Following review by an international panel of experts, seven projects have been awarded over €2.1million funding under the Research Ireland – Innovating in Health and Wellbeing Challenge.
This Challenge programme was developed to support novel, potentially disruptive, ideas to drive affective, scalable and sustainable solutions that address complex health and wellbeing challenges in Ireland.
Ireland’s healthcare system is undergoing a critical transformation, underpinned by the need to embrace a whole-system, life-course, person-centred approach to healthcare, that addresses the wider foundational factors of health and wellbeing. Research and innovation are cornerstones of Ireland’s strategic approach to improving healthcare design and delivery, providing better health and wellbeing services, promoting long and healthy lives for all, and reducing health inequalities across the population.
Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, CEO, Research Ireland, said:
Through the Innovating in Health and Wellbeing Challenge, we are empowering research teams to take bold, interdisciplinary approaches to some of the complex issues facing our healthcare system. Together, these seven projects will address the health and wellbeing needs of diverse population groups – from infants & children to older adults, and individuals with chronic conditions – reflecting the programme’s ambition to create better health outcomes for everyone.
These projects have the potential to reshape care pathways, improve outcomes, and ultimately contribute to a better healthcare system for all. We are proud to support these teams at the start of their journey and look forward to seeing their progress over the coming months.
Challenge-based funding is designed so that research teams work to develop a solution for a specific problem in collaboration with key stakeholders. Interdisciplinary research teams funded under this programme will work closely with a wide range of stakeholders in the sector, including but not limited to healthcare professionals, patients and patient groups, policymakers, educators, and businesses, to ensure they are solving the right problem and developing the best solution.
Teams receiving funding are as follows (alphabetical by project title):
- CHECK-ME: Cancer and Health Embedded ChecKs for MEntal health services
Lead: Dr Paul D’Alton, University College Dublin; Co-Lead: Professor Brian O’Donoghue, University College Dublin and Societal Impact Champion: Louise Mullen, National Cancer Control Programme, HSE
- Moving Well-Being Well Computer Vision Assessment Tool
Lead: Dr Stephen Behan, Dublin City University; Co-Lead: Dr Deepu John, University College Dublin and Societal Impact Champion: Barry Horgan, Sport Ireland
- PREDICT-HF: A smart Connected Health Biosensing Platform for Continuous Monitoring and Management of Heart Failure
Lead: Dr Adnan Elahi, University of Galway; Co-Lead: Professor Martin O’Halloran, University of Galway and Societal Impact Champion: Mark O’Donnell, Croí, The West of Ireland Heart & Stroke Foundation
- RaDiCare: A Digital Platform to Map, Guide and Coordinate Rare Disease Patient Care in Ireland
Lead: Dr Daniel Murphy, Dublin City University; Co-lead: Dr Silvana Togneri MacMahon, Dublin City University and Societal Impact Champion: Alana Ward, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital
- SMART-Sling – An innovative solution for female pelvic organ prolapse
Lead: Professor Caitriona Lally, Trinity College Dublin; Co-Lead: Dr Larisa Florea, Trinty College Dublin and Societal Impact Champion: Professor Michelle Flood, PPI Ignite Network Lead, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
- The FirstDrops Project: Reimagining Perinatal Colostrum Collection & Hand Expression Through Co-Design
Lead: Dr Kellie Morrissey, University College Cork; Co-Lead: Dr Brendan O’Flynn, Tyndall National Institute and Societal Impact Champion: Susan O’Driscoll, Cork University Maternity Hospital
- Transforming Elderly Care with Immersive Media and Agentic AI: A Multidisciplinary, Scalable, Preventive Approach to Health and Wellbeing
Lead: Dr William Farrelly, Atlantic Technological University; Co-Lead: Dr Martin O’Neill, Atlantic Technological University and Societal Impact Champion: Luke Gavigan, Riada Care Irish nursing home and healthcare group
The Innovating in Health and Wellbeing Challenge is a structured programme with three phases: Concept, Seed and Prize. During the initial Concept Phase, the teams will be supported to develop a deeper understanding of the challenge/problem they have identified via extensive stakeholder engagement and to explore the feasibility and viability of the solution they propose. The selected teams, upon successful progression through the Concept and Seed Phases, will have the opportunity for additional funding in the final phase of the programme, where prize funding of €1million will be on offer to the most competitive team.