{"id":12353,"date":"2025-03-20T14:07:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T14:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=12353"},"modified":"2025-03-24T15:16:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T15:16:01","slug":"clinical-research-centre-instrumental-in-support-of-irelands-leading-medical-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/clinical-trials\/clinical-research-centre-instrumental-in-support-of-irelands-leading-medical-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Clinical research centre instrumental in support of Ireland\u2019s leading medical experts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-12354\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20140231\/vicky-1742479350-Option-1-Eoghan-de-Barra.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20140231\/vicky-1742479350-Option-1-Eoghan-de-Barra.jpg 400w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20140231\/vicky-1742479350-Option-1-Eoghan-de-Barra-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Dr Eoghan de Barra<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Consultant in Infectious Diseases, Beaumont Hospital and RCSI<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-12355\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20140328\/vicky-1742479407-Karen-Boland-Headshot.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20140328\/vicky-1742479407-Karen-Boland-Headshot.jpg 400w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20140328\/vicky-1742479407-Karen-Boland-Headshot-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Professor Karen Boland<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Consultant Gastroenterologist, Beaumont Hospital and RCSI<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcsi.com\/dublin\/research-and-innovation\/research\/resources-and-facilities\/clinical-research-centre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Clinical research centre<\/a> profiles leading investigators in gastroenterology and infectious disease, whose groundbreaking research is improving patient care and advancing therapeutic discoveries.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Instrumental in delivering the WHO Covid-19 Solidarity Trial in Ireland, Dr Eoghan de Barra leads multiple clinical trials and biobanks focused on emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and novel therapeutic interventions for viral and bacterial infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-advancing-infectious-disease-research\"><strong>Advancing infectious disease research<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy primary focus is expanding Ireland\u2019s participation in large clinical trial platforms, improving access and building capacity,\u201d Dr de Barra explains. \u201cWe\u2019re building on post-Covid vaccine work, including mpox vaccination and surrogates of protection while working to integrate Ireland into global initiatives like the SNAP trial to advance immunological and therapeutics research in infectious diseases. All this can be achieved with partners in our new National Infectious Diseases Clinical Trial Network.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Having a research centre on-site <br>means I can access clinical space.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-revolutionising-gastroenterology-research\"><strong>Revolutionising gastroenterology research<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Leading an active clinical and translational research programme focused on improving outcomes for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and liver cirrhosis, Prof Karen Boland\u2019s work is improving treatment response with an emphasis on associated lifestyle interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;ve found, by measuring muscle mass in patients with IBD, that those with more muscle are more likely to respond to treatment,\u201d Prof Boland explains. \u201cOur work involves exploring amino acid supplementation, exercise and dietary intervention in IBD and patients with cirrhosis; these data will have a big impact on validating these measures in clinical practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a large portfolio of work on IBD, Prof Boland also plays a key role in personalising therapeutic interventions. \u201cAlthough we have treatments for patients with IBD, we don\u2019t have a good understanding of which treatment is best for each patient,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe are analysing samples to understand how the microbiome contributes to IBD to identify potential therapeutic targets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-clinical-research-support-hub\"><strong>Clinical research support hub<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcsi.com\/dublin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The RCSI Clinical Research Centre<\/a> (CRC) provides the facilities and expertise to enable investigators to conduct clinical research to the highest standards, supporting them across a spectrum of clinical areas. \u201cHaving a research centre on-site means I can access clinical space for visits with my dietitian, secure storage for patient samples and administrative support for grants and contracts,\u201d Prof Boland explains. \u201cI don\u2019t have protected research time. I have four kids and a busy workload; I lean on a lot of people around me. Without that additional support, this work wouldn\u2019t be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr de Barra agrees: \u201cAs a researcher, you don\u2019t have all the answers. It&#8217;s important to be able to reach out to experts, discuss challenges and collaborate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><div style=\"text-align:center\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-button ab-block-button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcsi.com\/dublin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"ab-button ab-button-shape-rounded ab-button-size-medium fb-pixel\" style=\"color:#ffffff;background-color:#d1142e\">Click here to learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clinical research centre profiles leading investigators in gastroenterology and infectious disease, whose groundbreaking research is improving patient care and advancing therapeutic discoveries. Instrumental in delivering the WHO Covid-19 Solidarity Trial in Ireland, Dr Eoghan de Barra leads multiple clinical trials and biobanks focused on emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and novel therapeutic interventions for viral &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/clinical-trials\/clinical-research-centre-instrumental-in-support-of-irelands-leading-medical-experts\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":12356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5829],"tags":[5960],"class_list":["post-12353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clinical-trials","tag-clinical-trials-2025"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20140503\/vicky-1742479501-Hospital-Photo-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/03\/20140503\/vicky-1742479501-Hospital-Photo-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"henryphillips","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/henryphillips\/"},"vicky_category_order":[{"category_id":5829,"order":"6"}],"vicky_index_order":"2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12353"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12464,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12353\/revisions\/12464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}