Funding Awarded

Vaccination: Knowledge is power

Over 3 million global deaths are avoided annually due to the existence of vaccines. In Ireland the state funded immunization program protects against 14 infectious diseases including HPV. However, we face a number of challenges with immunization. Alarmingly, in recent years uptake of vaccines has been waning. Perhaps due to complacency...

Health and social inequalities in the Mid-West

As there are many disadvantaged areas in the Mid-West, health and social inequalities are important issues locally. This is because deprivation is linked with poor health and poor access to healthcare. Under the Healthy Ireland Framework, taking actions to address health inequalities is a key priority. In the Mid-West, many...

Self-Harm and Suicide AwaREness ? SHARE

SHARE is based on outcomes of the HRB funded research programme: Improving Prediction and Risk Assessment of Suicide and Self-Harm (IMPRESS). The IMPRESS study aims to improve the knowledge base on predictive risk factors associated with repeated self-harm and suicide among high-risk groups of self-harm patients in Ireland. During the...

Postnatal Mental Health PARTNERship

It is estimated that 10-25% of mothers will experience a mental health problem following the birth of their baby. With approximately 63,900 births in Ireland each year (6), conservative figures would suggest that over 6390 mothers will experience a mental health problem in the postnatal period. For many mothers, their partner plays a...

Towards Recovery After Childbirth, through Knowledge: (ON TRACK)

The Maternal health And Maternal Morbidity in Ireland (MAMMI) study identified problems women had postpartum. We have provided information for women on physical problems, such as incontinence, and will now address other important issues. For example, 15% of women have anxiety during pregnancy, and 44% have pain during sex at 3 months...

Developing an on-line course for first-time mothers: ?Pathway to Birth?

Concern has been expressed globally at rising caesarean section (CS) rates with no evidence of any decrease in associated health problems for mothers and babies, indicating that many CSs are unnecessary, and can be harmful. We are at present running a pilot trial called "REDUCE"to see if a new intervention, based on research evidence,...

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...

Citizen Science: The People's Trial

Randomised trials are instrumental in providing reliable and robust evidence on the benefits, harms and costs of health care, so that people can make informed choices. However, the general public?s understanding of randomised trials can be limited and ensuring public support for and participation in trials remains challenging. The...

Delivering a Reduction in the Development of Maternal Prenatal Stress: DIRECTMAPS

Pregnancy can be a stressful time during which many expectant mothers experience understandable worries and concerns. High levels of prenatal maternal stress are linked to several unfavourable conditions which can affect the health of the child at birth. Normal development of the central nervous system is also at risk during the early...

Piloting the Community Engaged Scholars Program in Ireland

Public and patient involvement in health research is not embedded in Irish Universities. As part of the PPI Ignite Awards scheme the HRB have funded 5 Irish Universities to demonstrate the value of PPI and champion this approach in Ireland. PPI involves public/patients working in partnership with researchers in setting research...

Promoting Education and Research Knowledge (PERK)

THE PROBLEM Cancer of the oesophagus (food pipe) is an aggressive type of cancer, and has a low survival rate. It is usually diagnosed at a late stage, often due to a lack of knowledge of underlying symptoms which can be mild, including heartburn, bloating and problems swallowing. Oesophageal cancer is not as well known as some other...

Rheumatoid Arthritis Patient Awareness INitiative (RA-PAIN)

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune condition that causes disability for patient's day-to-day tasks. New medications that target bad molecules or cells improve outcomes, however responses may be limited or side effects may occur. Who will develop RA, get severe disease or respond to current treatments is not known. Studies...

Using photovoice to enhance knowledge exchange and dissemination

The EOLAS programmes are information and learning programmes for people with experience of psychosis and their family members. The programmes have been co-produced and are co-delivered by peer and clinician facilitators in partnership with mental health clinicians. Such service user and family member involvement in the design and...

CHErIsH- KEDS

This CHErIsH-KEDS application has two aims: to increase capacity in translation of research into practice in Ireland and to develop a knowledge exchange strategy for the future roll out of CHErIsH across different settings in primary care. This application builds on the existing study, the CHErIsH study. The CHErIsH study is funded...

How to Use TILDA Data - Webinar, Seminar and Workshop Series

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) was established in 2006 with baseline data collection commencing in 2009. TILDA collects data in a series of data collection waves. The data is collected through a computer-assisted personal interview and a self-completion questionnaire once every two years with a comprehensive health...

Co-Designing, Pre-Testing and Refining an Intervention Programme to Support Parent-Adolescent Communication about Shared Self-Management Responsibilities in Type I Diabetes

This knowledge exchange activity aims to work together with young people with Type 1 Diabetes (TID), parents of young people with TID, professionals (from a range of disciplines e.g. diabetes nurse specialists, psychologists, consultant paediatric endocrinologists) and community advocates (e.g. Diabetes Ireland) to codesign, pre-test...

Collecting and using data about ethnicity in healthcare -a drama

Ireland has a long history of emigration. More recently, we have inward migration. Census 2016 found that 17% of the population were born outside Ireland. This means that there are different minority ethnic groups in our country, in addition the Irish Travellers. The Health Service Executive wants to gather information on the ethnic...

The APART Study Public Participation Initiative for Knowledge Exchange

The APART Study is exploring an important, low-cost intervention that may limit bone loss associated with initiation of antiretroviral therapy to treat HIV. Results from this trial may have significant implications for how HIV is managed both in Ireland and internationally. We will use this KEDS award to develop a research partnership...

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...

TeamTalk: Interactive Resource Hub for Healthcare Teams

Healthcare teams who are interested in improving how they work together to deliver better patient care often struggle to find the time to learn and implement new practices. Teams rarely have the opportunity to attend training courses or other learning events together. This makes it difficult to transfer their newly acquired knowledge...

Working with the Research Community: Training and a Toolkit for Patients & Members of the Public

The PPI Ignite Programme at Trinity College Dublin is focused on building capacity for public and patient involvement in health research, with a particular emphasis on improving the quality of approaches. One of 10 Ignite Partners, the Medical Research Charities Group (MRCG), hosts a Public Patient Involvement (PPI) Shared Learning...

Disseminating, Engaging, and Sharing Knowledge (DESK):patient informed resource for understanding our research

Based on the findings of the research conducted during our HRB Research Leader's Award, the aim of the proposed KEDS project is to effectively disseminate the finding of our research to chronic pain patients and the general public. Sharing research findings with the general public is very important but can be difficult to get right; we...

A Patient Education Programme in Health Research & Innovation

Well informed patients and carers have a key role to play in the design and implementation of person-centered healthcare and research. Whilst patients are eager to have better and safer health products and innovations, they are often unaware of the complex nature of how new health innovations are researched, developed and made...

The patient is part of the answer - don't leave us out in the cold!

This application aims to produce a documentary that explains public and patient involvement in health research to the general public and encourages more people to become involved with researchers. Known as PPI, public and patient involvement means that people who are likely to be affected by research results are directly involved 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"...

Maximising collaboration to expedite positive change in the assessment process that determines physiotherapy students' readiness for independent practice

Assessment of student physiotherapists in the clinical environment is a critical part of their education which determines their readiness for independent clinical practice once qualified. Therefore it has significant implications for patient safety and quality of service delivery. Yet, research and experience highlight many challenges...

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...

"Let's Talk About" Series

Researchers in dementia at NUI Galway are producing important research insights into many aspects of dementia care in Ireland, specifically: resource allocation decision-making; support structures for family carers; and how people with dementia are treated within the care system. The focus is now turning to sharing the results...

Using visual media to communicate complex information

Services in Ireland for people with dementia are poorly developed. The main partnership award aims to (i) describe current dementia services across all sectors and (ii) ask people with dementia, carers, health workers and managers about the ideal level and type of service provision for people with dementia who have different needs and...

Factors influencing decision-making for caesarean section

The rising rate of caesarean section (CS) has become a growing concern worldwide, with limited justification of the rising trend. Understanding the factors that influence the rise in CS is important because obstetricians and midwives are directly involved in the decision to perform a CS and are the key drivers to achieving the remedial...

Enhancing ?The Model for Dementia Palliative Care Project? by targeting potential model users with innovative Knowledge, Transfer and Exchange activities.

This KEDS application will further enhance Knowledge, Transfer and Exchange (KTE) activities arising from 'The Model for Dementia Palliative Care Project', by supporting new connections with key groups, through novel activities and outputs. The active project will develop a new service delivery model for palliative care for people...

What the Researcher and the Dentist want to share, supporting knowledge dissemination

Research is ongoing to monitor the oral health of the Irish population, the uptake of dental services, and targeting of services to specific groups most in need. Results of such research inform policy makers in the Department of Health with respect to issues such as community water fluoridation and recommendations on the use of...

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...

Interact for Health: Increasing integrated knowledge translation capacity for impact

Although the Health Behaviour Change Research Group (HBCRG) has engaged with the HSE Health and Wellbeing (H&W) Division as health partners on a number of activities to date, we believe there is significant potential for enhanced knowledge exchange between these two groups. Additionally, integrated Knowledge Translation (iKT)...

The biology of mood: What brain imaging and genetic studies tell us about Bipolar Disorder

This project aims to translate the known biology of bipolar disorder, enhance the accessibility of the latest discoveries and interpret the meaning and relevance to individuals with bipolar disorder, their families, carers and health professionals that are not research active. To complement the current emphasis on clinical aspects of...

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...

Brain superheroes and villains

We are a group of neuroscientists, funded by the HRB, who aim to test and develop novel drugs for brain related illnesses. We are excited about disseminating the value of work like ours and, in 2012, were delighted to be awarded our first HRB Knowledge Exchange and Dissemination Scheme (KEDS), which consisted of three activities...

Learning about trials - for children, by children

This project will consist of the development of new resources for teaching primary school children (aged 10-12) about why we need trials and how trials work, with a view to being more widely used throughout the trial community. These resources will align with the START (Schools Teaching Awareness of Randomised Trials) Competition,...

Family carer knowledge exchange project

We are interested in how family carers of people with dementia develop and maintain resilience in the care giving role and we are designing a project to help family carers to be more resilient and to better cope with the demands of care giving. As a team of researchers, we have reviewed studies of family carers'experiences in other...

Community exercise

It is recognised that exercise benefits people living with chronic disease. The CRF at St James's Hospital exercise physiology suite is used by research studies examining the role of exercise training for patients with chronic disease. These exercise trials support patients to exercise during structured supervised exercise classes and...

Driving policy with data: A longterm sustainable specialist service for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The JPND-funded project ALS-CarE is coordinated by the Irish partner, and has collected detailed information across 5 different countries about the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patient and caregiver journey from ALS diagnosis through to end of life. In Ireland, we have collected extensive quantitiative and qualitative...

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...

Non-motor symptoms in dystonia and musician's dystonia

Our multidisciplinary Irish Dystonia Research Group, combining the expertise of Bioengineers in Trinity College Dublin and a network of Clinical Neurologists, has been working to determine the cause of a disabling movement disorder, adult onset dystonia, characterised by abnormal postures and excessive muscle activity. The causes of...

Evidence to Support Prevention Implementation and Translation - Knowledge Translation (ESPRIT-KT)

This application adds to a larger HRB Research Leader Award about improving care for people with diabetes in Ireland. The goal of the KEDS project is to connect people who do research with people who make decisions about our national health policy so they can learn from each other and work together to improve the health of the...

Developing a website for public awareness about computer use in aphasia rehabilitation

Aphasia is a language disorder which occurs in 1 in 3 people after stroke. It can impact on a person's ability to produce and understand spoken and written language. People with aphasia have had limited opportunities to have their voices heard within Irish stroke research.



This research project has already engaged...

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...

Speaking Up About Safety (SUAS)

Speaking up about safety concerns is an important aspect of a healthcare professional's role. Our research has shown that in comparison to nurses, junior doctors are particularly poor at speaking up and tend not to report incidents and adverse events, in many cases because they believe it is not their responsibility to do so. Yet, a...

Our voices, our impact

Wave 3 KEDS will build on previous success by recruiting actors with ID to develop DVD and on-line resources comprising scenes that illustrate key IDS-TILDA wave 3 findings. Feedback from wave 3 indicates that participants would like to receive the findings in DVD format and IDS-TILDA wishes to respond to the specific dissemination...

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 LinKT (Linking into Knowledge Translation) project: connecting, integrating and translating evidence to make a difference for families

Increasing evidence highlights the effectiveness of early intervention and prevention parenting interventions for improving the mental health and wellbeing of parents and children in the earliest years. However, these are often complex, difficult to implement effectively and fail to reach the most vulnerable families. Accessible,...

Development of an online cancer genetics educational resource for undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare learners

Genetic testing is becoming cheaper and easier to perform. As such, it is being performed more and more frequently; to help explain why people have developed cancer, or to try to identify genetic changes in their tumours to which novel drugs can be targeted. Genetic testing may also help identify individuals at risk of cancer,...

Pathfinder: Parental information on therapeutic hypothermia followIng neonatal encephalopathy

Neonatal brain injury can have devastating outcomes for the baby and their family and may result in longterm disability. The only treatment available is whole body cooling started within a few hours of birth. Babies also require intensive care to support their lungs, heart and kidneys. We will develop an educational toolkit including...

Let's talk - and act - about adherence in multimorbidity - a teaching and learning resource for general practice

More than half of those over the age of 65 live with more than one chronic condition. This is known as multimorbidity (MM). The prevalence of MM increases with age and is more common in less well off patients. Using muliple medications i.e. polypharmacy, is the norm in MM and many do not take their medications as prescribed i.e....

Cracking the mysteries of cancer immunotherapies - e.courses for oncology healthcare professionals

The new therapies for cancer that target the immune system have revolutionised cancer care in recent times. The treatment of melanoma, leukaemia and other malignancies has been transformed by these immune modulating drugs. However, few oncology clinicians or oncology specialist nurses have backgrounds in immunology or immune...

The stressed brain & depression

Understanding depression is challenging both for professionals and for the public. It is complex and poorly conceptualized. Clinical depression involves biological, psychological and social causes that all contribute to the expression of depression in each individual sufferer. Trauma, especially early in life when body systems are...

CERVIVA: The HPV educate project

The goal of this CERVIVA HPV Educate Project is to provide accurate and reliable information relating to HPV and HPV associated diseases, to create awareness and educate the public, health care professionals and healthcare providers on public health issues related to HPV associated diseases and on the specific research programmes...

Overweight & obesity in Ireland: Translating policy into action

The launch in 2016 of "A healthy weight for Ireland", the Government's National Obesity Policy and Action Plan, 2016-2025 represents an important milestone in Ireland's response to ongoing epidemic of overweight and obesity in children and adults. Researchers in the HRB Centre for Health & Diet (CHDR) generated key evidence which...

Listening to the newborn brain

This outreach programme will provide dedicated public information and education resources on the neonatal brain stethoscope device, which aims to facilitate interrogation of the neonatal brain and improve the quality and accuracy of the diagnosis brain injuries, reduce the stress of parents with babies in the NICU and establish the...

Expert forum to advance the potential of IL-1 family members as novel therapeutics in IBD

Current treatment strategies for Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, are ineffective in a large number of patients. Although the reasons for this are not fully understood, it seems likely to reflect the complex nature of chronic intestinal inflammation. Recent advances in our understanding...

Supporting individuals and organisations involved in implementation of community water fluoridation

The Fluoride And Caring for Children's Teeth (FACCT) study was initiated to determine the effect of the change in water fluoridation policy (2007) on dental caries (tooth decay) and enamel fluorosis (marks on tooth enamel which are associated with fluoride) in Irish children, while also considering the change in policy on the use of...

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...

MRCG support award

The Medical Research Charities Group (MRCG) is the national organization of 35 patient groups and foundations which promote an improved environment for medical research in general and for charities in particular, obtain funding for research projects, bring together organizations working in the field and disseminate the outcomes. Its...

Building research capacity in the maternal health and maternal morbidity in Ireland study: Second baby follow-up, intervention development and testing, and measurement of costs (MAMMI-SIM)

The MAMMI study (Maternal health And Maternal Morbidity in Ireland), Phase 1, is in progress at present. It will identify how often physical/emotional problems occur in women having their first baby in Ireland, what factors cause problems and what treatments might help. Some conditions affect one-third of women just after having a...

Patients'satisfaction in a nurse-led oral chemotherapy clinic

No summary available

Novel immune targets in Multiple Sclerosis

In Multiple Sclerosis Interferonb has been used as a first line treatment regimen for the past 15 years and many patients have shown therapeutic benefit and continue to do so from this 'natural' immune modulator. However, for others interferonb shows no clear therapeutic benefit and we are looking into how to change these patients into...

Hedgehog control of resident vascular stem cell niches

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death for Irish people killing 1 in 3 every year. Most of the problems associated with CVD are due to changes in the structural integrity of the blood vessel wall resulting in obstruction of blood flow that can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Key cells involved in this blockage are...

An investigation of the role of Staphylococcus aureus colonisation of healthcare workers in nosocomial transmission of S. aureus to patients in an MRSA-endemic setting using whole-genome sequencing

Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium that frequently causes serious infections among hospitalised patients. This includes methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) that are readily treatable with antibiotics and the so-called antibiotic resistant "superbug"MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus). MRSA have been widespread in Irish...

Symptom management through self-management: Improving the outcomes of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma

The main aim of this project is to develop a symptom management self care tool for patient with relapsed MM. MM is incurable and as a result of all novel treatments available patients live longer but not always with a exceptional QOL due to symptom burden. It is hoped that this project will result in the formation of a tool which...

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...

Development of a mult-faceted approach to reducing and mitigating the risk of foreign object retention (FOR)

Over 1,000 Irish FOR incidents between 2011 and 2015 represent unnecessary suffering patients, reputational cost/damage to the healthcare service, institution and clinician and financial cost in claims and rework.
FOR is an intractable human factors problem because removing materials after a task is not integrated into the natural...

Application of state of the art raman chemical imaging and chemometrics to accelerate and improve patient prostate biopsy assessment for cancer.

A pathologists' task in assessing a prostate biopsy for cancerous tissue is of prime importance since failure to correctly identify tissue can lead to a failure to accurately diagnose the patient and predict their likely prognosis. Histological staining assists in the assessment of prostate biopsies by making important features of the...

Reducing resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics: A new treatment strategy for MRSA infections

Approximately 5-10% of hospitalised patients acquire an infection in hospital. Serious infections are more likely in intensive care unit (ICU) or high dependency unit (HDU) patients, in whom implanted medical devices are required for life maintaining therapy. Unfortunately such devices also represent an opportunity for pathogens such...

Developing the oncology practice context for pain assessment and pain registration in Ireland: an action research project

Pain is one of the most prevalent symptoms of patients with cancer, which hampers daily activities and quality of life. Systematic pain assessment and documentation using a validated pain assessment tool at each visit in patients with cancer are key recommendations in the most recent clinical practice guidelines on cancer pain...

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...

To determine how the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors (AIs) can be adapted to address the symptom burden for women with breast cancer in the follow up phase of treatment, who are receiving care in the North East of Ireland

No summary available

A comparison of emotion-focused therapy and cognitive-behavioural therapy in the treatment of generalised anxiety disorder.

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is a chronic and debilitating anxiety disorder characterised by excessive worry, anxiety, and somatic symptoms such as tiredness. It is often found alongside other disorders such as depression. Its main features are also important for our understanding of the other anxiety disorders. Alongside...

Building a risk calculator to inform prostate cancer diagnosis

Patients and clinicians are faced with the dilemmas associated with the detection and treatment of Prostate cancer. One such dilemma is in the early stages of diagnosis when men are referred by their GP for suspicion of prostate cancer but it is not clear if they need a biopsy or not. This is because PSA in not specific for prostate...

Irish clinical academic training (ICAT) Programme

WT Scheme: PhD Programme for Clinicians

Ireland's ongoing economic recovery represents a unique opportunity to effect fundamental change in academic medicine that can have lasting societal benefits. We have designed a comprehensive National Programme for Clinician Scientists based at six major Irish universities. Our...

Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF)

These funds will be used to grow and enhance a connected programme of health-related Research, Teaching and Public Engagement in Trinity College. Specific activities will include: (a) seed research support to early stage academics; (b) a programme to stimulate strategic international collaboration and: (c) the creation of a truly...

Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF)

The Wellcome Trust ISSF scheme will help UCD's researchers to overcome systemic barriers to career and network development that will unlock future research potential within the University and beyond. The fund will support outstanding research in biomedical sciences, clinical sciences and the medical humanities that will enable UCD to...

SAFE: Systematic Approach to improving care for Frail Elderly patients

Much recent attention has focused on the problem of older people being treated in overcrowded emergency departments. Studies have clearly demonstrated an association between hospitalisation in older people and poorer outcomes, including loss of independence, admission to long-term care and mortality. Frailty, a state of increased...

Anti-inflammatory therapy for preventing stroke and other vascular events after ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack

To systematically review the randomised clinical trials evaluating anti-inflammatory medications plus standard medical therapy for the prevention of recurrent vascular events after ischaemic stroke / transient ischaemic attack compared with standard medical therapy.

Hybrid repair versus conventional open repair for thoracic aortic arch aneurysms

To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of hybrid technique versus open arch repair in the management of thoracic aortic arch aneurysms.

Membrane sweeping for induction of labour

The objective of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of amniotic membrane sweep for induction of labour in women at term gestation.

Neoadjuvant treatments for malignant and metastatic melanoma

The objective of this review is to assess the effects of neoadjuvant treatments for stage III and IV melanoma in adults. Historically stage III and IV melanoma have been associated with a very poor prognosis, and available treatments have had very little impact on the disease course.Various clinical options have been explored,...

Hospital design for supporting people with dementia and their carers

The relationship between health and wellbeing and the design of the built environment is becoming an important area of research that is bringing together the medical/clinical community with design professionals such as architects and urban planners. Evidence based medicine already underpins good healthcare, however, evidence based...

The Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing Wave 5 and 6 (TILDA)

One of the greatest demographic and social transformations facing Ireland is aging of its population, increased life expectancy and related challenges. Whereas Ireland has one of the youngest populations in the European Union, by 2046 a quarter of our population will be over 65 and the greatest increase will be in those 85 and above...

Interventions for promoting participation in shared decision-making for children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis

To determine the effectiveness of interventions that promote shared-decision making (SDM) for children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis aged 4 to 18 years of age.Shared decision-making (SDM) is defined as a patient centered, collaborative process that enables individuals and their healthcare providers to make decisions together...

Risk prediction models for familial breast cancer: a systematic review

The majority of breast-cancers are sporadic, however, 20-30% are considered familial (occur in the context of a significant family-history of the disease). Women suspected of being at higher risk of breast-cancer than the general-population based on their family-history are frequently referred to a "family-risk" clinic for...

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....

Interventions for supporting pregnant women's decisions about first caesarean delivery

This cochrane review will collate the best available evidence about interventions for supporting pregnant women's decision-making for first caesarean delivery thereby influencing current clinical practice, local and national guidelines. More evidence is needed to support the promotion of informed choice, involving the woman as a...

HRB Collaboration in Ireland for Clinical Effectiveness Reviews (HRB-CICER)

Through the National Clinical Effectiveness Committee (NCEC), the Minister for Health mandates clinical guidelines as National Clinical Guidelines for use in public healthcare in Ireland. The goal of the guidelines is to promote healthcare that is current, effective and consistent, ensuring best outcomes for patients and service users....

Oral hygiene programmes for people with intellectual disabilities

A systematic review will be undertaken of oral hygiene programmes aimed at training and supporting individuals with an intellectual disability and/or their carers about oral hygiene practices which are likely to improve the oral health of people with an intellectual disability in primary and secondary care settings. These programmes...

Uncovering the role of ER-shaping proteins in neurodegenerative disease

WT Scheme: Seed Award in Science

Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) are a group of neurodegenerative disorders characterised by degeneration of the longest motor neurons which leads to muscle weakness and spasticity in the lower limbs. There are currently no treatments to cure or even to slow the course ofthese diseases. In...

Identifying Interventions to prevent and manage chronic kidney disease

WT Scheme: Postdoctoral Training Fellowships for Clinicians

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects almost 500million people worldwide is increasingly prevalent,associated with morbidity and mortality, and interventions (dialysis or transplant) are expensive and unavailable in some regions. Developing programs to reduce CKD...

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...

MRCG interim support award

The Medical Research Charities Group (MRCG) is the national organization of 35 medical research patient-led charities formed to promote dynamic medical research in Ireland. The MRCG works in partnership with key stakeholders, such as the Health Research Board (HRB), to bring added value to the health research landscape. The MRCG is...

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...

Evaluation of the 'pilot implementation of the framework for safe nurse staffing and skill-mix'

Earlier this year, the Department of Health published a document entitled Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix in General and Specialist Medical and Surgical Care Settings in Adult Hospitals in Ireland. In this report the Department made a number of recommendations to ensure that the staffing of hospital wards was safe and...

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...

Modelling of pharmacokinetics into ischemic heart tissue from an implantable, replenishable therapy reservoir

WT Scheme: Seed Award in Science

Precisely controlled delivery of drugs, bioagents and cells directly to the heart has the potential to dramatically improve regenerative cardiac therapy for ischemic heart failure. Likewise, localized therapy delivery to ischemic tissue can increase retention at the target site and reduce...

Perspectives of partners of women who experience mental health issues in the postnatal period

For most families having a baby is a happy occasion. A small number of women, however, suffer from mental health issues following the birth of their baby. Often the womans partner can play an important role in seeking help and supporting the woman and the baby. However, we have very little information on how the partners of women who...

The ExACT Trial

Exercise therapy is a well established, effective treatment for individuals with chronic pain and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a promising new approach in the management of chronic pain. ACT helps people with chronic pain to focus on awareness of personal values and promotes activity that will enhance their quality of...

SDHB and its role in epigenetic alteration in malignant phaeochromocytoma

A phaeochromocytoma (PC) refers to a tumour located on the adrenal gland, which releases adrenaline and similar hormones and causes high blood pressure (in severe cases this may be fatal). When a similar tumour occurs outside of the adrenal gland it is called a paraganglioma (PGL) and can be located anywhere from skull to pelvis....

The Irish kidney gene project - identification and characterisation of novel genetic causes of familial kidney disease

Certain kidney diseases tend to run in families, suggesting that particular genes are inherited from one generation to the next, causing kidney disease. By undertaking a joint training programme between with Trinity College Dublin and Harvard Medical School Boston, I plan to study these families and seek to identify specific genes that...

Use of software and computer technology in aphasia rehabilitation; investigating issues of efficacy, usability and cost effectiveness

Technology can provide an answer for over-stretched health care provision but will service users, particular older adults, actively engage with it? This research will investigate the benefits of a computer programme on language comprehension abilities (i.e. ability to understand spoken sentences) and explore the user experience of...

Development and validation of metric-based training to proficiency for dental implant placement

Common dental diseases such as dental decay (caries) and gum (periodontal) disease can lead to the loss of teeth, which has detrimental effects on patients chewing ability, speech and smile. While retaining teeth for patients is a primary goal for the dental profession, the replacement of teeth when they are lost is an important role...

Characterisation of polyclonal IgG and paraprotein glycosylation in multiple myeloma to investigate structural and functional insights into stage-specific pathologies

Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer characterized by abnormal antibody called paraprotein, produced by the cancerous plasma cells in the bone marrow. Patients develop anaemia (due to bone marrow infiltration by cancerous cells), high calcium, bone destruction, kidney failure and death. Survival has improved since the approval of...

Irish Platform for Patients Organisations Science and Industry

The Irish Platform for Patients' Organisations, Science and Industry (IPPOSI) is a unique organisation in Ireland and abroad. The platform brings together patient groups, scientists, clinicians, industry and other key decision makers to discuss and build consensus on issues relevant to all involved in delivering treatments to people...

Unwrapping the layers of complexity of clinical performance assessment of physiotherapy students and identifying key stakeholders' preferences towards enhancing the process

Clinical performance assessment of health professional students is imperative as it provides a measure of a students readiness to practice within their profession. However, it is widely acknowledged as being inherently problematic. Difficulties reported by clinicians in medicine, nursing, psychology and social work include the...

Caesarean section in nulliparous women: factors influencing decision-making process and outcomes for women- The MAMMI study caesarean section strand

This study will find out the factors, or combination of several factors, that influence the decision to perform a caesarean section (CS) in first-time mothers in Ireland, the health problems women experience in the first year after the birth and what women, midwives and obstetricians believe are the reasons behind the decision to...

Towards personalised therapy in stricturing crohn's disease- exploring and exploiting the role of NADPH oxidase in intestinal fibrosis

Crohn's disease, a member of the family of inflammatory bowel diseases, causes inflammation throughout the digestive tract and frequently results in fibrosis (scarring) of the intestine, which will cause narrowing and ultimately bowel obstruction. Available treatments can dampen the inflammation, but do not prevent fibrosis. It is...

Translational analyses of ingestive behavior after gastric bypass

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) decreases appetite, caloric intake, glycemia, and body weight, all of which are maintained long-term. It is controversial whether, after RYGB, patients choose to eat less highfat and sugary foods in favor of lower energy dense alternatives. If true, this could conceivably contribute to improved glycemia...

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...

Attenuation of exaggerated post-prandial gut hormone response: A novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of excessive weight loss among disease-free post-oesophagectomy patients

There is increasing incidence of cancer of the oesophagus (the gullet or swallowing tube). Improvements to treatment strategies for oesophageal cancer have produced an increasing population of patients who remain free from the disease recurrence in the long-term. Optimising long-term outcomes for these patients after treatment...

The clinical application of immunometabolism to the TB Patient

Recent studies have shown that cells of the immune system change the way that they break down sugars (their metabolism) after they are stimulated, and that this change in metabolism is needed in order to produce specific chemicals (cytokines) that fight infection.
We will study what metabolism changes happen in immune cells from...

Investigating the impact of body composition and nutritional intervention strategies in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the 9th most common cancer in Ireland, and the 5th most common cause of cancer related death. Because of its location deep within the abdomen, patients often present with advanced cancer at the time of diagnosis. The options for treatment are limited as surgery is only suitable for patients who don't have spread of...

Overcoming survival signalling in Multiple Myeloma

Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a blood cancer affecting plasma cells, a type of white blood cell located in the bone marrow. It affects the bones, kidneys and causes patients to have frequent infections. There are approximately 250 new cases diagnosed in Ireland annually. MM is not curable and although the treatment for this condition...

Living with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and Dysphagia -the personal experiences of individuals with MND and their caregivers

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is one of the most progressive diseases of the nervous system, for which there is no cure. It often leads to weakness in the arms, hands and legs, posing difficulties with daily life activities. Throat muscles can also be affected leading to speech and swallowing problems (dysphagia). Dysphagia can be life...

Development of a core set of clinical care provision indicators for non-specialist palliative care in the acute care hospital setting

Palliative care encompasses the support structure around people facing problems associated with life-limiting illness and includes the support of their families, but this is more than end-of-life care, and is viewed as central component of care for people living with limiting illnesses. Palliative care policies in Ireland draw on these...

The OPTIMAL study: A randomized controlled trial and process evaluation of an OccuPaTIonal therapy led self MAnagement support programme for patients with muLtimorbidity in primary care

Many people with chronic disease tend to have more than one chronic condition, referred to as multimorbidity. It is predicted that the number of individuals with multimorbidity is set to increase substantially in the future due to the growing elderly population. Those with multimorbidity experience poor physical function and find it...

Artificial neural networks, genomic data and case-control classification

WT Scheme: Seed Award in Science

Genome wide association studies have now reached the scale where one can hope to extract information relevant to clinical applications and public health. The large and complex nature of current datasets will benefit from new and more powerful methods of analysis. We propose to investigate the...

Sound-based observation of neonatal brain growth and status

WT Scheme: Seed Award in Science

Neurological problems are more likely to happen in the early neonatal period than at any other time of life. 85% of neonatal deaths worldwide occurred in developing countries with neonatal encephalopathy due to the birth asphyxia being one of the major causes of high child mortality. The lack...

Malnutrition in the elderly joint action call

Joint Programming Initiative: Health Diet of a Health Life

The Joint Action "Malnutrition in the Elderly Knowledge Hub" is part of the Strategic Research Agenda of the Joint Programming Initiative "A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life". The general objectives of the Malnutrition in the Elderly Knowledge Hub (MaNuEL) are to extend...

Metabolic reprogramming in innate immunity

WT Scheme: Investigator Award in Science.

Immune cells undergo metabolic reprogramming during activation which directly impacts on their phenotype (1,2). Glycolysis is a key feature of M1 macrophages and Th17 cells, whilst oxidative phosphorylation is more apparent in M2 macrophages and Treg cells. Signals regulated by the...

Integrative genomic, epigenetic and functional studies in diabetic kidney disease

Kidney disease is a common and devastating complication of diabetes, and represents a major public health problem worldwide. The inherited, genetic factors that play a role in determining who will get this complication are beginning to be discovered, creating opportunities to understand the underlying biological basis of diabetic...

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...

ICORG Renewal 2016-2018

In Ireland there are 20,000 new cases of cancer and more than 7,500 cancer deaths each year. A quarter of our annual death toll is cancer related. The number of new cases in the system by 2020 will be 107% of the number in 2000. Since 2005, the HRB has invested in the development of a network of cancer clinical trials in 17 hospitals...

Psychosocial, psychiatric and work-related risk factors associated with suicide in Ireland: Enhancing dissemination and impact of research

The SSIS-ACE study examines how psychosocial, psychiatric and work-related factors relate to suicide. The study involves liaising with family members bereaved by suicide, family members of those who survived a high-risk self-harm act, general practitioners (GPs), emergency department staff, mental health staff and coroners. During the...

Taking the stress out of dementia caregiving

The existing award examines how the caring experience can impact the health of dementia spouse carers. Using this emerging research evidence we will develop two animated films and a dedicated online resource providing easy-to-understand practical advice to carers to improve their quality of life and reduce stress.
FreeDem Films are...

Synthesising and disseminating key lessons from the AIIHPC Palliative Care Research Network

This application for KEDS funding proposes to further enhance knowledge transfer and exchange activities across the SRN/PCRN by conducting a higher level analysis of the dissemination products arising from each individual work project during the final year of the active grant. It is expected that dissemination products will include...

Capnography monitoring for conscious sedation in oral surgery

Capnography has the potential to enhance patients safety in the dental setting. Procedural sedation techniques are specific to each area of medicine where sedation is practiced. Conscious sedation in an out of hospital setting by a non anaesthetist requires robust monitoring. The most important negative side effect of sedation is...

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...

Creating awareness of research in caregiving (CARING)

An increasing number of people in Ireland are providing care for a relative with dementia. This important unpaid work comes with an underappreciated cost to the health of the caregiver. Evidence suggests that dementia caregiving is associated with heightened psychological stress, as well as problems such as depression.
Our...

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...

Brain superheros return

Making new drugs is long, costly and complex, and is often a mystery to many people. Our laboratory is involved in the development of new drugs for brain related illnesses, including illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Multiple Sclerosis. Alongside our research, we conduct a number of outreach projects in the hope of...

Priority setting in uncertainties in trial methodology

Challenges in how clinical trials are designed and conducted are commonly experienced by researchers at different stages of the research process. For example, difficulty in recruiting people to a trial often results in a delay in completing the trial, or difficulty in using the trial results to make informed decisions about clinical...

Thinking outside the box: towards a novel approach to care delivery for young adults with type 1 diabetes

Many young people living with type 1 diabetes struggle with the burden of day-to-day self-management. As a result they often have poor outcomes including the development of life-changing complications. We have formed a partnership between existing diabetes service providers (in Galway University Hospitals), academics in National...

Immunotherapy for the treatment of AMD: a preclinical evaluation

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of central retinal vision loss worldwide. Estimated prevalence of AMD in Ireland is 7% with an annual cost

High quality pre-pregnancy care is essential for women with diabetes

Women with diabetes have an increased risk of pregnancy complications. Many of these complications are due to high glucose levels in the first ten weeks of pregnancy. This means that pregnancy planning and tight glucose control is essential. Pre-pregnancy care is additional clinical care offered to women planning pregnancy. As part of...

Building a self-management programme for living well with and beyond head and neck cancer

We propose to develop a new programme that empowers survivors of head and neck cancer (HNC) to better manage problems associated with their illness and live well with and beyond HNC. This is important because HNC survivors have many documented unmet care needs and can face significant challenges associated with their condition and its...

Behavioural changes in ALS : What families and healthcare professionals need to know

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS ) (or Motor Neuron Disease (MND)) is a rapidly progressive neurodegeneration associated with loss of muscle power. Until recently, thinking and behaviour were considered unaffected, but we have shown that up to 50% of people with ALS/MND experience changes in their ability to plan complex tasks, and...

Evidence based oral healthcare for older adults

The World Health Organisation has highlighted the paucity of research into the oral health needs of older adults. The Health Research Board has recognised this and have funded a number of studies in recent years addressing this topic. Unfortunately there is a delay between the completion of studies and the publication of results in...

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...

SOLAS.net: Development and pilot implementation of an e-learning physiotherapist training programme for self-management of chronic musculoskeletal pain in primary care

As part of the original award, an evidence-supported group treatment approach for clients with persistent musculoskeletal pain termed SOLAS: Self-management of Osteoarthritis and Low back pain through Activity and Skills was developed. Also, a two day face-to-face physiotherapist training programme was developed and delivered to HSE...

Applying health: Using healthcare technology to enhance the delivery of rehabilitation programmes in cancer survivors

Recovery following oesophageal cancer (cancer of the food pipe) can be challenging. Cancer rehabilitation, which may involve exercise, advice from a dietitian, education or other therapeutic interventions, can help patients make an optimal recovery. The research team is currently investigating the effect of a 12 week rehabilitation...

Irish Dystonia Research Group: Innovation through collaboration

Our research group of Irish consultant neurologists (with an interest in movement disorders) and laboratory based scientists (engineers in the Department of Neural Engineering in Trinity College Dublin) have been involved in finding the cause(s) of a movement disorder which affects about 600-800 individuals in Ireland. This...

Enhancing awareness of the socio-economic impact of inherited blindness

In Ireland, many devastating diseases have an inherited cause and are passed onto further generations. Blindness due to inherited degeneration of the retina at the back of the eye is an excellent case-study with which to explain the basis of inherited disease, the socio-economic impact and the research required to generate new...

Enhancing awareness of blindness resulting from diabetes. Understanding treatments & preventative interventions

In Ireland, Diabetic Retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness. The number of people becoming blind due to diabetes is set to rapidly increase as the "diabetes epidemic" unfolds. In general, there is a lack of awareness as to the social, economic and health impact of diabetic blindness.
Here, we generate short 3D-animations that...

Baby steps towards STRIDER: support, website, information, dissemination, exchange

This outreach programme will provide a dedicated public information and education resources on intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and the STRIDER clinical trial, which aims to improve outcomes of pregnancies affected by IUGR with sildenafil citrate (Viagra). It will provide support to women and their partners experiencing IUGR by...

Promoting positive mental health messages for the older population: The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) films

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) offers unique data on the challenges associated with ageing and how these can affect mood as we age: grief, retirement, poorer physical health. We have demonstrated that mood may be affected by loss of support networks such as adult children moving abroad. Over 10% of the older Irish...

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) hypertension seminars for health professionals in primary and community care practice

In April 2015 the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) published research, funded through the active award, which indicates that approximately two thirds of older Irish adults have high blood pressure and close to half of them are unaware of their condition. High blood pressure is an important risk factor for heart disease and...

A web-based resource and community of practice (CoP) to transform practices around 'talking about epilepsy'

This knowledge exchange and dissemination (KED) initiative proposes to develop a variety of educational and informative resources using different technological media (audio, video and e-authoring tools) which will be delivered online in a designated website to support the translation of research evidence on childhood epilepsy...

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...

Innovative dissemination of IDS-TILDA Wave 2 - Advancing years, different challenges

The IDS-TILDA study is designed to better understand experiences and challenges for adults with an intellectual disability (ID) as they age. 753 persons aged 40+ started in the study. There have been two waves of data collection, with waves three years apart and 94% of people who answered at Wave one participated again at Wave two. We...

Development of The STOP-HF network for community based prevention of Heart Failure

STOPHFnet will create a virtual community of practice which will utilize the results of research from our HRB funded Natural History of Diabetic Cardiomyopathy grant to allow rapid dissemination to general practitioners in the community. This is particularly timely as diabetes will for the first time be nationally managed by GPs under...

Understand my pain: Educational tools for chronic pain

Based on the findings of the research during our HRB ICE award, we will develop two educational tools.
Activity A will involve the creation of a free video that explains how chronic pain impacts on children and their families. This activity is vital based on our new understanding of the numbers of primary school children who live...

Development and launch of Irish guidelines on the management of Helicobacter pylori Infection

Helicobacter pylori infection is a public health issue. It remains one of the most common infections in adults in Ireland and is the primary cause of stomach ulcers and stomach cancers. Our recent findings have indicated that the eradication rate for standard first-line triple therapy for H. pylorihas fallen to unacceptable levels....

ICORG communications manager

2016 will mark the 20th anniversary of ICORG's formation. There are a range of public engagement activities on the agenda but in order to co-ordinate them ICORG will need an in-house communications function.
Activities will include;
1. Short documentary-style videos on patient experience, innovative research activities and new...

Development of an online training and accreditation resource for a novel outcome assessment tool in high risk infants: the Babyscreen app

The HRB funded BiHiVE2 study has focused on predicting long term learning disability in children following birth related brain injury. Unfortunately there are, currently, no reliable methods of assessing learning ability in children at a young age. Current developmental assessments focus on developmental milestones. They are not true...

Thrombosis risk in pregnancy: what you need to know

Venous thromboembolism (VTE; deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) remains a leading cause of death in pregnant and recently delivered women. Surviving mothers may have long-term disability. If VTE risk factors are identified, then preventative measures may be put in place . These interventions can be potentially life-saving....

Translating critical care research into clinical practice

We are currently funded by the HRB to conduct clinical trials to determine which treatments may help patients who are critically ill. We have recently completed important research and the results will be published in a highly regarded medical journal in October. However it can take a long time between publication and improvements in...

Towards increased awareness and understanding of the risk of thrombosis in gynaecological cancers

All cancers are associated with an increased risk of clots to the legs and lungs however gynaecological cancers have a particularly high risk. Clots can occur after surgery or during chemotherapy and can be life threatening if they are not treated in time. A recent survey of patients who suffered a clot during their cancer journey...

What is Alpha-1?

Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (Alpha-1) is a genetic disorder that affects the lungs. Typically people with Alpha-1 present with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or severe asthma. Ireland has one of the highest rates of AATD in the world. 1 in 25 Irish people are carriers for the condition and are at risk of lung disease,...

Cancer immunology research saves lives: Find Out

The treatment of cancer is being revolutionised by cancer immunology. However cancer immunology is poorly understood by healthcare workers, patients and the general public. Here, in collaboration with the Irish Cancer Society (ICS), we aim to use the expertise and discoveries generated by HRB and ICS funded research projects to...

DEDIPAC Ireland: National one day symposium on determinants of diet and physical activity

DEDIPAC (Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity; Knowledge Hub to integrate and develop infrastructure for research across Europe) is a collaborative European project, where Irish researchers play a major role in defining and understanding dietary and activity factors that influence health.
The aim of this application is to...

Happy mothers...happy babies

Pregnancy is the highest risk period in a woman's life for developing clinical depression. Depression and anxiety during pregnancy are common experiences. Women are usually anxious about the pregnancy and the delivery, about how they will cope with motherhood and the impact of the changes that having a baby will make on their lives. We...

CERVIVA: Making connections and creating impact

The goal of CERVIVA's education and outreach programme is to create awareness, inform and effectively engage the public, health care professionals and healthcare providers on public health issues related to HPV associated diseases and on the specific research programmes underway within CERVIVA, which are addressing some of these...

Diet, health and sustainability - narrowing the gap between what we know and what we do

Knowledge translation in the area of diet and health is challenging due to the range of vested interests in the food sector and the contested discourse on food, diet and health among policy makers, practitioners, media and the general public. There is considerable agreement on key food policy measures open to government with potential...

A user-friendly database of genetic dependencies in cancer

A major challenge in cancer therapeutics is to kill tumour cells without harming other cells in the body. One means to achieve this is to exploit the genetic changes that distinguish cancer cells from normal cells and that may leave them vulnerable to targeted treatments.
A promising approach to developing such targeted treatments...

Together against HIV: raising awareness and knowledge through documented real-life experiences and research discovery

There were approximately 2 million new HIV infections and 1.5 million HIV-related deaths worldwide in 2013, demonstrating the need for educational campaigns that raise awareness and prevent its spread. Current treatments suppress HIV, but do not totally clear it; however, a significant proportion of society believe these drugs cure...

Progressing universal health care: informing citizens by pooling and disseminating research and generating debate

There is little informed public discussion and debate around Universal Healthcare (UHC) in Ireland. There is also much confusion in political discourse between UHC and universal health insurance notwithstanding a recent policy shift towards UHC. This KEDS project aims to build on the Pathways to UHC research by educating the public...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...