Leading Breakthrough Research

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LEADING BREAKTHROUGH RESEARCH

At RCSI we are singularly focused on health.

With an emphasis on clinical and patientcentred research, RCSI succeeds in leading impactful discoveries which address key Irish and international health challenges. Today, RCSI is the largest medical research body in

Ireland and our research team in Dublin has the highest impact citation rate in their field compared to other Irish universities and twice the world average. Our researchers work across disease areas and geographies in pursuit of solutions that make a difference to patients. The

RCSI_TOMORROW campaign focuses on key areas of scientific discovery in which RCSI has a leadership role to play and where additional funds can significantly accelerate progress and unlock world-leading breakthroughs.

THANKS TO YOU WE ARE... IDENTIFYING NEW TREATMENTS FOR EPILEPSY

Around 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, making it one of the most common neurological diseases globally.

Childhood and developmental epilepsies in particular create a significant burden for patients, families and carers. Approximately 35,000 people suffer from epilepsy in Ireland of which a third cannot control their seizures with current medication. This impacts their ability to work and is highly debilitating as well as potentially life-threatening.

Patients with epilepsy also suffer co-morbidities including problems with memory and depression. Epilepsy often appears in childhood and because there is no cure it can mean a lifetime of medication and specialist care. As a result, epilepsy carries one of the highest socioeconomic burdens of any disease.

RCSI’s research team led by Professor David Henshall received funding from the Charitable Infirmary

Charitable Trust to explore new treatments for

Dravet Syndrome (DS); a rare paediatric form of epilepsy which begins in the first year of life in an otherwise healthy infant. The disease begins in infancy but is lifelong.

Improved understanding of the causes of developmental epilepsies like Dravet Syndrome and their treatments could have an important impact on the lives of sufferers, their families, and the doctors and carers that look after them.

thanks to you...

Additional philanthropic funds have significantly ACCELERATED GROUND-BREAKING RESEARCH led by Professor Leonie Young to achieve RCSI’s ambition that over the next ten years Breast Cancer in Ireland transitions from being a fatal disease to a manageable chronic illness.

THANKS TO YOU WE ARE... ADVANCING RESEARCH IN IRISH RUGBY

In 2018, RCSI and the IRFU Charitable Trust launched a research partnership, with the support of the AMBER SFI Research Centre for

Materials Science, Leinster Schools Rugby and World Rugby.

THE INVESTMENT FROM THE IRFU CHARITABLE TRUST HAS FUNDED TWO PIONEERING RESEARCH PROJECTS.

from L to R: Louise Keating - Senior Lecturer and Dr Helen French – Lead Researcher, RCSI School of Physiotherapy, Tommy Bowe - former Ulster, Ireland and British & Irish Lions International, Leo Cullen - Head Coach and former Captain Leinster and former Irish International One project, with additional funding from AMBER, is focused on developing an advanced platform for spinal cord repair combining novel biomaterials, stem cells and gene therapy. Led by Professor

Fergal O'Brien, Professor of Bioengineering & Regenerative Medicine at RCSI and Deputy Director of the AMBER SFI Research Centre, this project proposes an advanced biomaterials approach to spinal cord repair, which may revolutionise the way spinal cord injury is treated worldwide. The second research project studies the training load and injury risk in schoolboys' level rugby in Leinster. Researchers at the RCSI School of Physiotherapy are leading the study to increase understanding of the frequency, type and intensity of injury in Leinster Senior Cup

Schoolboys rugby squads. The study is a crucial step in the future development of injury prevention strategies. The study utilises an app developed by World Rugby to collect data and this is the first time the app has been used in the 15-a-side game. The lead researchers on the study from the RCSI School of Physiotherapy are Dr Helen

French, Physiotherapist and Senior Lecturer and Louise Keating,

Physiotherapist and Lecturer.