Northern Ireland (UKN)

Innovation Performance Group (2019) : Strong -

Total population (2019) 1875957

Population per km² (2017) 138

Proportion population older 65 year % 16,33%

Regional website: The Public Health Agency

Background

Northern Ireland has a population of 1.8 million. In Northern Ireland personalised medicine is an area of substantial and rapidly growing focus which benefits from the core strengths that underpin the region’s health and social care and research and development infrastructure.

The Queen’s University hosts the Precision Medicine Centre (PMC) of Excellence, which will provide the necessary infrastructure to meet the increasing demands in the changing field of healthcare and industry in terms of technologies and expertise. The Northern Ireland Centre for Stratified Medicine, which undertakes cutting edge stratified medicine research is a collaborative project between the University of Ulster's Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, C-TRIC (the Clinical Translational Research and Innovation Centre) and the Western Health and Social Care Trust. The Centre for Personalised Medicine and Clinical Decision Making (INTERREG VA Programme) is also located at Ulster University. This cross-border collaborative project, led by Stratified Medicine Ulster University includes 13 partner organisations.

Is the region looking for international/European/interregional collaboration opportunities? 

Yes - We are always open to the possibility of international/ European/ interregional collaboration opportunities

Membership status

Member ICPerMed? no 

Mountain ? Non-mountain

Member Euregha? yes 

Adriatic-Ionian MacroRegion? no

InnoStars Region? no 

Northern Sparsely Populated Area (NSPA)? no

PM region according EC? yes 

Baltic Sea MacroRegion? no

S3MedTech region?  no  

Danube MacroRegion?  no

S3P4PM region? no 

Alpine MacroRegion? no

Regions4PM region? no

S3ClusSport member? no 

Central Europe? no

MedTech4Europe? no

Council of European BioRegions (CEBR)? no

1M+Genome initiative? country level member

European Regions Research & Innovation Network? yes

Vanguard Initiative? no

ERAPerMed?  no

Policy documents

1. Regional: Research for Better Health & Social Care A Strategy for Health & Social Care Research and Development in Northern Ireland (2016-2025)  

2. Regional: Health and Wellbeing 2026 - Delivering Together (Department of Health)

3. Regional: Systems, Not Structures - Changing Health and Social Care - Full Report

4. Regional: Precision Medicine in Northern Ireland  

NACE Personalised Medicine/Personalised Health   related to Research and Innovation objectives: Q.86 - Human health activities; M.72 - Scientific   research and development

Scientific domain NABS Personalised   Medicine/Personalised Health related to Research and Innovation: NABS07 - Health; NABS13 - General advancement of   knowledge: R&D financed from other sources than GUF

Policy objective Personalised Medicine/Personalised Health related related to Research and Innovation objectives: G.46 - Ageing societies; Other

Policy document (RIS3): Yes 

Policy document PM@RIS3: Yes

Major initiatives

1. Centre of Excellence Precision Medicine Centre 

2. Northern Ireland Centre for Stratified Medicine 

3. Centre for Personalised Medicine - Clinical Decision Making and Patient Safety (CPM)

4. SAPHIRe 

5. The Northern Ireland Biobank

6. Clinical Diagnostics Laboratory molecular diagnostics lab

7. The Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland (HIRANI)

8. PASSION-HF - PAtient Self-care uSIng eHealth In chrONic Heart Failure 

9. EUROCAT: European surveillance of congenital anomalies 

10. The Ireland/ Northern Ireland Cross-Border Cooperation Observatory

11. AMPLIFY 

12. Cross-Border Healthcare Intervention Trials in Ireland Network (CHITIN)

13. INTERREG IV Putting Patients First

14. A Cross Border Proposal for a New Eastern Corridor Medical Engineering Centre 

15. Platforms for Ageing Community Engagement - Exchange and Enterprise 

16. Conversational Interfaces Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing of People in Sparsely Populated Areas

17. NW Healthy Living & Community Gardens/Allotments Project

18.  Peripheral Assisted Living 

19. Smart sENsor Devices fOr rehabilitation and Connected health 

Is the region represented in: Horizon2020; Regional Smart Specialisation Strategy Platforms/Partnerships (RIS3); EIT Health/InnoStars/Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS); other?

1. Horizon2020 SAPHIRe project

Self evaluation

General perception of the implementation level of PM in the region - Low

Rate of the need for developing and implementing PM in the region - Medium

Rate of the need for increasing support/funding for PM activities in the  region - Medium

Rate of the need for increasing the capacity of PM skills in the region - Medium

Rate of the genomics literacy of the citizens in the region - Low

Rate of the need for increasing interregional collaboration in PM - Medium

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