Posted on: 05 July 2006
An initiative led by Trinity College’s Professor of Clinical Medicine, Professor Dermot Kelleher, for a major clinical research centre at St James’s Hospital and a cross-city clinical research network has been awarded multi-million euro funding by the Wellcome Trust and Health Research Board (HRB). In a highly competitive bid by academic institutions in the UK and Ireland, Professor Kelleher’s successful proposal was awarded the multi-million grant.
The new clinical research centre will provide access to the latest advances in diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer, neuropsychiatric disorder and infectious diseases. It will also connect with new and emerging facilities at other Dublin teaching hospitals through the establishment of a citywide clinical research network coordinated by the Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre, which is being established to help ensure a greater number of patients can benefit from clinical research in the most cost effective manner.
Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney TD, commended Professor Dermot Kelleher on his outstanding contribution and achievement in securing the multi-million award. “This investment is a major boost for clinical research and patient care in Ireland and it will provide a world-class environment for patient focused research with real benefits for health,” said the Tánaiste.
“It will provide a means for clinicians, the health care industry and other key partners to test innovative therapies, technologies and products and increase the speed at which scientific discoveries and innovations can be translated into improved patient care,” she said.
The HRB/Wellcome award to the Irish researchers’ proposal is a mark of international excellence for Irish clinical science. The Wellcome Trust competition was open to all academic institutions in Britain and Ireland and on selecting the Irish proposal, the Trust’s international scientific advisory committee described it as outstanding and recommended that it should be supported as a priority.
The proposal which was headed by Trinity College’s principal investigator, Professor Dermot Kelleher, in collaboration with senior researchers from the three Dublin medical schools at Trinity College, UCD and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and their affiliated teaching hospitals, was coordinated through the Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre (DMMC). The new clinical research centre will be built at St James’s Hospital, a teaching hospital of Trinity College, in 2009.
According to Professor Kelleher, research programmes linked to the new clinical research centre will be based around existing strengths at Trinity College’s teaching hospital at St James’s in three main areas: neuropsychiatric disease, cancer as well as infection and immunity. “The new facility will allow the translation of such research into real tangible clinical benefits for patient care,” said Professor Kelleher.
The new network of citywide research will allow the development of large scale clinical studies to be performed at an international level. “Irish clinical science is set to be invigorated and transformed through this new facility’s unique collaboration between clinical and basic scientists, creating a new generation of medical scientists,” concluded Professor Kelleher.
“This is one of the most significant developments in Irish health research in decades,” said HRB’s Chief Executive, Dr Ruth Barrington.
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