FutureNeuro: translating research into action

One in four people in Ireland will be directly affected by a neurological disorder during their lifetime. An enormous gap remains in translating neuroscience, genetics, and diagnostic discoveries into patient care; the current system for diagnosing, treating, and managing chronic and rare neurological diseases is inadequate and largely fails patients.

FutureNeuro is the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre for Chronic and Rare Neurological Diseases, based at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), and brings together an internationally recognised multidisciplinary team. FutureNeuro includes neuroscientists, clinical neurologists, geneticists, cell biologists, and analytical and materials chemists from five different third-level institutions’ research teams including RCSI, Trinity College Dublin (TCD), University College Dublin (UCD), Dublin City University (DCU), and National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG). FutureNeuro currently has eight dedicated principal investigators.

The vision of FutureNeuro is to provide a uniquely integrated centre that will accelerate translatable discoveries on genetic diagnosis and advanced molecular treatments supported by enabling eHealth technology for chronic and rare neurological diseases. Researchers in FutureNeuro connect to a national clinical network spanning major tertiary referral centres across Ireland, which in turn are linked via national disease-specific electronic health systems. This is globally unique and provides an edge over similar initiatives and a platform to deliver world-leading research. Further, given the size and nature of the healthcare system in Ireland, this is scalable to other neurological disorders.