Cancer-detecting blood tests among 60 research projects to benefit from €40m funding

A cross-border research project developing new blood tests to diagnose cancer has been awarded a major funding boost through the Irish Government’s Shared Island initiative.

Academics from Trinity College in Dublin and Queen’s University in Belfast are set to collaborate on cutting-edge work to design liquid biopsy techniques after securing up to €4 million over the next four years. 

The cancer research initiative is among 62 projects benefiting from €37.3 million allocated under the first funding round of the Shared Island North-South Research Programme. 

The programme is part of the Shared Island initiative which was launched in 2020 and seeks to enhance co-operation, connections and mutual understanding on the island of Ireland.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and higher education minister Simon Harris are set to unveil all recipients of the cross-border research funding at an event at Trinity later today (Wednesday February 2). 

Queens academic Dr Paul Mullan, who is involved in the All-Ireland Cancer Liquid Biopsies Consortium, said the research would initially concentrate on tests to achieve earlier diagnosis of ovarian, breast and lung cancers.

He said liquid biopsies were much less invasive than having to surgically remove parts of tumours using the traditional biopsy method.

But he said the challenge had always been the difficultly developing tests that could accurately detect small traces of cancer DNA in the blood.

“The funding is going be a huge boost,” Dr Mullan said. 

“Because at the minute we’re all working sort of independently and we’re all doing our own thing.

“I think this joined-up approach will certainly push forward things much quicker, I think it makes sense all in.”

Another beneficiary of the funding award is a project to foster sustainable innovation along the island’s Atlantic coast, from the western counties of Northern Ireland and Donegal down to the Shannon Estuary.

The Atlantic Corridor project, which has also been awarded up to €4 million over four years, will involve the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG), Ulster University (UU), Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) and the University of Limerick (UL).

The research will focus on addressing challenges experienced by these areas, such as retention of local talent, over-reliance on foreign direct investment and a lack of indigenous SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) growth. 

Funding awards will also include projects working in areas such as vaccine-training and youth crime.

The programme is being administered by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

The awards range from €200,000 over two years to €4million over four years. 

Taoiseach Mr Martin said the programme would enhance the island’s reputation for research excellence.

“These awards will support the Government’s Shared Island vision by bringing researchers from all corners of the island together to work on pioneering projects over the next four years, and is not only strengthening existing relationships but is fostering new research partnerships,” he said.

“I’m particularly impressed by the high level of interest and the calibre of the proposals, and I am confident that these cross-border collaborations will further strengthen the island’s reputation for innovation and research excellence.”

Minister for further and higher education, research, innovation and science Simon Harris said: “Research, science and innovation are invaluable tools in helping us understand the challenges facing us and identify solutions to them.

“Today, we are announcing 62 new research projects developed by researchers across the island on our shared challenges.

“This will deepen relationships between north-south and help create and build new ones.”

The chief executive of the HEA Dr Alan Wall added: “The North-South Research Programme provides an opportunity for researchers to work to combine knowledge, expertise and skills, to work collaboratively to address global, national and regional challenges and to deepen the relationships between researchers and the impact of their research on how we share this island.”

A second call for funding under the programme will open in 2023. The scope and scale of that round has yet to be confirmed.