Avril Kennan

Tens of thousands of Hungarians celebrating Pride and marching across a bridge over the Danube in Budapest

Viktor Orban: "There will be NO Pride events in Hungary!"

Hungarians: "Challenge accepted"

The Last Message of Hossam — to be shared after his death: "If you’re reading this, it means I’ve been killed — likely targeted — by Israeli occupation forces. When this all began, I was only 21 years old — a university student with dreams like anyone else. For the past 18 months, I’ve dedicated every moment of my life to my people. I documented the horrors in northern Gaza minute by minute, determined to show the world the truth they tried to bury. I slept on sidewalks, in schools, in tents — wherever I could. Every day was a fight to survive. I endured hunger for months, yet I never left my people. By God, I did my duty as a journalist. I risked everything to report the truth. And now, I’ve finally found rest — something I hadn’t known in the past 18 months. I did all of this because I believed in the Palestinian cause. I believe this land is ours, and it was the greatest honor of my life to die defending it — and serving its people. Now I ask you: Do not stop talking about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep resisting. Keep telling our stories — until Palestine is free. — One last time, Hossam Shabat, from northern Gaza.

The Last Message of Hossam to be shared after his death:
The will in alt text ⏬️

At the Irish Health Research Forum, we're discussing the vital role of patient registries. We’ve just shown this powerful video on why they matter. @hrci.bsky.social
#HealthData #PatientRegistries #RareDisease #HealthResearchMatters

m.youtube.com/watch?v=1hKH...

Great to meet Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, yesterday. We talked about the value of embedding research in the health service & the key role of health research charities. Looking forward to staying in touch.
@hrci.bsky.social
@brianmartinlynch.bsky.social
@roinnslainte.bsky.social

An image of 5 speakers and chairs on the podium with a slide behind them showing the conference title.

The lovely people in the @rarediseasectn.bsky.social have done a fantastic job of bringing a diverse range of perspectives together for the #RareResearch25 conference. Researchers, clinicians, industry reps, regulators and many patients and advocates in the room.

A very insightful piece on the current situation and needs in rare disease research in Ireland. Nicely timed for the @rarediseasectn.bsky.social conference happening in @ucddublin.bsky.social today.

Anyone looking to Europe for research & interested in chromatin biology then we have opportunities in UCD, Ireland. Welcoming & diverse group & we would love to add thanksgiving to our seasonal celebrations!

Postdoc: conwaychromatinlab.com/team

PhD (MSc not required): www.coughlan-lab.com/team

At the annual conference of the SPHeRE Network, Roisín Shortall says there’s never been proper public debate about the kind of health service we should be providing in Ireland. Universal healthcare, free at the point of use, is still not a reality.

Why do we tolerate?
@sphereprogramme.bsky.social

This will series will be very interesting. Great to see @dublincityuni.bsky.social driving conversation on big topics.

Done Áine 😊

Many new accounts added to this starter pack to help you find people who are talking about health research in Ireland. Let me know if you should be included.
#HealthResearchMatters

go.bsky.app/MdNAY9L

🌍 Today is #RareDiseaseDay 2025!

We stand with the 300 million people worldwide living with rare diseases.
By coming together, we can raise awareness, drive change, and work toward a more inclusive and equitable future!

🔗 Read more: metab.ern-net.eu/rare-disease...

#RareDiseaseDay2025

HSE Health App The HSE Health App is a new digital health service from the HSE that gives our patients secure personalised access to their health information, hospital appointments, and more.

After years of advocacy from many groups & the dedicated work of the HSE & @roinnslainte.bsky.social, the HSE Health App has been launched.
It's an early version but marks a significant step forward - finally giving people in Ireland access to their own health data.

www2.hse.ie/health-app/

Good to see a strong focus both on patients and clinical trials at the #IPHAconference2025.
#HealthResearchMatters

Great news from #iphaconference2025! Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill expresses strong support for clinical trials and plans to meet the National Clinical Trials Oversight Committee next week.

A positive step for #CancerResearch, #ClinicalTrials & patients! 👏💙@roinnslainte.bsky.social

Love the puns!

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
Today, we celebrate the brilliant women and girls pushing the boundaries of discovery, innovation, and progress. Their contributions shape our world in ways both seen and unseen. #HealthResearchMatters

Image of Dr. Mae Jemison, actual astronaut and Star Trek guest star

As a Star Trek fan and a scientist, I love this image, because Dr. Jemison is both a hero *AND* one of the few people for whom we can say "here she is doing her space job" in two totally different contexts. 🧪

Our goal, as reflected in our 2025 Position Paper, is to ensure that a supportive & enabling framework exists in Ireland to facilitate impactful health & social care research. With the Dail resuming tomorrow, we're asking elected reps & policy makers to prioritise 3 asks hrci.ie/hrci-positio...

HRCI Position Paper 2025 - Health Research Charities Ireland (HRCI) Position Paper 2025. Contains 3 asks for elected representatives and policy makers in Ireland.

At an @ria.ie symposium on improving the prospects for fundamental biomedical research in Ireland. Inputs by David Henshall of @rcsi.bsky.social and others closely align to our call for more State investment in R&D. hrci.ie/hrci-positio...

#FundamentalResearch #HealthResearchMatters

This is a very important moment for patients and #genomics in #Europe and #Ireland.
Kudos to @rcsi.bsky.social and other collaborators.

This has been a wish for many in the genetics/genomics community in Ireland for a long time. I'm so pleased to see it coming to fruition. #genomics #PersonalisedMedicine #HealthResearchMatters

www.gov.ie/en/press-rel...

Empowering Users, Not Overlords: Overcoming Digital Helplessness Disclosure: I’m on the board of Bluesky, so feel free to take as many grains of salt as you want in reading it, though all of it applies equally to other decentralized social media ecosys…

"Here’s where projects like Bluesky come in. Yes, at first glance, it looks like just another Twitter clone. But that’s just there to make users comfortable using it. Beneath that familiar surface lies something revolutionary: actual user control."
www.techdirt.com/2025/01/27/e...

Our latest HRCI blog post examines the Programme for Government and what it means for health research. Many of the commitments are broad, leaving scope for engagement with the health research community towards practical and innovative approaches. hrci.ie/news/blog-ne... #HealthResearchMatters

HRCI Blog, News & Media - HRCI Blog, News & Media A round up of HRCI news, media and blog posts written by HRCI CEO Dr Avril Kennan, HRCI staff and invited contributors.

I spent some time going through the new Programme for Government in Ireland and share my thoughts here for anyone interested in health research, clinical trials, life sciences and the importance of it all for improving health and social care.
hrci.ie/news/blog-ne...

Such a great conversation! 👏

Done Killian. Welcome 😊

God I just love that people are getting to do this stuff!

HRCI/HRB Joint Funding Scheme Celebration - Announcing the winner of the 2024 HRCI Research Impact Award and celebrating the successful projects in the 2204 HRCI/HRB Joint Funding Scheme

🎉 Was great to award Prof. Mary McCarron, @tcddublin.bsky.social as winner of the @hrci.bsky.social Research Impact Award, for her work improving the lives of people with intellectual disabilities & dementia.

Research was funded by @alzheimersocirl.bsky.social & the HRB.
👉 hrci.ie/hrci-hrb-joi...

Congratulations to Professor Mary McCarron and her incredible team in Trinity College Dublin for winning Health Research Charities Ireland's research impact award, and to @alzheimersocirl.bsky.social who co-funded the winning project through the HRCI-HRB Joint Funding Scheme #healthresearchmatters