The problem

Health charities may not be able to afford research to help the patient communities they represent, particularly small charities and those representing rare diseases.  

The project

Health Research Charities Ireland (HRCI), the national umbrella organisation of charities active in health, medical and social care research, represents more than one million people in Ireland. Through a joint funding scheme with the HRB, HCRI facilitates co-funding for charities to support projects of up to €300,000 (over one to three years), thereby encouraging public participation in the research.

The outcomes
  • 134 research projects have been jointly funded by HCRI member charities and the HRB across 10 rounds
  • Around €13 million has been granted by the HRB, which has been matched by the charities to support the research
  • The scheme has benefitted Ireland’s participation in rare diseases research, including in areas such as cystic fibrosis and various forms of blindness and rare cancers, as well as supporting research into many more common conditions.

Dr Avril Kennan, CEO of HCRI, says:

“The joint funding scheme has been a huge success. We are not aware of any other scheme like it in the world and we have charities in the UK now looking at the model. The uniqueness is that the focus of the research is driven by the charities. They open the call and determine what their patient communities need and how research can meet those needs. It really is public and patient involvement in action, and the research findings have strong relevance to Ireland.”

‘HRCI-HRB joint funding enables health charities to do research’ is part of a wider collection of success stories across four themes from this year’s annual Health Research in Action. Download the full publication.