The heads of the Republic's five medical schools have signed an agreement to unify their approach to medical research and create a single national clinical research network.
The move comes only weeks before the Government's advisory body on science is due to release its own study on building up the State's clinical research capability.
It is understood the Advisory Council on Science, Technology and Innovation report will also call for the creation of a unified clinical research network.
The new body is the Irish Clinical Research Infrastructure Network. The agreement creating it was signed by the medical school heads last July, and the group is now seeking start-up funding from the Health Research Board and from the Health Services Executive.
One of the goals of such a network would be to allow medical research taking place in Ireland's biomedical laboratories to move quickly into the hospitals and provide improved treatments for patients.
The decision by the medical school heads from Trinity College, UCC, UCD, NUI Galway and the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland to throw their weight behind a clinical research network will put additional pressure on Minister for Health Mary Harney to act quickly on the advisory council's new study.
Medical researchers generally have confidence in Ms Harney's positive view of research, according to one senior source. "I know Minister Harney is very, very keen on the research agenda. There is a huge hope there."
The advisory council opened a consultation process earlier this year and received more than 40 submissions on how to improve the level and quality of health research and innovation here.
One such submission came from IPPOSI, the Irish Platform for Patients' Organisations, Science and Industry. Established in 2001, it brings patients' groups together with academic researchers and industry partners, with a view to improving the quality of healthcare here.
"There is not much clinical research going on in Ireland today because we don't have a clinical infrastructure," said the vice-chairman of IPPOSI, Dr Pierre Meulien, who is also the chief executive of the Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre.
"Clinical research is a fantastic platform where you get clinician interest, patient interest and academic interest all around a single subject," he said.
IPPOSI has called for greater investment in the "human capital" through education and training programmes and better career structures for clinical researchers. It wants more investment in purpose-built centres for clinical research. These would combine laboratory facilities with specialised space for patients and doctors.
IPPOSI also wants a national network for clinical research, as sought by the medical school heads. The advisory council's report on a national strategy for health research will be published shortly.
