€14.8m Fund for New Systems Biology Centre

Deep seated use of high end computing and mathematics to play pivotal role in SFI's Latest CSET, Systems Biology

A €14.8 million research centre focussing on Systems Biology has been launched in University College Dublin as part of Science Foundation Ireland's (SFI) Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) programme and will create 69 positions for researchers.

Systems Biology is a powerful new way to use the strength of computers and mathematics to understand biology. It seeks to unravel the complexities of cells through the use of models that predict biological behaviour. The research being undertaken will 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.

Welcoming the announcement of the new SFI CSET, which is now the tenth to be established, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland, Professor Frank Gannon said: "As the pipeline for new therapeutic drugs becomes constricted it is recognised that a fresh approach to understanding disease is timely. The convergence of computer modelling and the study of the biological system brings new challenges and opportunities. This latest SFI CSET will add to the skill-base that is required for the pharmaceutical companies of the future in Ireland."

In addition to the Government funding of €14.8million which is to be provided over the next 5 years, the research centre is also being supported through the significant contribution of industry partners, as with all CSETs currently in operation. Almost €4.7million has been contribution from Ark Therapeutics, Hewlett Packard, Servier, Agilent Technologies, Siemens Ireland and Protagen AG.

Systems Biology Ireland is led by University College Dublin and is supported by researchers in NUI Galway. Professor Walter Kolch, who has relocated to Ireland to lead the new research programme, outlined the potential of systems biology to speed up research and help target therapies to particular patient types by saying, "Systems biology takes a holistic view of the organism. It looks at the processes rather than the single components of a cell or a gene. Our research is unique in that we work with stem cells but the outcomes of our research will feed into a global effort to provide better therapies for cancer patients. Our work will help speed up the experimentation process, thereby reducing by years the time it takes to develop a new drug therapy."

Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan T.D. who made the announcement earlier today at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, said "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."

He added, "I am very excited by the potential economic and societal benefits likely to accrue to Ireland from the research being undertaken by the Systems Biology SFI CSET. It is one of the critical emerging areas in the Life Sciences worldwide. Ireland is now very well placed to become a world leader in this field given the very strong foundation we have here in the pharmaceutical and IT sectors. It should greatly assist the IDA to attract further high-end Foreign Direct investment and also allow Irish SMEs to grow. This centre, with its deep-rooted academic - industry partnership, encapsulates the essence of what our Smart Economy should and can be. "

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