Dr Finnian Hanrahan
Scientific Programme Manager, Research Centres, Research Ireland
Investment in research and innovation is helping to deliver more personalised treatments, improved outcomes and better patient care.
Behind every advance in patient care is a research journey. Whether it’s faster diagnosis, more personalised treatment or a better understanding of a patient’s needs, research provides the evidence and innovation that drive progress in healthcare. Across the Research Ireland Centres and wider research ecosystem, this work is helping transform how patients are diagnosed, treated and supported.
Precision medicine in practice
FutureNeuro, Research Ireland Centre for Translational Brain Science, is an example of this impact. FutureNeuro is leading a clinical trial with Danish company UNEEG Medical in evaluating a small, implanted device capable of continuously monitoring brain activity for up to 36 months. By capturing information that traditional tests can miss, the technology has the potential to improve epilepsy diagnosis, support more personalised treatment decisions and reduce the need for lengthy hospital stays.
FutureNeuro is also helping bring precision medicine into routine care. Through advanced genetic testing, hundreds of patients have received definitive diagnoses for neurological conditions. These diagnoses have led to major changes in treatment or access to clinical trials that wouldn’t have been available, delivering profound benefits for patients and families.
Innovation in healthcare achieves its greatest impact
when patients are partners in the research process
Patients as partners
In Research Ireland Centres, patients help shape the research from the outset. This patient-centred philosophy can be seen across the Research Ireland portfolio. At CÚRAM Research Ireland Centre for Medical Devices, patient engagement helped identify pain and odour as priorities in wound care, directly informing the development of new solutions.
Innovation in healthcare achieves its greatest impact when patients are partners in the research process, helping ensure discoveries translate into meaningful improvements in care and quality of life.
Research Ireland continues to invest in research and innovation at scale. The recently launched €460m funding for the Rinn Network includes new centres focused on medical devices, the production of patient-centric medicines, connected and digital health and cell and gene therapies. Through these efforts, the focus remains the same: supporting research that not only advances scientific knowledge, but changes how patients are cared for and improves lives.
