The Minister of Health, Leo Varadkar, announced the latest round of Health Research Awards being made by the HRB. The announcement included two awards to researchers who will use the CRF to conduct their research.
Dr. Juliette Hussey and Dr. Emer Guinan secured an award to identify how to assist to patients return to normal activity levels and to improve their quality of life. This study will be the first to measure the impact that treatments for oesophageal cancer has on the ability of patients to complete normal activities. It will also show for the first time how a rehabilitation programme involving exercise and diet advice may help patient recovery in the early period following treatment.
Working with Professor John Reynolds Surgery team at the HRB – Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility at St James’s Hospital, the investigators will complete measures of physical performance (walking and ability to climb stairs) at cancer diagnosis and throughout treatment to gain a greater understanding of the extent to which physical performance is negatively affected by oesophageal cancer treatment. In addition, they will track changes in body composition (body fat and muscle content), food intake and blood markers. When the cancer treatment is complete, patients will be invited to complete a 12-week recovery programme, which will include a walking programme, diet advice and education sessions with different healthcare professionals.
Professor Thomas Froedl is a Psychiatrist proposing to investigate why some people with major depressive disorder (MDD) fail to respond to treatment. Given that some 500,000 people in Ireland will experience MDD at least once in their lifetime it is important that the optimal approach to treatment is found to minimise the healthcare burden of this condition. Professor Froedl’s research will carry out brain imaging and epigenetic techniques to follow up with patients who have recovered from MDD to understand the neuroplastic changes in the brain that might be associated with recovery and non-remission. This research will be conducted in the CRF and the nearby HRB funded Centre for Advanced Medical Imaging (CAMI).
Further details about these and other awards can be found at http://www.hrb.ie/about/in-the-news/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=561&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=19&cHash=1c4fd224dff9ca23f97c5e29f09d4f32
LinkedIn