Irish Centre for Vascular Biology

Vascular biology research is the study of blood vessels – how they develop, how they function and how they respond to injury. Blood vessel abnormalities play a critical role in the pathogenesis of many common and serious diseases, including heart disease, stroke, venous thromboembolism, pregnancy complications, diabetes and cancer.

The new Irish Centre for Vascular Biology (ICVB) comprises an integrated network of research groups across Irish hospitals and universities (in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) that are actively engaged in the field of vascular research. The mission of the ICVB is to harness and combine the expertise of these individual groups, thereby establishing a single national Irish centre of excellence in vascular biology research that will be recognised at international level.

In addition to leveraging existing Irish expertise, the ICVB will also build new partnerships between the major stakeholders involved in Irish vascular research, including scientists, healthcare providers, patients and industry partners, with the goal of formulating and applying novel interdisciplinary methods to the study of vascular biology.

Critically, the ICVB will endeavour to transcend traditional organ-specific approaches to vascular heath and disease. The integrative ICVB research programme will span the bench-to-bedside continuum in order to address important fundamental questions in vascular biology, with the ultimate aim of making breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of vascular disease.

In parallel, the ICVB will provide a training platform for the next generation of outstanding vascular biology researchers and clinician-scientists in Ireland. Crucially, the ICVB will be industry-facing and will partner with local SMEs and multinational pharmaceutical companies to achieve our shared goals –developing new treatments and technologies that reduce the overwhelming burden that vascular diseases place on Irish society.

Who's involved?

• RCSI
• University College Dublin
• Dublin City University
• Trinity College Dublin
• University College Cork
• NUI Galway
• Ulster University
• Queen's University Belfast
• St James’s Hospital, Dublin
• Tallaght Hospital, Dublin
• St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin
• Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin
• Beaumont Hospital, Dublin
• Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, Dublin
• Altnagelvin Area Hospital, Derry
• Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital, Dublin
• Rotunda Hospital, Dublin
• Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin
• University Hospital Galway
• Mercy University Hospital, Cork