Enda Connolly, the new chief executive of the HRB, hopes the developments in health research will result in improvements in people's health, wrties Claire O'Connell.
A COUPLE OF weeks into the job, the new chief executive of the Health Research Board (HRB) already has a mantra: good health research leads to better healthcare.
It's a tenet that Enda Connolly believes will help the HRB weather the tough economic forecast as the funding agency seeks to prioritise its spending on health research, raise funds more creatively and make better use of the resources it already has.
"We are trying to drive the development of Irish health research to deliver improvements in people's health. That's the fundamental, that's what this is all about," says Connolly, who took over from outgoing head Dr Ruth Barrington last month. "And there's loads of evidence out there both internationally and even in terms of what we have done in Ireland to date to demonstrate that good health research leads to better healthcare."
On the face of it Connolly may seem like an odd choice to steer the Government agency, which is currently committing total funds of €180 million to health research. He freely admits to being "a layman" with no background in medicine or health, but he brings decades of experience with the Irish Development Association, where he ran operations in North America and more recently focused on developing innovation strategies in Ireland.
"I'm not a technical specialist in any of the [health] areas, my expertise is in implementing policies and strategies and making strategic direction work," says Connolly, who describes how he was drawn to the job by the tangible outcomes health research can bring for patients.
"A lot of the strategic thinking has been done, now we have to do some prioritising, actually making it all happen in an effective manner is the key. That's what I will hopefully do."
In practice that means knuckling down over coming months and planning ways to raise and use money wisely in a foreboding economic climate.
The HRB, which has been supporting health research since 1987, has traditionally ploughed funds into clinical research and infrastructure, bringing networks of expertise together and in-house gathering of data on important social health trends.
Those pillars of funding have made an impact through clinical research centres, improved patient care and reports that inform national policies, says Connolly. Individual HRB-funded projects that jump out at him include a test developed at St Vincent's University Hospital to help predict whether a breast cancer tumour is likely to spread to other parts of the body, and a study at Sligo General Hospital that looked at the wound-healing properties of Manuka honey which was found to be particularly effective against MRSA.
"They are examples of taking real, practical stuff and delivering it," he says.
The body also funds networks of expertise including a group on obesity and diabetes, and the All Ireland Cooperative Oncology Research Group (Icorg), a network of cancer doctors that has given thousands of patients in Ireland access to research treatments.
"So you have people getting the leading edge therapies or diagnostics and this is what I mean by tangible benefits that you can see," says Connolly.
The HRB's in-house research on population trends like drug and alcohol use, child health and mental health has also influenced national policies and provided evidence on which the Health Service Executive (HSE)can plan services, he notes. "The [HRB teams] have had a huge role in gathering data that has helped shape our national drugs strategy, for example. That's not delivering something to the patient, but it's delivering practical information to the policy makers."
So what happens now? As money becomes tighter, the agency will need to start thinking more creatively about raising funds and using resources, according to Connolly.
Already the HRB co-funds initiatives with many other bodies, including the HSE and government departments. But the new chief executive wants to widen the scope and collaborate with other funders at home, like Science Foundation Ireland, and also abroad.
"One of the things I'll be paying much attention to is trying to source more funding from, for example, the EU, from philanthropy and from industry, which is a huge source of opportunity in this space," he says.
Connolly is keen to link multinationals into clinical research here.
Through his IDA work he has learned that international companies tend to view Ireland's collaborative research atmosphere as attractive. We need to make the most of it, he says. "Ireland is becoming recognised internationally for our connectedness in research, which is seen as flexible and agile, and is quite unique," he says.
But it's not just about raising money, it's also about using what we already have, he notes. "I see us having to look at our priorities over the next 12 months, and one of those priorities will be to ensure that we are getting the optimum use out of the facilities that we have put in place. There's a lot more effort going into ensuring that we are co-ordinating the levels of infrastructure."
And as he settles into the first few months of drawing up a five-year plan for the agency, Connolly is relishing the task. "I'm looking forward to the challenge, I'm passionate about it," he says.
"I genuinely believe that if we can deliver good healthcare research we can deliver good healthcare to every citizen in the country and I'm looking forward to trying to help to do that over the next five years."