The Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM), Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine, in collaboration with CRANN, will lead a pan-European team that has attracted funding worth approximately 12 Million Euros, to develop a cutting edge nanotechnology process which will enable the early and rapid diagnosis of most common cancer types.

Through European Framework Programme 7 (EU-FP7) funding, the scientists aim to create advanced medical diagnostic devices, enabled by nanotechnology, specifically targeted at the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Professor John Boland, Director of CRANN said: “Ireland is now globally recognised for its expertise in the area of nanoscience, as evidenced by the large amounts of non-exchequer funding we are winning through competitive international research projects. Research is a global competition and we need to continue to develop our knowledge base and expertise to make Ireland a true Innovation Centre.”

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An article by Claire O’Connell in the Irish Times on 26th March 2010. IMAGINE THIS: you walk into your doctor’s clinic and give a finger-prick drop of blood. Your sample goes into a device and, in less than an hour, there’s a read- out that signals whether you have a genetic condition or can predict which course of treatment will suit you best.

That device is currently being developed between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and Tyndall National Institute.

The two groups signed a memorandum of understanding last month to link the clinical expertise and global network of RCSI and the ICT and fabrication specialists at Tyndall in Cork.

Not that the two centres weren’t already busy commercialising their own technology and devices – the centre for innovation in surgical technology at RCSI’s Colles Institute had been set up to help doctors who spotted a better way to do things develop their ideas for the market, while Tyndall has extensive experience of working with industries in the ICT sector.

But the new marriage will, hopefully, generate offspring in the form of innovative medical devices that combine ideas from both sides.

Read the full Irish Times article here.

In a recent article by Karlin Lillington in the Irish Times on 2nd April 2010, the now retired from a 36- year career with IBM, Pat Toole was still central to IBM’s decision, announced last week, to create a €66 million 200- job Dublin Smarter Cities Technology Centre that will look at how to build and manage core systems for transport, water, energy and communication.

Fifteen years ago, as a senior vice-president in the company, Toole was pivotal in the decision in 1996 to expand vastly IBM’s Irish presence from a sales organisation to a 2,000-plus manufacturing and, eventually, research campus.

When he retired, he worked on the Irish government’s Foresight committee and, five years later, was involved in the establishment of Science Foundation Ireland. He has advised IDA Ireland, Forfás and the Taoiseach.

“I’m interested in nano science and I follow [nano science research centres] Crann [at Trinity College] and Tyndall [at UCC]. And I was asked to Farmleigh.”

Read the full Irish Times article.