“Today’s investment establishing Systems Biology Ireland is clear evidence of the Government’s ongoing commitment to further enhancing Ireland’s scientific base to aid our economic recovery,” said the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan TD at the announcement of a new research centre in systems biology.
A powerful new way to use the strength of computers and mathematics to understand biology, systems biology seeks to unravel the complexities of cells through the use of models that predict biological behaviours. The research being undertaken at Systems Biology Ireland aims to enable quicker and better treatments of a range of medical conditions, including various cancers and should allow for better therapies to be delivered more effectively to patients.
Pictured at the announcement of SBI - (front row l-r): Prof Des Fitzgerald, VP for Research at UCD; Dr Hugh Brady, President, UCD; Mr Conor Lenihan TD, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation; Prof Frank Gannon, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland; Prof Boris Kholodenko, Deputy Director, Systems Biology Ireland; and Prof Walter Kolch, Director, Systems Biology Ireland. (Middle row l-r): John Martin, CSO of Ark Therapeutics; Dr Laurent Perret, Président du Comité Scientifique du Groupe de Recherches Servier; and Mark Gantly, MD Hewlett Packard, Galway. (Back row l-r) Padraig McDonnell, Country Manager, Agilent Technologies; Werner Kruckow, MD Siemens Ireland; and Prof Tim O’Brien, NUI Galway, Professor & Chair of Medicine and Director of REMEDI.
Systems Biology Ireland will underpin Ireland’s extensive life science industry, including its pharmaceutical industry which employs 23,000 people and is responsible for more than 48% of the country’s export sales.
The new research centre is also being supported through the significant contribution of industry partners who include Ark Therapeutics, Hewlett Packard, Servier, Agilent Technologies, Siemens Ireland and Protagen AG. The Systems Biology SFI CSET will involve 69 highly skilled personnel working on the research programme.
The Director of SBI is Professor Walter Kolch of UCD, who has relocated to Ireland to lead this new SFI CSET. Alongside Professor Kolch are Professor Boris Kholodenko, Deputy Director, Systems Biology Ireland, UCD, Professor Des Higgins, UCD Professor of Bioinformatics, Professor Cormac Taylor, UCD Associate Professor of Cellular Physiology, Professor Tim O’Brien, NUI Galway, Professor & Chair of Medicine and Director of REMEDI, and Professor Frank Barry, NUI, Galway Professor of Cellular Therapy & Scientific Director, REMEDI.
Minister Lenihan also highlighted the fact that the new CSET will be a key resource as Ireland competes for high value foreign direct investment (FDI) jobs and should be a valuable asset for Irish SMEs as they seek to expand.
Professor Des Fitzgerald, Vice-president for Research at UCD said: “Systems Biology Ireland is a major development within the UCD Conway Institute, which has always had a strong focus on biomedical research, supported by proteomics and bioinformatics. SBI will train a new type of scientist with deep knowledge across the disciplines of biology, medical sciences, mathematics and computation.”
Systems Biology Ireland is working with a range of industry partners to develop new technologies for biomedical research and will continue to develop the links with industry to harness the State's investment in the programme.
