AICRIstart’s impact Highlighted in North South Research Programme “Insights on Impact” Report

The newly launched North South Research Programme: Insights on Impact report highlights the transformative impact that all-island collaboration is having across research and innovation on the island of Ireland.

Launched by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in partnership with the All-Island Research Excellence Network (AiREN), the report showcases the achievements and impact of projects funded under Call 1 of the North South Research Programme (NSRP). Through interviews with project leads across the island, the publication demonstrates how the NSRP is strengthening research partnerships, building capacity, supporting innovation, and helping researchers collaborate to address shared societal and health challenges.

Supported through the Government’s Shared Island initiative, the NSRP has invested €55.6 million to date in collaborative research projects involving higher education institutions across Ireland and Northern Ireland. The programme is helping to create long-term research networks, support emerging research talent, and deliver impact across healthcare, sustainability, policy, communities, and innovation.

We are proud to see the AICRIstart programme highlighted in the report as a key exemplare of the impact of the NSRP. Supported through €4 million in funding from the NSRP, AICRIstart became the foundation stone programme for the All-Island Cancer Research Institute (AICRI). The programme has demonstrated how all-island collaboration can strengthen cancer research, accelerate innovation, achieve impact and support the next generation of cancer researchers across Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Building an All-Island Cancer Research Community

AICRIstart has brought together researchers across 10 institutions on the island of Ireland and supported early-career cancer researchers, including 10 PhD students and 10 postdoctoral researchers.

The programme focuses on oncology and precision medicine, through  collaborative research across a range of cancers, including paediatric leukaemia, ovarian, lung, colorectal and pancreatic cancers. 

Importantly, AICRIstart has dine  more than simply support individual research projects. It has created a connected network of researchers, institutions, clinicians and industry collaborators working together towards a shared goal of improving cancer outcomes for patients across the island.

Professor William Gallagher, co-lead of AICRI, highlighted the importance of this collaborative approach:

“Through AICRIstart and the North South Research Programme, we have demonstrated that we can work collectively across institutions. This is important, because it strengthens research on shared challenges across the island. This is a grass-roots effort, built on collective ambition and shared purpose"

AICRIstart also placed a strong emphasis on researcher development and collaboration. Researchers participated in innovation competitions, media communication workshops and cross-institutional placements with academic, clinical and industry partners. Each PhD researcher spent time working outside of their host institution, helping to build wider collaborations and shared expertise across the cancer research ecosystem. 

Professor Mark Lawler, Professor of Digital Health at Queen’s University Belfast and AICRI co-lead participated in the webinar that accompanied the launch and highlighted some of the impacts that AICRIstart has already achieved, locally and globally. 

“Locally, our Innovation Boot Camp, where we match students and fellows from different institutions and provide funding for the winners to realise their innovation idea, has led to creation of a patient-centred lung cancer booklet “Navigating Lung Cancer”  which is greatly valued by the patient community. 

Globally, AICRIstart’s leadership in bringing the inaugural  the Euro-American Forum  for Cancer to Ireland, convened 100 world  leaders in cancer research innovation and care at Farmleigh House, Dublin, a historic event that showed AICRIStart’s convening  power and influence on the world stage. Rightly dubbed “the Davos of Cancer” this was a premier  event that showcased the island of Ireland to the world””

Immediate Impacts and Wider Ripples

The report also highlights the broader impact that AICRIstart and AICRI are already having across cancer research and policy development on the island of Ireland and internationally.

Achievements to date include:

• Launching an oncology industry landscape report for the island of Ireland

• Hosting a major global cancer summit at Farmleigh House in Dublin

• Building international partnerships with institutions such as Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

• Raising Ireland’s international profile in collaborative cancer research

• Influencing policy and strengthening research infrastructure across the island

Research Student Spotlight

One of the most significant impacts of AICRIstart has been its investment in the next generation of cancer researchers.

In March 2025, two AICRIstart PhD researchers, Panagiotis Sarametidis and Saoirse Flanagan, presented their research at the prestigious American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Conference in Chicago, showcasing research from the island of Ireland on an international stage.

Panagiotis, supervised by Dr Naomi Walsh at Dublin City University, presented research exploring how blood samples could help predict how pancreatic cancer patients respond to immunotherapy treatments. This work could help clinicians identify which treatments are most likely to benefit individual patients and support more personalised cancer care.

Saoirse Flanagan, undertaking her PhD at the University of Limerick with co-supervision from Dr Catríona Dowling, Professor Paul Murray and Professor Jarushka Naidoo, presented research investigating DNA changes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Her work aims to identify new treatment opportunities for aggressive forms of the disease.

Both researchers were supported to attend AACR through the NSRP, demonstrating the programme’s commitment to supporting emerging research talent and enabling researchers to engage with the global cancer research community.

Looking Ahead

The success of Call 1 has already led to four new large-scale projects being funded under Call 2 of the NSRP, continuing the programme’s mission to strengthen collaboration, research excellence, and researcher development across the island.

As the Insights on Impact report clearly demonstrates, the North South Research Programme is far more than a funding initiative. It is building lasting partnerships, strengthening research infrastructure and creating a shared framework for innovation and collaboration across the island of Ireland.

For AICRI, AICRIstart represents a powerful example of what can be achieved when we work together with a shared ambition to improve cancer research and care for patients across the island. But continued investment to allow us to scale this programme is key. As Professor Lawler said in the accompanying webinar to launch the report . 

“The impact of AICRI has been felt both locally and globally. Success breeds Success, Invest in Success. We deliver.”