University College Dublin-led AI Healthcare Project Secures €9.1 million in DTIF Funding

- Two NovaUCD companies are among the AINM project partners

Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke TD, and Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD has announced that AINM, an AI healthcare project, led by University College Dublin (UCD), has been awarded €9.1 million in funding under Call 7 of the (opens in a new window)Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF).

The AINM project is one of seven projects announced by the Ministers which have been awarded a total of just under €39 million in funding bringing the total funding awarded to 27 projects under Call 7 to €159 million.

Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD said, “I am pleased to announce funding for the final seven projects under DTIF Call 7. With these awards, almost €159 million has now been awarded to 27 projects that will play a pivotal role in addressing the major challenges facing our society and economy, such as meeting Ireland’s climate obligations, driving digital transformation, advancing Artificial Intelligence and green technologies, developing innovative health technologies and services and supporting upskilling initiatives to maintain Ireland’s global competitiveness.”

The AINM project, led by the UCD Clinical Research Centre (UCD CRC), is focused on leveraging the power of data and AI to empower Irish innovators to transform health services with hospital-ready AI-based decision support solutions. The project aims to develop Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) using large language models (LLMs) and advanced analytics to transform AI healthcare use cases into commercial products.

Professor Peter Doran, Director of the UCD Clinical Research Centre and Professor of Clinical Trials at the UCD School of Medicine will lead the AINM project on behalf of UCD in collaboration with, Deciphex, Wavescope, Terawe, Dell Technologies (DELL)/EMC Information Systems International, Microsoft Ireland Ltd and two NovaUCD-headquartered companies, Oblivious Software Limited and xWave Technologies.

In addition to Professor Doran, other UCD researchers involved with the project include; Associate Professor Brian MacNamee, UCD School of Computer Science; Professor Patricia Maguire, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science; Professor Brian Caulfield, UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science; Dr Ronan Kileen, UCD School of Medicine and Professor Michela Bertolotto, UCD School of Computer Science, along with Reno Jacob, Director of ICT,  St. Vincent’s University Hospital.

Professor Peter Doran, Director of the UCD Clinical Research Centre, said, “We’re absolutely delighted to see the AINM project funded. It’s a real endorsement of the direction set out in the UCD CRC strategy and our ambition to be a leading centre for clinical and translational research at the cutting edge of technological development.

AINM gives us a significant opportunity to turn that ambition into real-world progress, using key-enabling technologies to support the kind of clinical research that genuinely changes practice. For us, it’s about making sure innovative ideas actually reach patients, and AINM gives us a clear path to do that.”

He added, “What makes this programme so exciting is the strength and diversity of the partners involved. Bringing together industry innovators, academic experts and frontline clinicians means we can develop AI tools that are technically advanced, grounded in real-world evidence and aligned with the realities of clinical care. Creating secure, federated infrastructure where we can build and test clinical decision support systems, while protecting patient privacy, is a major step forward for Ireland’s digital health ecosystem.

Mitchell O’Gorman, CEO of xWave Technologies, which is transforming how healthcare professionals manage diagnostics with intelligent technology said, “Access to high quality health data and real world clinical validation is essential for any Irish company developing safe and effective AI for healthcare. DTIF gives innovators like xWave the environment we need to build clinically trusted, globally deployable solutions.

The strength of this consortium, spanning leading clinicians, world class researchers and industry partners, creates a unique foundation for Ireland to lead in the next generation of clinical decision support and diagnostic workflows."

Robert Pisarczyk, CEO of Oblivious Software, which is focused on enabling secure data collaboration through privacy-enhancing technologies said, said, “Oblivious is delighted to join this world-class consortium and help deliver the AINM vision. Advancing AI in healthcare requires not only cutting-edge models but the confidence that sensitive data remains protected at every step.

With privacy-enhancing technologies and secure AI infrastructure, we look forward to empowering transformative clinical advances while ensuring that privacy remains a foundation for progress.”

The Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) is a €500 million fund established under the National Development Plan (NDP) in 2018. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment manages the DTIF with administrative support from Enterprise Ireland.

The purpose of the fund is to drive collaboration between Ireland’s world-class research base and industry as well as facilitating enterprises to compete directly for funding in support of the development and adoption of these technologies. The aim is to support investment in the development and deployment of disruptive technologies and applications on a commercial basis.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless TD said, “The success of Call 7 has surpassed all expectations. It is inspiring to see so many collaborative partners from industry and academia committed to driving innovation in Ireland. The government’s continued support in cutting edge technology development through the DTIF also plays a vital role in ensuring that graduates with highly specialised expertise from our leading research institutions are matched with the specialised roles required to deliver these projects.”

Jenny Melia, CEO, Enterprise Ireland, said, "The success of Call 7 under the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund is a clear signal of Ireland’s capacity to lead in transformative innovation. These 27 projects represent strategic investments in areas that will define our future AI-driven healthcare, sustainable agriculture, quantum technologies, and advanced manufacturing – while facilitating stronger industry–research partnerships, accelerated commercialization of disruptive solutions, and enhanced global competitiveness for Irish enterprises. Now is the time to build on this momentum.

“I encourage all industry leader and research institutions to actively engage with these projects, explore collaboration opportunities, and leverage the supports available through Enterprise Ireland. Together, we can ensure these innovations deliver measurable economic impact, create high-value employment, position Ireland as a global hub for next-generation technologies and support Enterprise Ireland’s long-term ambition that exporting Irish companies become the primary drive of the Irish economy."

In addition to the AINM project, UCD is also partnering in the PIONEER project, which has secured €7.2 million in funding. PIONEER is a pathology and immuno-oncology project with next-generation screening and electroporation for enhanced response. Associate Professor Niall Mulligan, Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor at the UCD School of Medicine at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital is the UCD lead on the PIONEER project.

ENDS

9 December 2025

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, UCD Research and Innovation, NovaUCD, e: (opens in a new window)miceal.whelan@ucd.ie.

Editors Notes

The DTIF Call 7 was launched in May 2024. It was ‘rolling’ call which facilitated applications to be processed as soon as they were submitted and also an extended deadline of April 2025. During this time, 41 applications were submitted for evaluation which ultimately led to 27 applications being approved for a record amount of funding of €159 million. (opens in a new window)enterprise.gov.ie/DTIF.