Ireland’s Health Research Board awards €1.2M to UL researchers

University of Limerick (UL) researchers have been awarded over €1.2 million funding by Ireland’s Health Research Board. The funding will support health research focused on; primary care reform in Ireland; avoidance of adverse outcomes in vascular surgery; dealing with the progression of chronic kidney disease and enhancing physical activity for multiple sclerosis patients. The overarching aim of the research is to improve patient care and health outcomes.

Dr Mary Shire, Vice President Research, UL said; “Health research at the University of Limerick has the patient at its center. We are working in partnership with health service providers, community organisations and industry to enhance the health of Irish people and support the adoption of innovative approaches to health services delivery. This HRB funding is an important validation of the significance this research has for patient care and healthcare reform in Ireland.”

The funding has been allocated to four Principal Investigators at UL:

Professor Austin Stack, Chair of Medicine UL and Consultant Nephrologist at Limerick University Hospital: ‘Assessing the burden and progression of chronic kidney disease in the Irish Health System’. 

Dr Susan Coote, University of Limerick, ‘Enhancing Physical Activity Behaviour in People with Multiple Sclerosis’.

Professor Anne MacFarlane, Chair of Primary Health Care Research, Graduate Entry Medical School: ‘Primary Care reform in Ireland – an analysis of ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ innovation’

Professor Stewart Walsh, Professor of Vascular Surgery, UL and Consultant Vascular Surgeon, University Hospital Limerick: ‘Preconditioning shields against vascular events in surgery (Preconditioning-SAVES): A multi-centre feasibility trial of preconditioning against adverse events in major vascular surgery’