primary care: a multidisciplnary doctoral training programme

This application outlines a Structured Doctoral Training Programme for four PhD students with clinical and research backgrounds. The focus is on primary care delivery for patients who are referred to as having complex multimorbidity, which means that they have multiple long term conditions and are often on ten or more regular...

Communicating and promoting SAFE medicines use in Ireland

The likelihood of side effects of medicines, drug interactions and potentially inappropriate prescribing increase with the increasing number of medicines people take. Taking multiple medicines at the same time is common in people age 65 year olds or older with six in every ten in this age group. Also, around one in ten of those aged 65...

The youth mental health animation creation project

This KEDS award will be used to create animations about young people's mental health that will be embedded into the youth mental health website, ReachOut.com.



This project will involve crafting key messages from this study into short narratives using direct quotes from the research interviews conducted for this...

The StrokeCog partnership: effective intervention through collaboration

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide and will increase considerably in coming decades as people live for longer. Many people are aware of physical disabilities after stroke, but are less aware of cognitive problems. These include difficulties with memory, concentration and abstract thinking, often experienced as...

The Art of Pregnancy

The Art of Pregnancy is an exciting and ambitious public outreach exhibition and programme supported by the HRB Mother and Baby CTN togther with the Science Gallery Dublin as a key partner.

For this project we want to commission (via an open call process) a group of artists to create works inspired by the wide ranging areas of...

Brain, mind and psychosis: Engaging young people in learning about research

Great progress has been made over the past few years in "destigmatising" mental illness and this has been particularly successful for conditions such as depression and anxiety. However there still remains a great lack of knowledge about psychosis. This lack of knowledge can lead to stigma and fear and can prevent young people coming...

The relationship of medication adherence and environmental factors to exacerbations in patients with severe asthma

Some patients with asthma suffer attacks, termed exacerbations, these periods of loss of control and heightened symptoms both significantly reduce quality of life and increase healthcare costs, as they are a cause of disability, hospitalisation and death. Predicting when an exacerbation may occur involves knowledge of the person's...

Biomarker discovery in ultra high risk for psychosis: Towards prediction of psychotic disorder, non-psychotic mental disorders and recovery

Mental disorders such as schizophrenia and major depression are among the most expensive disorders in terms of quality of life and societal cost. Early identification and intervention is associated with improved outcome and is facilitated by targeting those at ultra-high-risk-for-psychosis (UHR) as up to 25-30% subsequently develop...

Advanced scaffold-based therapeutics for regeneration of large volume, vascularised bone defects

Although bone has a natural capacity to repair itself following fracture, problems arise when large critical-size bone defects do not spontaneously heal and therefore require surgical intervention to repair completely. As many drawbacks exist with traditional repair approaches, the field of bone tissue engineering - which combines...

The Low Von Willebrand factor Ireland Cohort of Kids (LoVIC-K) study

Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a large plasma protein essential for maintaining normal blood coagulation. Approximately 1% of the children and adults inherit low levels of his blood clotting protein, and consequently have a lifelong bleeding disorder known as von Willebrand disease (or VWD). Children with VWD often demonstrate easy...

Systems modelling of tumor heterogeneity & therapy response in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has one of the highest worldwide incidences (>1.3 million new cases) and mortality rates (~610,000 deaths per year). Genotoxic chemotherapy in stage II and III confers minimal treatment benefit (improved survival in 3-4% stage II and 15-20% of stage III patients), and predictive markers to select...

Longitudinal assessment of cardiac function in infants with Downs Syndrome using novel echocardiography techniques

Down syndrome is a condition where there is an extra chromosome 21. Babies with Down syndrome have well recognised features. Some babies with Down syndrome have an abnormal heart and need surgery to correct the defect. For this study we are interested in the proportion of babies who have a normal heart structure. Those babies can have...

A randomised placebo-controlled trial of low-dose aspirin initiated in the first trimester for optimising pregnancy outcome in pregestational diabetes

Pre-existing diabetes confers a high risk for adverse pregnancy outcome. High blood pressure disorders in pregnancy, including preeclampsia, are particularly common in this population and the combination of pre-existing diabetes and preeclampsia represents a notable high risk for poor pregnancy outcome, including stillbirth....

Low molecular weight heparin to prevent recurrent venous thromboembolism in pregnancy: a randomised trial of two doses: the HIGHLOW study

Women who are pregnant have an increased chance of developing blood clots. These clots can cause serious ill-health and can even be fatal. The death of a young mother is a tragic event with wide-reaching effects on the woman's family.

Women with a previous blood clot have a higher recurrence risk in pregnancy. In fact, the...

Longitudinal profiling of adverse events in Irish hospitals and provision of a standardised assessment tool to the Irish healthcare system: the INAES-2 study

Adverse events (AEs) are unintended injuries or complications that are caused by healthcare management, rather than a patient's underlying disease, which lead to death, disability at the time of hospital discharge, prolonged hospital stay or subsequent hospitalisation. The first Irish National Adverse Events Study (INAES) determined...

Methadone substitution treatment: mortality and progression pathways

People who inject heroin have a risk of death six times higher than the general population. The most effective treatment for heroin injectors is the prescription of legal, substitution drugs, most commonly methadone. This is called opiate or methadone substitution treatment (MST). The majority (60%) of patients on MST in Ireland attend...

Supporting prescribing in Irish primary care: a non-randomised pilot study of a GP practice-based pharmacist medicines optimisation programme

Medication prescribing is one of the commonest medical interventions and there have been marked increases in patients taking multiple medicines with related adverse effects. We have developed an intervention involving practice based pharmacists working with GPs to optimise prescribing in Irish general practice settings.
Study...

Interventions for improving medication adherence in solid organ transplant recipients

Organ transplantation is the removal of an organ from one individual and placement within another individual. Solid organ transplantation refers to transplantation of the heart, lungs, kidney, pancreas or liver, and successful transplantation involves collaboration across surgical, medical, legal, political and bioethical disciplines....

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...

Determining the mechanism of action of a novel histone deacetylase 6 specific inhibitor that kills chemoresistant breast cancer

WT Scheme: Seed Award in Science

The majority of cytotoxic agents used to treat patients kill tumour cells via the mitochondrial pathway of cell death. Previously, the applicant found that primary tumours that are chemoresistant in vivo usually contain mitochondria that are resistant to apoptotic signalling. Therefore, we...

An investigation into early adverse life events and psychotic-like experiences in Irish youth

At some time in their life, up to one in six adolescents is likely to have experienced some form of hallucinations or delusions, also known as psychotic-like experiences. These experiences include things like hearing voices, seeing things that are not there and having fixed false beliefs about yourself or the world around you. Most...

Cancer Prevention Fellowship 2016

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...

Doctor Emigration Knowledge Exchange Project (DEP-KEDS)

The Doctor Emigration Project (DEP) aims to analyse doctor emigration from Ireland and to inform national health workforce policy about the factors influencing their emigration. The ultimate aim of the project is to assist national workforce planners to develop evidence-informed policies to promote the retention of doctors in, and the...

Irish medical career tracking study (The MedTrack Study)

Hardly a week goes by without a national media report on the medical staffing crisis in the Irish health services, which is perhaps the biggest current threat to the delivery of quality health services to the population of Ireland. With 6- and 12-monthly staff turnovers, employers are forced to recruit staff from abroad to fill posts...

Early life stress and the etiopathogenesis of auditory hallucinations in young people

This research project aims to look at the relationship between experiencing stressful life events during childhood and experiencing psychotic-like symptoms (like hearing voices that other people can't hear, for example) in adolescence. Researchers have already shown that there is a relationship between these two experiences but, up...

The effects of maternal and foetal stress during pregnancy on adult mental health

The causes of both common mental illnesses like anxiety and depression and more severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are still unclear. We know that these illnesses are most likely a complex mix of environmental factors working in conjunction with underlying genetic vulnerability. The genetic input to these...

Development of a national severe asthma registry and comprehensive care program

There has been a drive to deliver new asthma treatments through new biological agents. However, age old issues including poor adherence and poor inhaler use still apply and mean that it is difficult to tell if a patient has difficult to manage asthma or therapy refractory asthma. The proposal is to build a registry for patients with...

Creation of a young adult colouring book illustrating biological research on mental illness

We plan to create an innovative educational activity to promote our research on biological investigations in mental illness. Our idea is to publish a young adult colouring book that will introduce young people to the complex world of the human brain, how scientists perform neuroscience research and how the findings relate to...

Development and upgrading of the HMDB Schizophrenia Metabocard

The Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) is a freely available database that contains detailed information about small molecules found in the human body. It is the first and foremost reference site for metabolite data worldwide. It provides scientists, clinicians, educators and the public with the most current and comprehensive coverage of...

An inflammatory biomarker study of psychosis: a longitudinal study in an at risk population

Schizophrenia is among the most expensive disorders in terms of quality of life and societal cost. While treatments are inadequate, early intervention has been shown to be clinically effective. Consequently, there is an urgent need to improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of this disorder so that we can identify and treat...

Blood adenosine levels as a novel diagnostic of seizures in humans

Epilepsy is the most common life-long brain disease and its diagnosis remains challenging needing the application of multiple criteria including patient history, seizure type and electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. The most reliable method is long periods under video surveillance during continuous EEG monitoring which is costly...

Cracking cancer with science; an educational outreach campaign for primary schoolchildren

Breast cancer remains a significant disease in Ireland. Our laboratory is investigating novel therapies to target a sub-group of aggressive breast tumours. This work feeds into two larger efforts. The first is to help personalize cancer therapies for patients. The second is to provide new insight into how specific tumours develop, in...

Breast cancer risk: The influence of blood selenium status and interactions between selenium supply biomarkers and genetic variations in the selenoprotein gene pathway

Hormonal, reproductive, and dietary factors play an important role in the aetiology of breast cancer (BC). Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient thought to aid cancer prevention via its incorporation into selenoproteins which help counter oxidative damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids. Such DNA damage also appears to play a...

Cold air plasma to enhance hospital hygiene leading to reduced surface bacterial counts and patient acquisition of vancomycin-resistant enterococci and Clostridium difficile infection

Healthcare-associated infections (HCAI) affect 5-10% of patients admitted to an acute hospital but it is about three times higher in intensive care units (ICUs). Prevention involves many strategies but environmental hygiene is important as many bacterial causes persist on horizontal surfaces, e.g. methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus...

Healthy pregnancy in Ireland

The HRB Ireland Perinatal CTN is an all-island of Ireland clinical trial network for mothers and babies representing a new and exciting collaboration between two established research groups; the Irish centre for Foetal and Neonatal Translational Research (INFANT) and Perinatal Ireland. The 'Healthy Pregnancy in Ireland' initiative is a...

A translational systems biological study to identify molecular predictors for responsiveness to TRAIL-receptor agonists in colorectal cancer

Many patients that suffer from cancer of the colon require chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is supposed to induce the death of cancer cells by a molecularly controlled death process called apoptosis. Apoptosis in response to chemotherapy requires the activation of cell death genes, but colon cancer cells often can prevent these genes from...

Oral flucloxacillin alone versus flucloxacillin and phenoxymethylpenicillin for the emergency department outpatient treatment of cellulitis: a non-inferiority randomised controlled trial

Acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs) are commonly encountered in Emergency Departments (EDs). In Ireland, the most common ABSSSI is cellulitis, which is a spreading bacterial infection of the skin and tissues beneath the skin. Approximately 12 in every 1,000 ED patient attendances in Ireland is due to...

Validation of FcgRlla as a potential drug target in sepsis

WT Scheme: Seed Award in Science.

Sepsis is characterised by a severe coagulopathy which is responsible for the high mortality in this disease. This coagulopathy is due to extensive platelet activation and consumption which leads to bleeding due to the subsequent thrombocytopenia and thrombosis due to the platelet...

Statistical epidemiology in population health and health services research: Quality and patient safety in medicines

The Irish population is getting older and this is leading to an increase in the use of medications. The number of elderly people on 5 or more regular medicines increased greatly from 1997 to 2012. It is known that an increase in the number of prescription medications leads to potential problems of drug interactions, problems taking...

The StrokeCog study: modelling and modifying the consequences of stroke-related cognitive impairment through intervention

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in Ireland. Many people are aware of the physical disabilities caused by stroke, but are far less aware of the cognitive and mood problems that people experience following an attack. Cognitive problems include difficulties with memory, concentration and abstract thinking. Mood...

Making the patient a member of the healthcare team in chronic disease management: An ethnographic and participant action research analysis of living with epilepsy in Ireland (E-PIC: Epilepsy Partnership in Care)

Patient-centeredness is a core value of current and emerging health service reforms.  Patient-centred care (PCC) recognises people within the full context of their lives, not just their health condition. Its principles include: informing and involving patients, encouraging self-management and informed decision making, eliciting...

Exploring clinical learning environments for postgraduate medical education and training

After graduation from medical school, doctors continue to train under the supervision, for several years, until they are ready to practice independently. These trainee doctors learn while they work, providing care to patients. Their working environments, therefore, need to support learning. It is difficult for those charged with the...

Neuroexercise: The effects of an extensive exercise program on the progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI)

Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease (JPND)

A lack of physical exercise plays a major role in the pathophysiology of vascular, metabolic, and metastatic diseases. Regular physical exercise has been successfully proven to counteract this deconditioning. Human and animal studies have demonstrated that regular...

Neuroexercise: The effects of an extensive exercise program on the progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI)

Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease (JPND)

A lack of physical exercise plays a major role in the pathophysiology of vascular, metabolic, and metastatic diseases. Regular physical exercise has been successfully proven to counteract this deconditioning. Human and animal studies have demonstrated that...

Imbuing Medical Professionalism (IMP)

This project aims to encourage and support medical graduates to become good doctors. Medical professionalism is essentially a set of values, enacted through behaviours and relationships, which underpin the public's trust in doctors. Employers and healthcare organisations govern the settings where doctors train and work and they have a...

Can implementation of an emergency department monitoring and escalation protocol of adult patients in a large teaching hospital reduce the number of critical incidents and improve timely intervention in patients requiring a high level of care and improve

The HIQA Report on the investigation into the quality, safety and governance of the care provided by Tallaght Hospital for patients requiring acute admission has recommended that an Emergency Department-specific system of physiological monitoring and triggered responses comparable to the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) should be...

Supporting work participation through early intervention in patients with regional MSK pain

Background: Patients with regional musculoskeletal pain (RMSKP) are at risk for work disability and instability and associated social and financial deprivation. Early intervention targeting prevention of work disability has potential to enhance patient outcomes and the effectiveness of care, with positive spill over effects for...

Irish cancer survivors' knowledge and perceptions of their lifestyle risk factors for cancer

The cancer landscape is changing and the picture emerging is a complex one that recognizes that some types of cancer are preventable. Empiric research has identified a number of lifestyle risk factors for cancer. Previous international and Irish research has explored the public's knowledge of cancer lifestyle risk, but to our knowledge...

The cognitive thalamus: more than a relay.

WT Scheme: Investigator Award in Science.

How do brain circuits support different but complementary aspects of event memory? The answer lies in distributed networks across the medial temporal lobe, prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex. Via their widespread connectivity, nuclei within the rostral thalamus support these memory...

The impact of genetic heterogeneity on synthetic lethality in cancer

WT Scheme: Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship

Synthetic lethal interaction occurs when the function of one gene only becomes essential for viability in the presence of a mutation in another gene. In cancer treatment this phenomenon can be exploited to selectively kill tumour cells that have specific genetic mutations....

Inequalities in access to GP care in Ireland: An analysis using longitudinal data

The principle of equal treatment for equal need is a key component of health policy. However, Irish and international evidence shows that factors other than health need are important in determining healthcare use. For example, there is extensive evidence that those who must pay for general practitioner (GP) care have fewer visits than...

Genetic basis of reflux nephropathy-related hypertension and renal failure in children

Vesicoureteric reflux (VUR) is the backflow of urine from the bladder towards the kidneys. It is a common disorder in children, but is often not diagnosed because it may have no symptoms. In some children, it stops happening as they grow, and they suffer no ill effects. However, it can be associated with kidney damage, and is a major...

The CHARMS Intervention to improve sexual assessment and counselling in hospital cardiac rehabilitation: A pilot study

Sexual problems are particularly common among people with cardiovascular disease, and have been shown to negatively impact quality of life, psychological wellbeing (anxiety and depression) and relationship satisfaction.

A prospective assessment of the biological burden of stress in caregivers: Impact on cognitive performance, mood and the benefits of mindfulness

The age structure of the population in Ireland is changing rapidly and the HSE predicts that the 65+ year old age group will contribute 20% of the population by the year 2036. Already, nearly 5% of the population are engaged as caregivers for ill elderly relatives and this is particularly stressful for those whose spouses or parents...

INCA SUn: A prospective randomised multicentre study to optimise the management of symptomatically uncontrolled asthma.

Inhalers are used in the treatment of patients with severe asthma. About 10% of people with asthma fail to achieve control of their asthma symptoms with inhalers. These patients with severe asthma, are often treated with extra medications or have severe attacks. One reason why these patients may not achieve control of their asthma is...

Examining the effects of S1P receptor drugs in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimers disease (AD) represents one of the major brain illnesses that we now face. Treatments against this disease are limited and offer little in terms of cure. With the global population age now rising, AD is suggested to affect 1 in every 3 people. If left untreated, AD has potential to bring about collapse in healthcare,...

The heme oxygenase system as a therapeutic intervention for psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that causes cells to build up rapidly on the surface of the skin, forming thick silvery scales that become itchy, dry and sometimes painful. Current treatments for psoriasis depend on disease severity and include topical ointments, light therapy and systemic medications which are...

HRB Centre for Primary Care Research

The HRB Centre for Primary Care Research (CPCR- www.hrbcentreprimarycare.ie) is focussing on improving the quality and safety of medicines to vulnerable patient groups in Ireland, building upon observational epidemiology completed and published during the first phase of funding. Information and Communication Technology (ICT)...

Single blind randomised trial of supportive text messages for patients with alcohol use disorder and a comorbid depression

Most patients who present with problem drinking also present with mood problems. Problem drinking and mood problems co-occurring together in individuals lead them to have more severe symptoms, greater disability and poorer quality of life than individuals with only problem drinking, and they pose a greater economic burden to society...

Functional as well as structural brain connectivity and epigenetic changes in major depressive disorder associated with remission and persistence of symptoms over a 5 year course

Still less than one third of patients with MDD achieve remission with an adequate trial of a standard antidepressant after 10 - 14 weeks of treatment. This project will provide a crucial part of the research required for the development of more effective therapy strategies and for understanding the backgrounds for achieving remission...

Unlocking HIV-1 latency with metabolic cues

With 35 million people currently leaving with HIV and 1.6 million people worldwide who died from HIV in 2012, the AIDS pandemic is a major health crisis. In Ireland, the HSE and the HSPC have made HIV/AIDS a notifiable disease and a major public health importance. 30 years of intense HIV/AIDS research have provided efficient...

A multi-pronged translational approach towards testing a novel JAM-A inhibitor to reduce aggressive HER2-dependent breast cancer progression

Although breast cancer surgery and treatment have greatly improved in recent years, certain types of tumours are much more aggressive than others and therefore represent a greater risk to the patient. One such type of breast tumour is identified by the fact that it has high levels of a specific tumour marker called HER2. Therapies...

Rehabilitation following oesophageal cancer: Idenfitying rehabilitative needs and strategies

The treatments used to cure cancer of the oesophagus (food pipe) are usually twofold. Patients may first receive chemotherapy (drug treatment) to shrink the cancer followed by surgery to remove the oesophagus from the body. Patients who undergo this treatment for oesophageal cancer experience a number of weakening side-effects which...

The STRIDER Trial: A randomised controlled trial of sildenafil therapy In dismal prognosis early-onset intrauterine growth restriction

Severe early-onset in utero growth restriction (IUGR) affects babies in womb and is caused by reduced blood flow through the placenta. There is no treatment or cure for IUGR and the current clinical management involves intensive fetal surveillance with elective delivery performed when there is evidence of fetal distress and before the...

Hypotension, vasoreactivity and white matter intensities in the ageing brain: The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

High blood pressure (hypertension) is known to cause brain ageing, from memory problems through to frank dementia, and is common in older age, affecting 70% of people over 70 years of age. Low blood pressure (hypotension) may be an even greater risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia; as it is an easily treatable condition this...

Proof of concept studies to validate clinical microsensors for the real-time detection of oxygen and pH

Currently there is no efficient method of continuously measuring oxygen or pH in real-time in hospitals. Existing techniques suffer from slow, indirect recordings and require the undesirable removal of a blood sample from patients. Doctors are extremely interested in measuring both of these parameters since they provide important...

Alendronate for Prevention of AntiRetroviral Therapy-associated bone loss (APART study)

Over six thousand people have been diagnosed with HIV infection in Ireland. People living with HIV are now living longer because of effective therapy. However, therapy is life-long and is associated with significant side effects. In addition, immune damage induced by HIV persists even with effective therapy. As a result, people with...

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...

Ketamine for depression relapse prevention following electroconvulsive therapy: A randomised pilot trial with blood neuroplasticity biomarker evaluation

Depression affects up to 20% of people in their lifetime and can be a severe debilitating illness. Indeed, the World Health Organisation has estimated that depression will soon be the second leading contributor to the burden of disease worldwide. One of the big problems for patients and doctors is that currently available...

An antimicrobial susceptibility testing-based approach for Helicobacter pylori eradication: will tailored therapy overcome the increasing failure of standard empirical therapy?

Helicobacter pylori infection is a public health issue. It remains one of the most common infections in adults in Ireland (22%) and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality as the primary cause of stomach ulcers and stomach cancers. Infection is more common in lower socioeconomic groups and increases with age. Despite...

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...

Evaluating the impact of the systematic implementation of advance care directives and palliative care education on quality of care at end of life in long term care settings

It is essential that nursing home staff are equipped to provide high-quality end-of-life care, while it is also essential that the wishes of the older person about their care are taken into account. Many nursing home residents develop dementia, which can interfere with their ability to make healthcare decisions and to communicate...

Disease modification in rheumatoid arthritis using AMPK directed therapies: Resoring metabolic balance to innate immune pathways

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting 1-2% of the population. Over time, RA causes joint destruction, chronic pain and lifelong disability. In addition to these effects, increased resistance to the effects of insulin and alterations in glucose handling mimicking effects seen in type II diabetes occur in...

Resistant hypertension in general practice: prevalence, prognosis, description and development of platform cohort for future research

High blood pressure causes, or helps to cause, almost two-thirds of all strokes and half of all heart attacks. Most people with high blood pressure can be treated by changing what they eat, doing more exercise or taking medications. However, among people with high blood pressure are some whose blood pressure remains too high despite...

Preventing chemotherapy resistance in triple negative breast cancer

Background: Breast cancers that lack the three molecules used to classify breast cancers; the oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), are described as triple negative breast cancers. Approximately 15 per cent of all breast cancers are triple negative. Triple negative...

STandaRd Issue TrANsfusion versuS Fresher red blood cell Use in intenSive carE (TRANSFUSE) - a randomised controlled trial.

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is required to treat a number of life threatening conditions within the general hospital setting and Intensive Care Units (ICU). Red blood cell units represent a very limited but essential resource. Given the value and relative scarcity of RBC, it is important to ensure its use in the optimal way. A...

Development of bioactive therapeutics harnessing stem cell mechanobiology

Tissue engineering is an emerging field of medicine that aims to treat diseased or damaged tissue through regeneration, rather than replacement. In order to achieve this, implantable scaffolds, that act as templates for tissue formation, are designed so that they not only provide structural support but also provide signals to cells...

Splintcost - Sensor providing longitudinal information on nocturnal toothgrinding and compliance of splint therapy

Many people grind their teeth at night, and may not be aware of it. Tooth grinding can cause headaches, facial pain or severe damage to the teeth. To prevent these problems, dentists often prescribe a mouthguard to use at night. Mouthguards are effective but few patients use them enough. Patients often wrongly believe that their...

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...

The Low Von Willebrand factor Ireland Cohort (LoVIC) study.

Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a large plasma protein that plays an essential role in normal blood coagulation. Inherited VWF deficiency is responsible for the commonest inherited bleeding disorder (von Willebrand disease or VWD) that affects up to 1% of the general population. Although substantial progress has been achieved in...

Sodium inTake In Chronic Kidney disease (STICK): A randomised controlled trial

Chronic kidney disease, which affects an estimated 300,000 people in Ireland and over 50 million people in the developed world, is responsible for a considerable burden of premature mortality and morbidity. All patients with chronic kidney disease are recommended low salt diets, i.e. less than a teaspoon of salt per day (which is 5-6g...

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...

Effect of glucagon like peptide-1 therapy on obesity driven inflammation and co-morbid inflammatory conditions.

Obesity has been shown to cause and worsen diseases such as diabetes, psoriasis, arthritis, asthma and cancer. Increased inflammation is the basic process, which causes obesity related diseases. Inflammation is the body's normal way of dealing with an infection or injury, but is usually specific and short lived. However, in obese...

HRB Centre for Health and Diet Research

The vision for the Centre for the next five years:
The overall vision for the CHDR over the next five years is to contribute to the promotion of the health and wellbeing of the population through the development of a sustainable and internationally competitive National Research Centre for Public Health Nutrition which will:
...

A systems-based patient stratification tool of Bcl-2 family protein interactions to evaluate acute treatment responses in rectal cancer patients

Cancers of the rectum (the lower part of the large intestine where the body stores stool) are a common cause of cancer-related death in Ireland and cause a significant burden to the quality of life of affected patients. Surgery is the mainstay for the treatment of rectal cancer, but surgeons often prefer to 'downstage' or 'shrink' the...

Enhancing the antimicrobial efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for eliminating sepsis induced acute lung injury (ALI) using a novel combination of immune-stimulants

Despite advances in medicine, pneumonia is still a common disease accounting for 5% of deaths in Ireland and is the most common cause of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome where there currently remains no specific therapy. Studies carried out by this and other research groups have recently shown that bone-marrow...

The natural history of cystic fibrosis liver disease - refining the phenotype

The incidence of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is very high in Ireland. Survival has improved greatly over the past 30 years. However as longevity has increased so has the development of complications including liver disease. The diagnosis and treatment of liver disease in CF is particularly challenging. We do not understand the cause of liver...

Inhibiting XBP1s production as a novel therapeutic strategy in sepsis

Sepsis accounts for over 18 million deaths annually and is characterised by a severe/hyper activation of the immune system, also referred to as a cytokine storm, which is triggered by infection. In its most severe form sepsis manifests as septic shock and can lead to hypotension and multi-organ failure leading to death. The incidence...

An inter-sectoral analysis by geographic area of the need for and the supply and utilisation of health services in Ireland

The objective of this study is to provide an understanding of the supply of and interaction between health and social care services delivered in different sectors (acute hospitals: primary and community care; long-term care; informal care at home) in Ireland to inform the Governments policy of transferring activity and resources from...

Acute kidney injury (AKI) in the Irish health system; Incidence, severity and clinical consequences

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI), previously called acute renal failure, occurs when kidney function deteriorates rapidly over hours or days and elevated levels of waste products accumulate in the blood. AKI is most common in people who are hospitalized, particularly in critically ill people who need intensive care. AKI may occur in multiple...

Mapping the pathway to universal health care in Ireland

The current Irish Government has committed itself to achieving universal access to health care, free at the point of delivery, by 2016. Yet, at the moment, timely access to essential healthcare in Ireland is often determined by ability to pay, such as with private insurance. Further, those without medical cards or GP visit cards face...

Galactosaemia, translating novel monitoring approaches into improved clinical practice

Galactosaemia is an inherited condition caused by a lack of an enzyme (catalyst) which normally breaks down galactose (the sugar found in milk products). This affects on in 16,000 births annually in Ireland (the highest incidence worldwide), and is screened for by the National Newborn Screening Programme.
When an affected infant is...

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...

HRB Trials Methodology Research Network

These are exciting and challenging times for clinical trials. The number and variety of treatments continues to grow, increasing pressures on researchers to determine how these compare to current treatments, while rising costs and regulation can make trials expensive and complex. However, as pressure on resources grows, there is more...

The role of angiopoietins and their mediators in symptomatic gastrointestinal angiodyslasia; novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets in chronic anaemia and obscure gastrointestinal bleeding

Background: Approximately 5% of patients with gastrointestinal bleeding have no source identified on standard endoscopy and are classified as having obscure gastrointestinal bleeding, of which Small Bowel Angiodysplasia (SBA) accounts for more than 50% of cases. Due to limited understanding of the pathophysiology behind SBA no specific...

Overcoming mechanism of treatment resistance in castration-resistant prostate cancer: Defining a new treatment paradigm

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of male cancer mortality in Ireland: in 2012, 533 men died from this disease.Prostate cancer growth is stimulated by male sex hormones (androgens) e.g. testosterone. The mainstay of initial treatment is to block gonadal production of these hormones. However, with time, cancers develop other...

An analysis of genetic and environmental modifiers of breast cancers risk

Breast Cancer Susceptibility Genes (BRCA) 1 and 2 are tumour suppressor genes that maintain genomic stability by repairing damaged DNA. Pathogenic mutations in these genes disrupt their role as tumour suppressors and can predispose to various malignancies, in particular those of the breast or ovary. Single gene mutations in BRCA 1 or...

Irish Platform for Patients' Organisations, Science and Industry

The purpose of this award is to enable IPPOSI to undertake a work programme providing a forum for patient organisations, scientists and industry to inform and support the advancement of health research for the development of therapies and cures for unmet medical needs specifically but not limited to:
- Providing information for...

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...

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...

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...

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)...