Precision Oncology Ireland
What is Precision Oncology Ireland?
Precision Oncology Ireland (POI) is a consortium of 5 Irish Universities, 6 Irish Charities, and 7 industry partners working to develop new diagnostics and therapeutics for personalised cancer treatment. Officially launched in November 2019, the consortium is part-funded by Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland under their Strategic Partnership Programme, and is co-ordinated by Systems Biology Ireland.
Leadership
POI is led by by Director, Prof. Walter Kolch & Deputy Director, Prof. William Gallagher.
Prof. Kolch is Director of the Systems Biology Ireland research centre in UCD and a leading international proponent of precision medicine. Originally trained as a clinician and subsequently working across the pharmaceutical industry, research institutes, and academia, Prof. Kolch is internationally recognised for his cutting-edge research using systems approaches to understand signalling networks, and is ranked 6th in the world in precision oncology, and 12th in systems medicine (Google Scholar). Through his leading involvement in pan-European strategic initiatives including Coordinating Action Systems Medicine, Infrastructure for Systems Biology Europe, and the ELIXIR research infrastructure for life science information, Kolch has played a central role in the development of precision oncology and medicine policy and funding at both national and international level.
Prof. Gallagher is Professor of Cancer Biology in the UCD School of Biomolecular & Biomedical Science and Former Director of the UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research (2016-2021). A major focus of Prof. Gallagher's research work is the identification and validation of cancer biomarkers. He co-founded the biomarker private company OncoMark Ltd. and is currently Chief Scientific Officer of OncoAssure Ltd (formerly OncoMark Ltd.). Prof. Gallagher was also the Director of the first Irish Cancer Society Collaborative Cancer Research Centre, BREAST-PREDICT
Partnership
The combined Research Ireland, charity, and industrial funding commitment will total €11.9 million over the next five years. This is the first time that researchers, charities and industry have combined forces in this way, with a joint view of achieving greater impact for patients by uniting investments in the POI programme.