Health Research Board invests €9m in huge research initiative which will create 22 new research jobs

3 of the 6 HRB Research Leaders for Ireland are based in NUI Galway. Professor Ciaran O’Neill, Dr Molly Byrne and Dr Brian Maguire have been chosen as research leaders to deliver relevant and timely evidence that can be used in health care decision-making and are designed in consultation with leading healthcare decision makers.

The Health Research Board (HRB) has appointed six new HRB Research Leaders as part of an €9 million investment to address strategic gaps and leadership capacity in population health and health services research in Ireland.

Many of the research programmes are addressing areas which have traditionally been under-funded, but are crucial, such as health economics and biostatistics. All the research leaders will create a solid foundation of expertise and evidence to deliver better health, reduced health care costs and new approaches to care that benefit patients, care providers and the economy.

President of NUI Galway Dr Jim Browne congratulated Professor Ciaran O’Neill, Dr Molly Byrne and Dr Brian Maguire and said ‘this is a significant investment by the HRB to ensure that the work carried out by our research leaders helps society by helping decision makers make better choices. NUI Galway is focused on ensuring that our research improves the world around us through discovery and innovation, further education and greater choice.’

Teresa Maguire, Head of Population Health and Health Services Research at the HRB says ‘The HRB Research Leaders Awards are a significant investment to ensure that our health research community in Ireland are in a position to provide strong research and evidence in relation to current, emerging and often complex challenges in healthcare that of concern to decision makers, practitioners and policy makers.

This funding for leaders at a senior level complements other investments made by the HRB in the last four years at early and mid-career level. The awards will also create 22 new research jobs as the HRB Research Leaders grow their existing teams to support the work programmes’.

The six new HRB Research Leaders will deliver research programmes which will: -

• Develop an internationally recognised research group focusing on the design and evaluation of effective behavioural interventions that will improve our health.
• Focus on the need to maximise prevention and treatment strategies for the increasing numbers living with chronic conditions such as diabetes.
• Assess the impact of online psychological interventions for people with multiple illnesses including chronic pain.
• Improve the national infrastructure to be able to accurately count and compare the costs and cost effectiveness of non-acute health services in Ireland.
• Assess the costs and benefits of personalised healthcare interventions to assist decision making in a time of resource constraints.
• Use mathematical modelling and statistical techniques to interrogate large health information datasets to improve decision making in relation to provision of health care interventions.

-ends-