The Health Research Board (HRB) is one of a number of funding bodies involved in this unique initiative, which has been working to increase collaborative R&D among researchers and industry across the Republic of Ireland (RoI), Northern Ireland (NI) and the US since 2006. This year, a total of seven awards are set to support more than 60 research positions across 14 institutions over three to five years. Health research is a core thematic area for investment, with the Irish components of research projects in this area co-funded by the HRB and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).

Commenting on the awards, HRB Chief Executive Dr Mairéad O’Driscoll said: “Health research makes a real difference to people’s lives. We’ve seen how the recent pandemic has sparked huge public interest in both health and research. The HRB plays an essential role in advancing research, and is committed to supporting highly innovative international collaboration through the US-Ireland R&D Programme. I welcome the announcement of these new awards, which will generate health benefits in Ireland and internationally.”

The two health research projects being supported by the initiative address vital issues in neuroscience and aging and epigenomics respectively. 

University College Dublin’s Professor Simon Kelly will partner with Ulster University (NI) and Columbia University New York and Northwell-Hofstra School of Medicine (US) to lead a project seeking to identify the underlying neural mechanisms of decision-making in order to understand a core element of both normal and abnormal cognition. 

Professor Rose-Anne Kenny of Trinity College Dublin will lead a project in partnership with Queen’s University Belfast (NI) and University of South California (US) that aims to identify new links between lifetime social and behavioural circumstances, epigenetic clocks and subsequent physical health and cognitive function outcomes in people aged over 50 years.

For more information on the programme and a full list of awards in this initiative, visit https://www.sfi.ie/funding/funding-calls/us-ireland-rd-partnership/.

About the US Ireland R&D Partnership Programme 

The US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership is a unique initiative involving funding agencies across three jurisdictions: United States of America, Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland.

The overall goal of the Partnership is to increase the level of collaborative R&D amongst researchers and industry across the three jurisdictions. This collaboration aims to generate valuable discoveries and innovations which are transferable to the marketplace, or will lead to enhancements in health, disease prevention or healthcare.

The partner agencies in the Republic of Ireland are Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the Health Research Board (HRB) and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). It is facilitated by the National Science Foundation (NSF), US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), within the US Department of Agriculture in the USA. In Northern Ireland, the Health & Social Care R&D Division (HSC R&D), the Department for the Economy (DfE), and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) are partners.