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Chairman’s Statement
MMI’s mission is to enable clinical and
translational research in Ireland by
mobilising the strengths of the five
partner institutions and their associated
hospitals. Despite the unprecedented
challenges facing the country, MMI made
progress with its mission in 2010. We were
particularly pleased that, faced with such
pressing economic and fiscal problems, the
Government’s commitment to funding for
research remained firm. In July 2010, MMI
was awarded funding of €4.3m under the
Programme for Research in Third Level
Institutions – Cycle 5 to coordinate a PhD
programme in clinical and translational
research. This structured PhD will equip at
least 20 science graduates with the skills
to translate their bench research into
advances in diagnostics and therapies in the
clinic and in industry. The PhD programme,
with strong clinical and industry input,
will train a cadre of researchers who
understand the challenge of translating
research ideas from the bench to the clinic
and into the commercial sphere and who
will advance the mission of MMI.
MMI was also pleased with the publication of the
Report of the Innovation Taskforce, launched by An
Taoiseach on 11 March, which aims to position Ireland as
an innovation hub in Europe. From an MMI perspective,
the Report endorses the need for strong alliances
between third level institutions as part of creating the
eco-system for innovation in the lifesciences. The
Report highlights the opportunities for this country to
capture innovation from convergent technologies in the
pharma and biotech sectors and from our strengths in
research on food and health and expertise in medical
device technologies. It points out that ‘the development
of a clinical trials research system is critical for the future
growth and development of this sector in Ireland (both
indigenous and MNCs) and to ensure that we leverage
investments in research and development - translating
from bench to bedside’ (Page 59) It recognises that the
Damian O’Connell MD BSc PhD is Vice
President of Clinical Research and
Development, Pfizer. Damian has been a
Medical Faculty member of The University
of Virginia Health Sciences Center as well as
of the Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics
Department at University College Cork.
He started his career in industry with Elan
Pharmaceuticals as Director of Clinical
Research (US) and was previously Executive
Director and Clinical Research Group Head
at Pfizer.
“In response to our
stakeholders’ needs for
access to information about
resources for clinical and
translational research in
Ireland, we launched
a number of web portals
on the MMI website.”
Page - Molecular Medicine Ireland - Annual Report 2010