Projects at Irish institutions will cover topics including obesity, psychosis and exercise rehabilitation
Almost 30 investigator-led research projects in Ireland are to receive a total of €12.4 million from the Health Research Board.
The 29 projects fall under three overarching themes: patient-oriented research, population health research and health services research.
Individual topics include psychosis, immune function in obesity and personalised exercise rehabilitation in cancer survivorship.
‘Internationally relevant knowledge’
“The Investigator-Led Projects scheme illustrates the Health Research Board’s commitment to support high-quality investigator-led research,” said Mairéad O’Driscoll, chief executive of the HRB.
“We want to create new internationally relevant knowledge that will help to address major health challenges in society, and we want to make a positive impact on tomorrow’s healthcare.”
According to the HRB, the Investigator-Led Projects scheme aims to support highly innovative and internationally competitive projects that can respond to existing and emerging challenges for health and social care. Other objectives include adding to the knowledge base at an international level and supporting research that will lead to improved visibility and standing for Ireland and Irish researchers.
Award will ‘help improve outcomes’
This latest round of funding brings the total number of grants supported under the scheme in the past five years to 56, with a combined value of €20.6m.
Commenting on his award, Andrew Hogan at Maynooth University, who will conduct research on targeting iron to boost immune function in obesity and improve patient outcomes, said the scheme was enabling his group to lead internationally important research into obesity, one of the major global healthcare challenges.
“This award will allow us to continue to increase our understanding of this complex disease and investigate novel interventions to help improve outcomes for our patients.”
The 29 successful projects were selected by an international panel of experts. “As a matter of course, a public review was undertaken alongside the scientific peer review to assess whether the research is in the best interests of the patient or the general health of the population,” the HRB said.
Successful projects were then selected based on their scientific quality and innovation, potential impact and feasibility.
Budget increase
The 2024 round provides funding of up to €330,000 in direct costs—exclusive of overheads—per award. The overheads contribution is added by HRB staff during the contracting stage, and the maximum total award including the overheads contribution is €430,000.
“In recognition of the rising costs of research, the maximum budget per grant has been increased in this round,” said Anne Cody, head of investigator-led grants, research careers and enablers at the HRB. “We did not want to compromise on our aspirations for these grants.”
Each project is funded for a maximum of four years. This is the HRB’s largest award scheme and the next round is expected to open around August 2025.
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