A bid to the Wellcome Trust /Health Research Board for a major clinical research centre in Dublin, coordinated by the Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre, has been successful.

The Dublin Centre for Clinical Research will comprise two major components:

• The build of a new clinical centre at St James's Hospital
• A network of clinical research facilities linking this new centre to existing ones at Beaumont, St Vincent's University Hospital and the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital

Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland agreed early on in the process that there should be one unique bid from Dublin coordinated through the Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre (DMMC).

"This is a landmark achievement for clinical research in Ireland and demonstrates that by working together, Irish Institutions can compete with the best in the UK," explains Dr Michael Kamarck, Chairman of the DMMC Board of Directors. "This exceptional result could not have been achieved if the building blocks had not been provided through investments in infrastructure by the Higher Education Authority (PRTLI) and research excellence through Science Foundation Ireland."

The bid was led by Professor Dermot Kelleher of TCD and St James's Hospital and brought together an exceptional team of scientists from the three Dublin Medical Schools at TCD, UCD and RCSI and their associated teaching hospitals at St James's, St Vincent's University Hospital, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Adelaide and Meath Hospital (incorporating the National Children's Hospital) and Beaumont.

The funding will provide the necessary infrastructure to run clinical research programmes in areas such as cancer, neuro-psychiatric diseases and infectious diseases across the citywide network.