The first part of this PQ has been referred to the HSE for direct response.
As the lead funding agency for health and social care research, the HRB operates through a combination of project and programme grants, capacity building initiatives, collaborative research networks and infrastructure investment. The HRB awards funding in the region of approximately €60 million each year following international peer review and open competitive calls. Only those grant applications deemed excellent are considered for funding. The HRB funds research performing organisations across the island of Ireland to conduct high quality research, and the HRB partners with national, EU and international funding partners to leverage resources and to advance projects with shared goals. The HRB actively participates in EU trans-national programmes, providing opportunities for the Irish research community and leveraging EC co-funding.
The HRB does not typically issue calls restricted to specific disease conditions but considers submissions from the research community in any and all areas of clinical research, population health sciences and health services and policy research. In this way, there are ongoing opportunities, modes and instruments for applicants from all disciplines, career stages and areas of health/diseases to compete for funding, including research on brain cancer and clinical trials.
In a small number of instances, the HRB has developed and run targeted research calls. Examples include investment in cancer clinical trials infrastructure and trial networks aligned with the National Cancer Strategy and the Ireland-Northern Ireland Cancer Consortium.
Figures are provided for brain cancer research funded by the HRB in the last ten years, based on responses to open competitive calls, and an overview of clinical trials supported by HRB in this area.
HRB EXPENDITURE ON BRAIN CANCER RESEARCH
The total amount of HRB funding that was expended on brain cancer research based on responses to competitive calls between 2015 and 2026 (to date) is approximately €1.9M, across eight grants, as captured in the table below.
GRANTS FUNDED BY HRB
|
Funding Scheme
|
Year Awarded
|
Ref
|
PI
|
HI
|
Title
|
Amount Awarded
|
|
Investigator-led projects
|
2024
|
ILP-POR-2024-045
|
Dr Ailish Malone
|
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
|
Enhancing health, function and participation through rehabilitation for children and young people, and their families, after childhood brain tumours (the Brain-Restore Youth study)
|
€428,692
|
|
European Research Area- Transcan 3
|
2023
|
ERA-TRANSCAN-2022-002
|
Professor Jochen Prehn
|
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
|
Tackling tumor heterogeneity and PLASTIcity as resistance mechanisms in Glioblastoma
|
€369,833
|
|
European Research Area- Transcan 3
|
2023
|
ERA-TRANSCAN-2022-003
|
Dr David Finlay
|
Trinity College Dublin
|
Metabolically optimised NK cell therapies for Glioblastoma
|
€369,880
|
|
HRB-Health Research Charities Ireland Joint Funding Scheme
|
2022
|
HRCI-HRB-2022-021
|
Professor Kathleen Bennett
|
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
|
Surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, but now what? Exploring the rehabilitation needs of people with brain tumours in Ireland
|
€344,766
|
|
Investigator-led projects
|
2022
|
ILP-POR-2022-007
|
Professor Annette Byrne
|
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
|
Interrogation of novel Glioblastoma Subtypes towards an improved Precision Medicine Approach for Brain Tumour Patients
|
€369,998
|
|
Summer student scholarships
|
2025
|
SS-2025-033
|
Ms Ksenija Agafonova
|
Trinity College Dublin
|
Assessing the role of GPR55 in brain tumour related epilepsy.
|
€3200
|
|
Summer student scholarships
|
2017
|
SS-2017-083
|
Ms Charmi Dholakia
|
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
|
FASN promotes cancer cell survival in Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer Brain Metastasis
|
€2000
|
|
Knowledge Translation Awards
|
2024
|
KTA-2024-034
|
Professor Kathleen Bennett
|
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
|
BRAIN-Restore: Rehabilitation needs of people with brain tumours in Ireland
|
€34,470
|
CLINICAL TRIALS FUNDED BY HRB
• The conduct of clinical trials is different from all other types of health research. Clinical trials require access to specialised facilities, skills, coordination services and supports and they are typically highly regulated.
• The Health Research Board (HRB) as the leading funder of health research in Ireland has been driving the growth of clinical trials in Ireland and putting in place the supporting research infrastructure with the overall aim of facilitating clinical trials in Ireland that can benefit patients, the healthcare system, and the economy. Facilities are located at hospital sites to enable the conduct of trials and intervention studies, to provide specialist support services and to link with national clinical trials network.
• In 2021, the HRB made new five-year grants for cancer clinical trials infrastructure across the country totalling €21.6M, taking into account regional, national and international developments in healthcare and in cancer research and innovation.
• This investment sought to build on previous investments of over €70 million to build and enhance the capacity of hospitals with significant cancer services to conduct high-quality clinical trials of cancer therapies in an all-island context, aligned with goals and targets set out in the National Cancer Strategy and broader Government research and innovation goals.
• The investment of €21.6M between 2022-2026 supported six Cancer Clinical Trials Groups (including one on behalf of a (distributed) Radiation Oncology Group) (€14.3M), working collectively and synergistically through a National Cancer Clinical Trials Network (€7.3M).
• HRB investment in the National Cancer Clinical Trials Network that is hosted by Cancer Trials Ireland and the Cancer Clinical Trials Groups enables funding of studies across different areas of cancer.
