From Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
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Funding focused on supporting projects which respond to the immediate and pressing needs of society arising from the pandemic
24 September 2020
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, TD, has today announced an investment of €5.5 million in 41 projects under the SFI led COVID-19 Rapid Response Research and Innovation Programme.
The 41 projects cover a wide range of areas including:
Announcing the awards Minister Harris, said: “Today I am pleased to announce a further investment of €5.5 million in research and innovation related to COVID-19. It is clear this virus is with us for a significant period of time and yet we still have a lot to learn about it.
“Research, development and innovation will play a significant role in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The 41 projects announced today are part of a national drive to find solutions to the challenges we face now, and to help us prepare to live in a changing environment that requires new thinking and innovative approaches. I would like to congratulate all of the researchers receiving funding today and thank them for their efforts in Ireland’s collective response to COVID-19.”
Commenting on the awards, Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government, said: “The COVID-19 Rapid Response Research and Innovation funding is critical to supporting Ireland’s National Action Plan in response to the pandemic. The projects announced today will play a pivotal role in developing societal and economic solutions to challenges we face. This is the fourth announcement of COVID-19 funding from SFI to support research projects across a number of Higher Education Institutes. In the global response to COVID-19, collaboration and partnership are key, so I am delighted that funding for 41 more outstanding projects is announced today. As a nation, we are stronger when we work together, and we will continue to generate solutions to the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The COVID-19 Rapid Response Research, Development and Innovation programme was established by SFI, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, the Health Research Board and Irish Research Council.
Today’s announcement builds on SFI’s previous investment of €8 million across 17 COVID-19 research and innovation projects. All of the projects funded have been internationally peer reviewed at the assessment stage.
ENDS
Notes to editor
Summary list of projects
| Lead Name | Institution | Project Title | Funding |
| Ahmad B. Albadarin | University of Limerick | Engineered Inhalable Antiviral-Composites for Pulmonary Delivery with Optimal Therapeutic Outcomes | €255,731 |
| Alberto Alvarez-Iglesias | National University of Ireland, Galway | Quantifying the Effects of Public Health Interventions in Ireland | €53,205 |
| Barry Kevane | University College Dublin | COVID-19 coagulopathy and thrombosis: Novel prognostic and therapeutic opportunities: The COCOON study | €293,877 |
| Bryan Hennessy | RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences | Detection of COVID-19 infection using exhaled breath condensate | €57,181 |
| Carl Scarrott | National University of Ireland, Galway | Early detection of secondary waves of COVID‐19 infection | €41,803 |
| Charles Spillane | National University of Ireland, Galway | A rapid high-throughput CRISPR-Cas13a diagnostic platform for COVID-19 diagnostics | €125,809 |
| Clair Gardiner | Trinity College Dublin | Immune genes, protective immunity and improved vaccine design | €262,613 |
| Colin Doherty | Trinity College Dublin | Analysing blood-brain barrier integrity to inform on protection from COVID-19 associated encephalopathy. | €65,189 |
| Conor McGinn | Trinity College Dublin | Protect Against COVID using Robot-Assisted Ultraviolet Disinfection (PACRAUD) | €164,662 |
| Darach Ó Ciardha | Trinity College Dublin | Tracking COVID19 and identifying patients at high risk of contracting COVID-19 using GP data. | €45,847 |
| Derek O'Keeffe | National University of Ireland, Galway | An Innovative Digital Acoustic Biomarker for COVID-19 | €125,649 |
| Dermot Brougham | University College Dublin | Next Generation Magnetic Beads for enhanced viral RNA detection and improved COVID-19 Testing, Securing Supply, Improving Performance. | €85,649 |
| Donal O'Shea | RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences | National Roadmap for Facial PPE Sterilization | €163,496 |
| Eilish McAuliffe | University College Dublin | Expanding Care Capacity through Remote Monitoring of COVID-19 patients | €217,549 |
| Elaine Kenny | Trinity College Dublin | Rapid and adjustable population-scale diagnostics via Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) | €286,075 |
| Emmanuel J. Ekoi | Dublin City University | Applying Surface Engineering to PPEs in the Fight against COVID-19 | €101,970 |
| Gerard O'Connor | National University of Ireland, Galway | Measurement inspired laser fabrication of aerosol filter materials. | €137,003 |
| Gregory O'Hare | University College Dublin | COMBAT: (COVID-19 Modelling through agent-BAsed Techniques) | €303,424 |
| Hossein Javidnia | Trinity College Dublin | Investigating Psychological and Social Effects of COVID-19: A Call for Action | €58,567 |
| Irina Tal | Dublin City University | PRIVATT - Assessing Irish Attitudes to Privacy in Times of COVID-19 | €72,583 |
| Isabel Rozas | Trinity College Dublin | Blocking SARS-CoVid2 infection by inhibiting the TMPRSS2 protease | €57,494 |
| James Jones | University College Dublin | Manufacture of novel COVID-19 Laryngoscopes for airway intubation | €54,708 |
| James Sweeney | University of Limerick | The Health and Economic Impacts of COVID-19 Control Measures | €54,243 |
| Jane Suiter | Dublin City University | The COVID-19 Irish Citizens’ Online Forum | €85,514 |
| John MacSharry | University College Cork | Saliva sampling for the detection and diagnosis of COVID-19 | €108,559 |
| Katriona O'Sullivan | National University of Ireland, Maynooth | DreamSpace: Bringing STEAM Education to homes across Ireland | €35,170 |
| Liam O'Mahony | University College Cork | Identify Diagnostic Biomarkers to Predict and Treat COVID-19 Sepsis | €246,042 |
| Madeleine Lowery | University College Dublin | Home monitoring of respiration in COVID-19 patients using smartphone technology | €143,685 |
| Michael Gilchrist | University College Dublin | Development of Plastic Packaging and Film Resistant to Covid-19 | €155,073 |
| Michael Prentice | University College Cork | Novel airborne surveillance of SARS-CoV2 in healthcare and airport environments. | €79,585 |
| Muhammad Atif Qureshi | Technological University Dublin | RCES: Rapid Cues Exploratory Search Using Taxonomies For COVID-19 | €75,648 |
| Niall O'Leary | University College Cork | COVID-19 community wide surveillance via wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) | €44,876 |
| Niall Smith | Cork Institute of Technology | MASK: Making Aerosol Safety Known! | €58,916 |
| Niamh Gilmartin, Steve Meaney | Technological University Dublin | AptaGold – A rapid saliva-based COVID-19 screening assay | €256,428 |
| Paddy Mallon | University College Dublin | Detection and quantification of neutralising antibodies against COVID-19 infection. | €220,312 |
| Paul Cahill | Dublin City University | ACE-2 primed human MSCs-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients. | €175,457 |
| Paul Leonard | Dublin City University | Antibody-based testing hub for serological assay validation | €87,124 |
| Paul O'Toole | University College Cork | COVIDBIOME: Microbiome-based biomarkers of COVID-19 disease outcomes | €309,007 |
| Peter Davern | University of Limerick | Development of user-friendly scalable manufacturing process for guanidine thiocyanate | €78,000 |
| Stephen Daniels | Dublin City University | Airborne environmental indicators of airborne COVID-19 in hospitals | €185,049 |
| Zena Moore | RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences | Preventing Healthcare Staff Facial Pressure Ulcers in a COVID-19 ICU | €63,911 |