€4.2m for UCC patient cancer research group

CANCER patients in the south and southwest of Ireland may benefit from greater access to clinical trials as part of a multimillion-euro project announced by the College of Medicine and Health at University College Cork (UCC) and Cancer Research @UCC.

UCC Cancer Trials Group has been awarded €2.37m by the Health Research Board (HRB) to fund the collaborative five-year project, which will bring together cancer specialists and research staff from across the south of Ireland.

This commitment has been met with contributions from UCC, Cork University Hospital, the South/Southwest Hospital Group, and industry and charity partners to bring the total funding for the UCC Cancer Trials Group, a HRB partnership supporting cancer clinical trials, to €4.2m. 

The new cancer trials group will be co-led by Professor Roisin Connolly, the Professor Gerald O’Sullivan Chair in cancer research, and Professor Joseph Eustace, director of the Clinical Research Facility UCC, alongside site leads and principal investigators from oncology clinical trials units at Cork University Hospital (CUH), the Bons Secours Cork, and University Hospital Waterford (UHW). 

The project will include outreach to other regional hospitals in the South/Southwest Hospital Group caring for patients with cancer.

These teams will work alongside experts in patient-focused research from the HRB CRF-C and supported by UCC in its role as university partner for the region’s hospitals.

UCC president, Professor John O’Halloran, congratulated all involved.

“Today’s announcement and the funding provided by the HRB is a ringing endorsement of the work we do here at UCC, and I wish to congratulate Prof Connolly and all involved in this important initiative,” he said.

Chief executive officer (CEO) of the South/Southwest Hospital Group, Gerry O’Dwyer, said the announcement “marks a positive step forward for healthcare in the region”.

“This project will benefit cancer patients across our region by providing increased access to clinical trials, and a wider variety of different treatment options. The South/South West Hospital Group looks forward to continuing to work with UCC and the specialist research team it is assembling,” he said.