After striking a €5 million signature partnership with Medtronic, president of University of Galway Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, explains more about the significance of the partnership.
Uni of Galway / Medtronic
Photo Martina Regan
First, tell us about the significance of this being the first partnership between the university and industry?
The University of Galway and Medtronic Signature Innovation Partnership runs for five years.
The new partnership has three major components:
- Health Technology Ecosystem Pillar: A signature investment in the expansion of the University’s medtech ecosystem aimed at addressing gaps in translational and clinical trials infrastructure.
- STEM Education and Outreach Pillar: Continuing and expanding Medtronic’s current programmatic support and investments campus-wide.
- Research Pillar: Providing early-stage seed funding for new Medtronic-University research projects.
As Medtronic already had a presence in Galway prior to this deal, how big a coup is it for the area and the university to have this agreement in place?
The partnership is created as part of University of Galway’s Meitheal campaign, an initiative bringing together individual, industry and community stakeholders to advance our strategic priorities in the areas of medical technology, clinical trials, sustainability, innovation, and creativity.
In that context, it is hugely significant for the University. It is also symbolic of the scale of ambition and intent that University of Galway has as a research-led institution which places its work for the public good at the heart of everything it does.
This partnership aims to develop the medtech ecosystem, STEM and research – how will it go about this?
Our vision is to reinforce Galway’s recognised position as a global medtech research and innovation hub, transforming the lives of patients around the world by providing new solutions to address the world’s persistent healthcare challenges, and centred around the internationally recognised excellence of University of Galway’s facilities, faculty and students.
It is ambitious. Over the five years of the initiative, the University-wide partnership will significantly advance the existing collaborations between the University and Medtronic to further grow collective expertise.
It will also help to launch bold new initiatives that will have major impact not only for our two organisations, but also for Galway, Ireland, and the world.
The partnership will drive investments in translational and clinical trials infrastructure and research at the University by supporting two new University of Galway research institutes: the recently established Institute for Clinical Trials and the soon to be established Institute for Health Discovery and Innovation.
The aim of the creation of these two new institutes is to accelerate and heighten the real-world impact of our research in the biomedical engineering science and clinical trials domains.
By bridging the lineage and harnessing the outputs of basic, applied, and clinical research, we can transform our research into life-changing treatments and interventions for a range of medical conditions and improve patient outcomes in a meaningful way.
What will the new research institute that is due to be established offer?
The establishment of the two new research institutes by University of Galway will provide a seamless infrastructure that will bridge the gap from basic and translational research through to the prototyping and clinical trials of new medical devices and technologies, leading to life-changing impacts for patients.
Medtronic’s philanthropic investment will positively impact the creation of an integrated and comprehensive end-to-end infrastructure, and in particular, will contribute to the establishment of a new Prototype Hub and a new Clinical Accelerator Hub which are part of the two new Institutes.
The development of the Institute for Clinical Trials will drive expanded clinical trial activity in Galway benefiting patients across Ireland who will have exponentially increased access to cutting edge medical technologies and treatments.
What does this partnership say about both the strength of Galway and Ireland’s medtech sector as a whole?
Ireland is one of Europe's largest medtech hotspots, home to over 300 medtech companies. Nine of the world's top ten medical device manufacturers have operations here and Ireland employs the highest number of medtech personnel per capita in Europe. Galway is at the heart of this activity, a mix of medical technology start-ups, multinationals and research centres that employs over 8,000 people.
This critical mass presents a compelling case for companies to grow and diversify their presence in the region, allowing them to capitalise on new opportunities afforded by the Irish medtech ecosystem and ever closer partnerships with University of Galway.
Specifically, this new partnership will benefit industry by:
- Building on the strength of Ireland and the West of Ireland as the centre of the global medtech ecosystem
- Strengthening opportunities to attract and retain global talent and leadership to Galway and provide a talent pipeline for the sector
- Advancing and accelerating basic and applied medical technologies research at the highest levels
- Placing Ireland on the map as the destination of choice for global clinical trials by advancing and accelerating the University’s leadership in clinical trials design and delivery
- Expanding educational opportunities in the medtech field so the University can continue to produce highly skilled graduates and leaders for the medtech industry
- Unlocking significant new sources of funding for medtech-related research projects, leading to future positive breakthroughs in the treatment of disease and improvements in human health
- Driving new and innovative start-up companies through innovation training including support for the Bioinnovate programme and the University of Galway Ian Quinn Centre for Health Discovery and Innovation.
Anything else you’d like to add?
One of the largest corporate philanthropic investments in Ireland in recent times, this new partnership builds on the foundation of an already deep and mutually beneficial relationship between our two organisations. This is the first campus-wide industry partnership at this scale at University of Galway.
As well as the benefits for patient care, for the medtech ecosystem and for the university as an institution, our students will also benefit hugely.
We have a robust teaching programme, enhanced by its significant contribution to the academic research ecosystem in Ireland. Through deep partnership with Medtronic and other select industry leaders, we can explore a shared vision and to produce and develop medtech’s future leaders.
The partnership will allow us to do the following:
- Expand education opportunities and access for students in the medtech field
- Expand opportunities for student-led joint research programmes at the masters and PhD levels.
- Engage current students with industry expertise, bringing leaders from the medtech industry into the University teaching and research community
- Enhance our robust programmes in innovation and entrepreneurial skills, including the BioInnovate training programme and the IdeasLab Enterprise Challenge programme
- Provide a clear pathway from research and ideation to proof of concept and commercialisation.
