Published:
Health Research Board invests €7.6 million in new projects
Two new schemes will support 15 projects which range from topics like resource allocation in dementia care, to whether aspirin can help control diabetes in early pregnancy.
‘Findings from these projects have the potential to make a big impact on patient care and patient outcomes, in a relatively short space of time’, says Dr Mairead O’Driscoll, Interim Chief Executive at the Health Research Board.
‘Through these awards, the HRB is delivering on two key goals in our strategy. Firstly, to boost clinical trial activity in Ireland and secondly, to encourage partner driven research that addresses research questions which are directly relevant to the needs of our health service’.
The full list of awards and successful principal investigators is available below.
The awards come from two new HRB schemes that have been tailored to deliver on precise aspects of the HRB strategy 2016-2020.
The Definitive Intervention and Feasibility Award scheme is designed to boost research activity in clinical trials and interventions. It builds on a series of previous HRB investments that have put in place the facilities, the support staff and the research networks that are necessary to conduct clinical trials research to international standards.
There were ten awards made in this scheme, with a total value of €6.7 million. Five of these awards are major ‘definitive intervention’ projects with a combined value of €4.3 million. The other five are smaller ‘feasibility studies’ which are designed to provide a pipeline for research that could go on to form future full-scale definitive interventions.
The Applied Partnership Award scheme aims to encourage a partnership-based, co-funding approach to nationally relevant research topics. A key requirement is to build a consortium of key partners in order to optimize the likelihood of the research evidence being applied into practice and / or policy.
Five awards were made under this scheme with a total HRB investment of €898,721.
A second round of this call is open for applications until the 15 September 2017. (See full scheme details at http://www.hrb.ie/research-strategy-funding/open-grants-and-fellowships/)
‘With these schemes, we’ve put our thinking caps on’, says Dr O’Driscoll. ‘We want to fund excellent research that meets the needs of the Irish health and social care system, both now and into the future and we’re delighted with the quality of applications from the community’.
If you want to know more about any individual project, you should contact the press office at the Principal Investigator’s host institution.
ENDS
For further information about the awards schemes or the HRB in general, contact:
Gillian Markey, HRB t +01 2345103, m +085 2288514, e gmarkey@hrb.ie
List of awards made:
Definitive Intervention and Feasibility Award Scheme.
Definitive Interventions
Targeted therapeutic mild hypercapnia after resuscitated cardiac arrest: A phase-III multi-centre randomized controlled trial.
Principal Investigator: Professor Alistair Nichol, University College Dublin.
Award value: €999,995
Community Risk-based monitoring for Atrial Fibrillation Trial (CRAFT).
Principal Investigator: Professor Martin O'Donnell, National University of Ireland, Galway.
Award value: €886,526
Low molecular weight heparin to prevent recurrent venous thromboembolism in pregnancy: a randomized trial of two doses: the HIGHLOW study.
Principal Investigator: Professor Fionnuala Ni Ainle, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Award value: €657,750
Colchine for prevention of vascular inflammation in non-cardioembolic stroke - a randomised clinical trial of low-dose colchicine for secondary prevention of stroke. Northern Europe extension.
Principal Investigator: Professor Peter J Kelly, University College Dublin.
Award value: €999,844
A randomized placebo-controlled trial of low-dose aspirin initiated in the first trimester for optimising pregnancy outcome in pregestational diabetes.
Principal Investigator: Professor Fionnuala Breathnach, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Award value: €796,389
Feasibility Awards
Feasibility of an intervention to improve attendance for diabetic retinopathy screening.
Principal Investigator: Dr Sheena McHugh, University College Cork.
Award value: €243,393
The SEA-CHANGE study: a pilot randomised controlled trial of the SElfmanagement After Cancer of the Head And Neck Group intervention.
Principal Investigator: Professor Pamela Gallagher, Dublin City University.
Award value: €349,804
Reducing caesarean section rates in Ireland: a feasibility study and pilot randomised trial of an evidence-based intervention designed to reduce unnecessary caesarean section.
Principal Investigator: Professor Cecily Begley, Trinity College Dublin.
Award value: €558,689
Improving outcomes for young adults with type 1 diabetes in Ireland: the D1 now feasibility and cluster randomised pilot study.
Principal Investigator: Professor Sean Dinneen, National University of Ireland, Galway.
Award value: € 679,255
We Can Quit2: A cluster randomised pilot trial of a community-based smoking cessation intervention for women in disadvantaged areas of Ireland.
Principal Investigator: Professor Catherine Hayes, Trinity College Dublin.
Award value: €560,468
Applied Partnership Awards
Enhancing doctors' engagement with regulation of professional competence.
Principal Investigator: Dr Deirdre Bennett, University College Cork.
Award value: €198,800
What influences cervical screening uptake in older women and how can screening programmes translate this knowledge into behaviour changing strategies? A CERVIVA-CervicalCheck co-production project.
Principal Investigator: Professor John O'Leary, Trinity College Dublin.
Award value: €99,973
The utility of high-tech drug analysis to the decision maker.
Principal Investigator: Professor Cathal Walsh, University of Limerick.
Award value: €199,998
Resource allocation, priority-setting and consensus in dementia care in Ireland.
Principal Investigator: Professor Eamon O'Shea, National University of Ireland, Galway.
Award value: €199,980
Longitudinal profiling of adverse events in Irish hospitals and provision of a standardised assessment tool to the Irish healthcare system: the INAES-2 study.
Principal Investigator: Professor David Williams, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Award value: €199,970