Funding Opportunities

The Irish Endocrine Society has the following funding opportunities available:

IRISH ENDOCRINE SOCIETY BASIC SCIENCE AWARD 2024

The Basic Science Award is funded by the IES to enable researchers (clinical or non-clinical) to undertake laboratory based small research projects or pilot studies. The funding for 2024 is a grant worth a maximum of €15,000 (sterling equivalent). One award will be offered in 2024. Salary support can be requested but should not make up the entirety of the grant.

Applications will be accepted from applicants within the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland for clinical or basic science laboratory based projects. Applications are particularly welcome from younger academic researchers who are within five years of their first appointment. Applicants must demonstrate that they have a genuine research interest in Endocrinology within the island of Ireland and show that they have a full time post for the lifetime of the proposed grant.

All Applicants on the Basic Science Grant application must be fully paid members of the Irish Endocrine Society and the principal author of the study needs to be in good standing with the Irish Endocrine Society. The Secretary of the IES can approve membership applications prior to ratification at the Annual IES AGM if necessary.

Applications must be completed in the IES Basic Science Grant application form. Closing date is 26th April 2024. Please submit the completed application forms to Professor Graham Lee at [email protected] and Cc the application email to [email protected].

The application form and guidelines, including the assessment criteria are attached below.

Basic_Science_Grant_Application_form 2024

Application Guidelines: IES_Grant_Scheme_Guidelines_2024

The winner of the award will be announced at the annual IES AGM later in the year.

2023 Basic Science Award

No applications

2022 Basic Science Award

Dr Keith Rochfort and Dr Hannah Forde "To elucidate the effect of semaglutide on a three-dimensional model of the blood retinal barrier in a diabetic setting."

Dr Marie McElroy, Prof Jochen Prehn and Prof Michael O'Reilly "Evaluation of androgen driven cancer cell estosis as a potential mechanism of endocrine therapy resistance in breast cancer."

2018 Basic Science Awards

Dr James Gibney and Dr Fiona McGillicuddy “High density lipoprotein particles as metabolic hormones – does diabetes alter the signalling pathways induced by these particles to increase cardiovascular risk”.

2017 Basic Science Awards

Andrew McCloskey and Professor Aine McKillop "Investigation of the mechanistic function of GPR120 in islet cell physiology using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and intracellular signalling analysis"

2016 Basic Science Awards

Prof James Gibney and Dr Fiona McGillycuddy: To compare high-density lipoprotein function and composition in type 1 versus type 2 diabetes and determine relationship to early measures of atherosclerosis.

Dr Shona Pfeiffer, Prof Jochen Prehn and Dr Maria Byrne: An in vivo pre-clinical study exploring microRNA-224 (miR-224) as a new therapeutic target for the treatment of diabetes.

2015 Basic Science Awards

Dr Conall Dennedy: An investigation of the effects of oxysterols in modulating adrenocortical carcinoma.

Professor Finbarr O’Harte: Pre-clinical development of novel apelin-13 drug candidates for diabetes therapy

2014 Basic Science Awards

Professor Aine McKillop: Targeting G protein coupled receptors with novel lipid agonists as a potential therapy for type 2 diabetes

Mr Conor Kerley & Dr John McDermott: Dietary nitrate to attenuate impaired glucose tolerance: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial.

2013 Basic Science Awards

Dr Francis Finucane, Dr Amir Shafat: Title: Oral glucose breath test for diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Dr Yasser Abdel-Wahab, Dr Peter Flatt: Title: Pharmacological studies of novel amphibian skin peptide-analogues for the treatment of type-2 diabetes

2012 Basic Science Awards

Dr N Irwin: Title: Harnessing the potential of gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) for treatment of bone disorders

Dr K Mullan & Dr P Mullan Title: Prospective study of the effect of  25 OH Vit D and 1,25 OH2 Vit D on coronary heart disease risk : PRIME study (Prospective Epidemiological Study of Myocardial Infarction)

IRISH ENDOCRINE SOCIETY CLINICAL SCIENCE AWARD 2024

Aim: The aim of this award is to promote research in Endocrinology and Diabetes in Ireland.The IES offers one annual clinical research grant to the value of €15,000 for clinical research carried out predominantly in Ireland

Rules:

  • Both the principal applicant and the supervisor should be members in good standing with the Irish Endocrine Society. If not a member, it is possible to apply for membership in advance of submitting for the grant.
  • The research should be carried out substantially within Ireland.

Application process

Applicants must submit by the closing date using the form on the IES website. Please find the application form below and submit the completed application forms to Dr Siobhan Bacon at [email protected] and Cc the application email to [email protected]

  1. A curriculum vitae of the principal applicant of not more than 3 pages of A4 containing relevant research experience and
  2. A completed application form
  3. Closing date is 26th April 2024.  
  4. The winner of the award will be announced at the annual IES AGM later in the year.

The Application form is: Clinical-Science-Award-Application-Form-2024

2023 Fay O'Donoghue Exploring the social support needs and health education preferences of women with gestational diabetes and their partners: A qualitative interview study

2022: Mairead Crowley Evaluation of glycemic control and pregnancy outcomes in women with HNF1A-MODY and HNF4A-MODY Prof. Maria M Byrne

2022: Ben Loughrey Exome Sequencing to Characterise the Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumour Microenvironment. Supervisor Prof. Steven Hunter

2018: Dr Julie Martin Grace and Professor Mark Sherlock “Impact of inhaled glucocorticoids on adrenal function”.

2017: Dr Claire Power

2016: Dr Rosemary Dinneen and Dr Mark Sherlock for "Optimising steroid replacement in patients with Addisons disease"

2015: Dr Paul McMullen and Dr Karen Mullan: "Iodine and selenium deficiency and the effect on thyroid function tests in pregnancy"

GradingApplications will be initially assessed by the representatives from the Committee of the Irish Endocrine Society who will assess the applications with reference to the aims of the award. If necessary, applications may be referred for external peer review. 

SUMMER STUDENT RESEARCH BURSARIES Summer 2024

The Irish Endocrine Society invites applications for three (€2,000) Irish Endocrine Society Summer Student Research Bursaries to encourage promising undergraduate students, medical students to pursue careers in endocrinology. The Society provides a stipend to each student award recipient to participate in research projects under the guidance of a Society member for 8 to 12 weeks during the summer. Recipients are invited to attend the Society's Annual Meeting and submit their research.

Application Requirements

  • Summary of research project, jointly prepared by Mentor / Supervisor and Student including Student’s role in the research project (strictly 2 page application, minimum size 11 font)
  • Mentor statement which includes Mentor’s role in the research project including his/her plans for training
  • Student’s CV (mailing address and contact details must be included)
  • The Mentor / Supervisor is in good standing with the Irish Endocrine Society
  • Closing date in 26th April 2024. 
  • Applications to be submitted directly to: Professor Edna Roche at [email protected]  noting “IES SS Research Bursaries” as the Subject Heading.

 

In addition, the Irish Endocrine Society are delighted to offer a further two (€2,000) Summer Student Research Bursaries in conjunction with the HRB Diabetes collaborative Clinical Trial Network (DC-CTN). If applicants would like to be considered for the HRB DC-CTN bursaries, please indicate this in your applications. 

Application Requirements

  • Summary of proposed research project (strictly 2 page application, minimum size 11 font), jointly prepared by Mentor / Supervisor and Student outlining the Student’s role in the research project.
  • Mentor Statement which includes Mentor’s role in the research project including his/her plans for training
  • Student’s CV (mailing address and contact details must be included)
  • The Mentor / Supervisor must be good standing with the Irish Endocrine Society
  • An additional requirement for the Irish Endocrine Society HRB DC-CTN bursaries is that the Mentor be a member of the HRB Diabetes Collaborative Clinical Trial Network, details here Diabetes-Collaborative-Brand-Book.
  • Applications to be submitted directly to: Professor Edna Roche at [email protected]  noting “IES SS Research Bursaries” as the Subject Heading
  • The closing date for receipt of applications is  26th April 2024. 

The bursaries will be awarded following successful competition at the discretion of the IES Committee.

* Existing members of the HRB Diabetes Collaborative Clinical Trial Network can be found here. https://diabetestrialsctn.ie/network-members/.  A prospective Mentor / Supervisor interested in joining the HRB Diabetes Collaborative Clinical Trial Network can email the Network Program Manager Email: [email protected].

The Winners of the 2023 Summer Student Awards are:

  1. Jessica Sayfullaeva (Mentor Professor Francis Finnucane)
    Idenfitying Factors that Influence the Time to Onset of Ketosis in Exercise and Nutrition Scenarios: The TOKEN Study
  2. Aarya Lakshminarayanan (Mentor Professor Sean Dinneen)
    Planning for Recruitment and Retention in the D1 Now Randomised Controlled Trial
  3. Merhan Soltan (Mentor Professor Seamus Sreenan)
    Histological assessment of debrided material from chronic diabetic wounds. Are we currently discarding useful information?
  4. Cara McDonnell (Mentor Dr. Karen Mullen)
    Effect of iodine enriched milk on iodine status: a randomised crossover intervention in healthy volunteer

Two DC-CTN 2023 Student Bursaries were awarded to:

  1. Columb Kavanagh (Mentor Professor Fidelma Dunne)
    Identifying and Prioritizing Unanswered Questions Related to Type 1 Diabetes Management in Adults: A Priority Setting Partnership Approach
  2. Liam Manning (Mentor Professor Seamus Sreenan)
    Estimating the population health impact and cost-effectiveness of implementing evidence-based Type 1 diabetes mellitus care in Ireland

The Winners of the 2019 Summer Student Awards are:

Jack Logue (Mentors Professor Seamus Sreenan and Professor John McDermott, Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown)
Promoting appropriate discharge of uncomplicated type 2 diabetes patients from secondary to primary care.

JoonHee Kim (Mentor Dr. Maria Byrne, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital)
Phenotype, genotype and glycaemic variability in subjects with HNF1-beta mutations MODY 5. Response to appropriate therapy.

Rohil Dureja (Mentor Dr. Antoinette Tuthill, Cork University Hospital)
The Clinical Significance and Burden of Thyroid Nodules Discovered Incidentally.

The Winners of the 2018 Summer Student Awards are:

Aisling Hand (Mentor Dr Cynthia Coleman, NUIG)
Macromolecular crowding in the human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell culture for the development of a wound healing cell therapy product.

Benjamin Agnelli (Mentor Dr Antoinette Tuthill, Cork University Hospital)
The impact of glycaemic control and hypoglycaemia on cognitive function in older patients with type 2 diabetes: a case-control study.

Niall Dalton (Mentors Dr Orla Neylon and Professor Clodagh O'Gorman, University Hospital Limerick)
Activity levels and cardiometabolic risk in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Evelyn O'Shea (Mentor Dr Antoinette Tuthill, Cork University Hospital)
Four year follow up of health outcome status in women with previous gestational diabetes.