UCD-led all-Ireland cancer network receives €1 million investment for pancreatic cancer research
4 February 2026
Pictured at UCD, Dr Naomi Walsh, Dublin City University; UCD Professor Gráinne O’Kane, Consultant Medical Oncologist at St Vincent’s University Hospital; Professor Richard Turkington, Queen’s University Belfast Credit: Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland
University College Dublin is to lead a €1 million research programme aimed at improving early detection of pancreatic cancer, one of Ireland’s most difficult to treat cancers.
From accelerating research into biomarkers for earlier detection, to better treatment options, the (opens in a new window)Breakthrough Cancer Research AllCaN Pancreatic Cancer grant was awarded to a new all-island network led by Professor Gráinne O’Kane, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Pat Smullen Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at the UCD School of Medicine.
The €1m investment will fund a multi-year programme that will bring together senior investigators, early career researchers, clinicians and PPIE representatives from across the island of Ireland to build a genuinely integrated national research effort.
“This All-Ireland network represents a major step forward for pancreatic cancer research,” said Professor O’Kane.
“By combining clinical insight with scientific expertise and embedding public and patient perspectives from the outset, we have an opportunity to address long-standing gaps in early detection, treatment decision-making and care pathways."
Adding: “Pancreatic cancer has not benefited from the same research advances seen in other cancers. This programme allows us to work together at scale, across institutions and disciplines, to generate knowledge that can be translated into real improvements in how this disease is detected and treated.”
The funding announcements comes on World Cancer Day, marked on February 4 each year.
Over 800 people die from pancreatic cancer annually across the island of Ireland.
AllCaN is a flagship initiative under Breakthrough Cancer Research’s five-year research strategy Making More Survivors, designed to accelerate progress in cancers with the poorest outcomes through deep, structured collaboration across institutions and jurisdictions.
This is the second All-Ireland Cancer Network the charity has launched. Its first on oesophageal cancer has been in place since 2023.
“Pancreatic cancer is one of the greatest challenges we face in cancer research today,” said Orla Dolan, CEO of Breakthrough Cancer Research. “Outcomes remain devastatingly poor, largely because the disease is so often diagnosed late and treatment options are limited.”
"Through AllCaN, we are creating the conditions needed for real progress by bringing together the very best expertise across the island of Ireland around a shared ambition.”
Professor Richard Turkington, Queen’s University Belfast, Co-Lead of the AllCaN Pancreatic Cancer added: “Pancreatic cancer outcomes in Northern Ireland are among the poorest, with survival rates even lower than in the Republic of Ireland. That makes the need for coordinated ambitious research even more urgent.
“By working together across jurisdictions, we can accelerate progress in early detection, understand the disease better and develop more effective approaches to treatment that will directly benefit people with pancreatic cancer right across the island.”
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
