New health innovation institute will make Galway ‘medtech hub’

The institute will be led by interim director Prof Ted Vaughan and will focus on biomedical research to benefit healthcare.

The University of Galway has launched a new health innovation institute to pioneer understanding of diseases and develop solutions for healthcare.

Launched yesterday (10 October), the Institute for Health Discovery and Innovation will bring together more than 200 researchers and academics at the university to facilitate research-led development with the aim of positioning the region as “the centre of Ireland’s global medtech hub”.

The institute will focus on biomedical science and engineering research, including fundamental science and discovery in areas such as cancer biology, cell and chromosome biology, biomedical engineering, regenerative medicine, neuroscience, diagnostics and advanced therapeutics. The aim is to harness scientific breakthroughs for the benefit of clinical trials and healthcare.

The new institute will foster close collaborations with Galway university’s Institute for Clinical Trials, launched in 2023, as well as Cúram Research Centre for Medical Devices and BioInnovate, Enterprise Ireland fellowship programme.

It will be led by interim director Prof Ted Vaughan, a biomechanics expert, who is currently one of the leaders of a €4.17m European project that aims to develop biodegradable medical implants. In 2020, he was part of a group that developed a drone to sterilise a room using UV light for hospital use.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Patrick O’Donovan, TD, officially launched the institute at an event yesterday. “The institute’s strategic collaboration of expertise will not only advance research-led development at the university, but also strengthen our position as a global hub for medtech innovation,” O’Donovan said.

“The establishment of the Institute for Health Discovery and Innovation, alongside the recently established Institute for Clinical Trials marks a new level of ambition in our strategic approach to research,” said Prof Peter McHugh, the interim president of University of Galway.

“We welcome Minister O’Donovan to officially mark the beginning of this new journey as we create the environment to enable the translation of fundamental scientific research into potentially life-changing treatments and interventions that directly benefit society.”

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