Health research at the forefront of Ireland’s response to Covid-19
Ever since the coronavirus pandemic arrived on our shores over a year ago, the health research community has been at the vanguard of combating this crisis — whether working to find treatments and vaccines, alleviate the toll on our healthcare system, or address the broader societal challenges of living with the virus. For the Health Research Board (HRB), supporting Ireland’s response to the pandemic quickly became a top priority, writes Mairéad O’Driscoll, Chief Executive at the HRB.
Our team has been active on multiple fronts to enable leading-edge Irish research on Covid-19, deliver up-to-the-minute evidence to inform decision-making, and shape a responsive research environment that can rapidly adapt to new challenges.
Pivoting funding for a rapid response
As the lead funding agency for health research in Ireland, the HRB has been driving the Irish research response to the pandemic since early 2020. World-class funding approaches embedded over decades meant we were in a position to pivot quickly and address the challenges of Covid-19. In March 2020, we launched a rapid response call in collaboration with Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Irish Research Council (IRC) for research proposals to tackle the Covid-19 crisis in Ireland.
The HRB has invested in a total of 36 projects at a cost of approximately €5.5 million over the period between 2020 and 2022 to tackle the crisis from a wide range of angles. In addition to research that will benefit the health and wellbeing of patients, families, healthcare workers and the healthcare system, many of the projects investigate long-term health and societal aspects of Covid-19, such as mental health or patient risk factors. Such long-term solutions will be crucial as we continue to live with the virus and begin to re-open society.
Leveraging our clinical research infrastructure for Covid-19 trials
A resource that has proved invaluable in our response to Covid-19 has been the clinical research infrastructure supported by the HRB over many years, with an investment of over €160 million since 2007. This allowed us to quickly mobilise support for Ireland’s involvement in two global clinical trials of potential treatments for Covid-19. In April 2020, we supported the launch of the REMAP-COVID trial under the EU REMAP-CAP platform, which is testing interventions for Covid-19 in critically ill patients in Irish hospitals and sharing findings internationally. And in collaboration with the Department of Health and health research partners, the HRB facilitated Ireland’s participation in the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Solidarity trial, the largest trial to date of treatments repurposed for use in the pandemic. Both REMAP and Solidarity have already produced valuable findings on the effectiveness of interventions for patients’ recovery and survival — findings which are now informing treatment of Covid-19 around the world.
Upholding robust ethical standards in times of crisis
Throughout this response to the pandemic, ethical considerations continue to take highest priority for Irish researchers. Reflecting our commitment to strengthen the national research ethics system in Ireland, the HRB supported the establishment of the first National Research Ethics Committee (NREC) at the request of the Minister for Health, to provide rapid review of the ethics underpinning Covid-19 research projects. The Committee was supported by the National Office for Research Ethics Committees, a recently established independent unit in the HRB. From April to August 2020, NREC Covid-19 reviewed 93 applications from 61 institutions across 20 counties — accelerating the ethical approval of urgent studies around Covid-19.
Delivering the right evidence at the right time
In addition to addressing the crisis through research funding and infrastructure investment, the HRB has also contributed as a provider of trusted evidence in support of policymaking. Since the onset of the pandemic, government and public health leaders have sought rapid, scientifically sound information to guide their actions in an ever-changing environment. The teams at our HRB Evidence Centre, the National Drugs Library and Evidence Synthesis Ireland have answered this call by supporting the generation, updating and knowledge translation of evidence briefs, rapid reviews, systematic reviews, and WHO guidelines for the Irish Government. Our evidence products have helped inform decision-making as the pandemic has unfolded, delivering data in response to requests from the Department of Health within 24–48 hours.
“A resource that has proved invaluable in our response to Covid-19 has been the clinical research infrastructure supported by the HRB over many years, with an investment of over €160 million since 2007.”
Driving broader advances in health research
The pandemic has also proved a catalyst to drive forward advances in the Irish health research environment that can have a lasting impact. One such advance relates to the optimal use of health data for research — a key priority for the HRB. Since April 2020, a wealth of data on Covid-19 has been collected by the Health Service Executive (HSE), maintained within the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Covid-19 Data Research Hub. In collaboration with the Department of Health and the CSO, the HRB launched a mechanism in March 2021 to facilitate secure use of this data for research purposes. Ensuring stringent safeguards to protect patient and public rights, an independent Research Data Governance Board (RDGB) is responsible for reviewing researcher applications to access the data, with the HRB providing the Secretariat in support of this work. By enabling new data-driven research, this initiative can advance understanding of Covid-19, while informing future healthcare policy.
Another leap forward has been in the area of biobanking, with the HRB playing a central role in the establishment of a national Covid-19 biobank in collaboration with the Department of Health and other stakeholders. The aim is to create a prospective, disease-based biobank of Covid-19 samples and associated data, providing a resource for research studies to inform clinical care, vaccination, and booster strategies, and increasing the knowledge base for tackling future pandemics — while ensuring robust governance in line with best international practices, and full legal and ethical compliance. Biobanks and biobanking research play an increasingly important role in healthcare research and delivery as health systems become more patient-centred, and medicine becomes more personalised. This Covid-19 Biobank is a critical first step in supporting biorepository studies and data linkages as set out in the Resilience and Recovery 2020–2021 Plan.
Providing trusted information
At a time when public trust in health research is more essential than ever, tackling Covid-19 misinformation has also been a top priority. In March 2020, the HRB supported the establishment of iHealthFacts, an online resource led by NUIG that enables the public to easily check the reliability of health claims. And with public trust crucial to the successful rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in the coming months, we have partnered with the Royal Irish Academy on ‘Vaccine Questions’, a series of podcasts featuring experts and scientists from around Ireland — putting listener questions to the expert guests to provide a reliable source of information on vaccines.
Investing in our future
This response to the Covid-19 crisis has served to reinforce our firm conviction at the HRB that funding for health research is not a cost, but an investment — an investment in our future as a society here in Ireland. The pandemic has been a stark reminder of how vital research is to improve treatments, support our healthcare system and inform decision making. And we have clearly seen how a well-functioning health and research system is essential to the functioning of our economy more broadly. In short, the quality of our health research system will remain essential for the wellbeing of our society, today and in the future.
For more information on the HRB’s response to Covid-19, please contact Gillian Markey, Communications Manager.
E: gmarkey@hrb.ie
W: www.hrb.ie
