Individual projects will conduct research on topics that include immune function in obesity, personalised exercise rehabilitation in cancer survivorship, psychosis and more. A full list of all the successful awards is available further below.

Dr Mairead O’Driscoll, Chief Executive at the Health Research Board, said:

“The ILP scheme illustrates the HRB’s commitment to support high-quality investigator-led research. We want to create new internationally relevant knowledge that will help to address major health challenges in society. And we want to make a positive impact on tomorrow’s health care.”

This latest round of funding brings the total number of grants supported under this scheme in the past 5 years to 56 awards with a combined value of €20.6 million.

Commenting on his award, Dr Andrew Hogan from Maynooth University, who will conduct research on targeting iron to boost immune function in obesity and improve patient outcomes, said;

“The HRB’s ILP scheme has been critical for our group to lead internationally important research into one of the major global healthcare challenges that exists today, namely obesity. This award will allow us to continue to increase our understanding of this complex disease and investigate novel interventions to help improve outcomes for our patients.”

Dr Emer Guinan, from Trinity College Dublin, who leads the Personalised Exercise Rehabilitation in Cancer Survivorship (PERCS) 2.0 project, highlighted the significance of her award:

“Exercise is a critical intervention for supporting patients during and after cancer treatment. With 200,000 people living with and beyond cancer in Ireland, it is important to connect patients to the right level of exercise or rehabilitation service to meet their individual needs.

HRB funding for PERCS 2.0 will develop a cost-effective implementation strategy for the PERCS exercise triage and referral system, providing an international exemplar of a national approach to translating personalised exercise services into cancer care.”

Dr Anne Cody, Head of Investigator-Led Grants, Research Careers and Enablers at the Health Research Board (pictured) also added:

“In recognition of the rising costs of research, the maximum budget per grant has been increased in this round. We did not want to compromise on our aspirations for these grants.”

The 29 successful investigator-led projects were selected by an international panel of experts following a rigorous application process.

As a matter of course, a public review was undertaken alongside the scientific peer review to assess whether the research is in the best interests of the patient or the general health of the population. Successful projects were selected based on their scientific quality and innovation, potential impact, and feasibility.

Each project will be funded for a maximum of four years.  The ILP is the HRB’s largest award scheme.  The next round is expected to open around August 2025.

ENDS

*Details of the successful 29 awards, listed by Host Institution, including press contacts are available below.

Investigator-led Projects 2024 – List