University of Galway hosts annual Health Promotion Conference addressing progress and emerging threats in sexual health University of Galway today hosted the annual Health Promotion Conference, with the focus this year on advancing sexual health promotion. Led by the University’s Health Promotion Research Centre, in partnership with the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive Sexual Health Programme and Association for Health Promotion Ireland, the event brought together researchers, practitioners, policy leads and international experts to explore how Ireland can shape the future of sexual health and wellbeing. The conference – From Awareness to Action: Advancing Sexual Health Promotion – reflected on national policy developments, including the new National Sexual Health Strategy 2025–2035 and its accompanying Action Plan for 2025–2028, published this week by the Government and presented at the conference. It also considered the delivery of quality sexuality education, equitable access to healthcare, stigma reduction and emerging issues such as digital sexual behaviours and STI/HIV prevention. Discussions focused on how to build a more inclusive, evidence-driven and holistic approach to sexual and reproductive health. Ireland has seen substantial progress in sexual health – from declining teenage pregnancies to increased access to contraception and more open discussions of LGBTQ+ rights – but challenges continue in relation to sexual health, marked by rising HIV and STI rates internationally; the need to focus on prevention of domestic, gender based and sexual violence (DSGBV) and support for survivors; and to address stigma, which can be a barrier to accessing care.  Minister of State for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor, T.D. said: “The annual Health Promotion Research Conference is a great opportunity for knowledge exchange for all of us involved in protecting and promoting health. This year's theme of Sexual Health Promotion highlights the importance of normalising conversations about sexual health, to encourage people to access testing and care, and to ensure no one is left behind. We have achieved considerable progress in the development and implementation of sexual health services, and this work continues, with an additional €1.35m allocated to free home STI testing, HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and the free contraception scheme in 2025. We are grateful today for the opportunity to present our new National Sexual Health Strategy and Action Plan to a wider audience.” Professor Peter McHugh, Interim President of University of Galway, said: “As a University with a proud tradition of leading public health and social change, we are honoured to host this national conversation on sexual health. This conference is both timely and necessary, as it brings to the fore a topic that has often been under-prioritised despite its centrality to human health, dignity and equality.” The conference featured contributions from international experts from Canada, Belgium, Uganda and the UK, offering a global perspective on the challenges around sexual and reproductive health. Participants explored how sexual health promotion can be strengthened, with a particular focus on reaching people of all genders and sexual orientations, ethnicities and identities and cultural/religious backgrounds. Professor Saoirse Nic Gabhainn, Professor of Health Promotion at the University of Galway, said: “Sexual health is about far more than the absence of disease. It is about relationships, consent, pleasure, identity, and rights. With the changing public discourse in Ireland, we have an opportunity to reimagine how sexual health is promoted – not only through health services, but across education, community and policy.” Dr András Költő, Senior Postdoctoral Researcher in Health Promotion at the University of Galway, said: “We are facing a hidden sexual health crisis. Despite numerous achievements in the last decades, honest and open discussions on sexual and reproductive health are still restricted by shame, silence and taboo. This conference provides a unique platform to share knowledge, identify evidence gaps, and shape future action in Sexual Health Promotion that is inclusive, effective and sustainable.” The conference features panel discussions, interactive workshops and keynote addresses including: Professor Kaye Wellings, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine – five decades of sexual health promotion and the challenges the field currently faces. Professor Philip Dodd, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, and Dr Fiona Mansergh, Sexual Health and Contraception Policy Lead, Department of Health – summaries of progress in the area of sexual health since the first Sexual Health Strategy was launched in 2015. Professor Fiona Lyons, St James’s Hospital and HSE Sexual Health Programme – current trends in Sexually Transmitted Infections and how to address the rise in STIs in Ireland. Full programme details are available at: www.hprcconference.ie The new National Sexual Health Strategy and first National Sexual Health Action Plan, 2025–2028 (single document), can be accessed at: https://www.gov.ie/en/healthy-ireland/policy-information/national-sexual-health-strategy-2025-2035/ Ends

Research Ireland programme aims to fast-track research breakthroughs into commercial healthcare solutions ARC Hub for HeathTech led by University of Galway in partnership with Atlantic Technological University and RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences University of Galway is to be the headquarters for a new €34 million investment in healthcare technology solutions under Research Ireland’s ARC Hub programme - Accelerating Research to Commercialisation. The announcement of the ARC Hub for HealthTech was made today by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless T.D. and forms part of wider initiatives and funding awards to drive the commercial impact of research. The ARC Hub for HealthTech is being led by University of Galway, in partnership with ATU and RCSI and starts with 23 research-led innovation projects selected for their strong potential to improve patient outcomes. The landmark funding investment of €34.3 million is provided by the Government of Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to position the Northern and Western Region as a national and international leader in MedTech and connected health innovation. Primary objective of the ARC Hub programme is to drive regional development by accelerating novel, cutting-edge research and make it ready for commercial impact while also supporting the development of entrepreneurial scientists and engineers with the skills to realise commercial opportunities from research. The ARC Hub for HealthTech brings together clinical and commercial expertise, cutting-edge research and regional networks to develop impactful solutions to tackle chronic disease. Its focus will be on smart implants, advanced wearable medical devices, novel sensors and AI- and machine learning-driven modelling. The ARC Hub for HealthTech will support interdisciplinary teams, provide regulatory and market insight, accelerate clinical and commercial pathways and build partnerships with industry and healthcare stakeholders. It will act as a national testbed for innovation translation, guiding academic research teams through key steps towards commercialisation.             Speaking at the announcement, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless T.D., said: “The Research Ireland ARC Hub for HealthTech will help transform regional innovation and entrepreneurial training in the North West region and beyond. Enhancing the existing academic-enterprise healthcare and technology ecosystems, the ARC Hub will deliver a suite of impactful, on-the-ground supports, benefitting everyone in the process – researchers, engineers, technologists, manufacturers, clinicians, physicians and, critically, patients. The provision and delivery of appropriate and effective healthcare is, by its very nature, time-sensitive. The ARC Hub for HealthTech will play an instrumental role in accelerating the commercialisation of research and getting health solutions to those that need them faster.”             Professor Peter McHugh, Interim President of University of Galway, said: “This investment recognises the power of regional collaboration and the strength of our academic and clinical talent pool. While our region faces significant challenges – scoring below the EU and national averages in regional competitiveness – we also have a unique and internationally-renowned ecosystem from which to build, and a proud history of achievement in the broad health technology domain. University of Galway’s long-established presence, including our network of medical academies, combined with ATU’s multi-campus reach and RCSI’s expertise, creates a formidable alliance. This ARC Hub will drive impact where it's needed most and working collaboratively it allows us to address shared challenges and harness the innovation potential that already exists in our communities.”             Professor Garry Duffy, Professor of Health Technology Innovation at University of Galway, Professor of Anatomy at RCSI and Director of the ARC Hub for HealthTech, added: “We're excited to bring together regional and national expertise in connected health innovation. Our goal is to create solutions that will transform how we manage chronic disease in our communities. This is about building a global beacon for MedTech and connected health innovation - rooted in the Northern and Western region of Ireland. The Hub will allow us to scale up efforts already underway and build a nationally coordinated platform to fast-track technologies that can improve quality of life and care. At the heart of the ARC Hub are 23 innovation projects selected for their strong potential to improve patient outcomes. Each will undergo an accelerated pathway from research to market, designed to bring solutions to those who need them, faster."             Professor Aoife Lowery, Professor of Surgery at University of Galway, Director of the Clinical Research Facility Galway and Clinical Lead of the ARC Hub for HealthTech, said: “Our aim is to connect breakthrough science with the people and systems who can translate it into patient benefit. By embedding clinical insight from the earliest stages of innovation, we will support technologies that are both impactful and implementable in real-world healthcare settings.” Ends

Five researchers at University of Galway have been awarded funding from Research Ireland in a special investment in projects aligned with national priorities. As part of the Research Ireland Pathway programme, the five projects will, investigate climate misinformation in Ireland; analyse gender balance in Irish opera productions; determine the response of microbial communities to environmental change; re-define interpretations of obscure medieval texts; and study the seismic vibrations of highly magnetised neutron stars. The funding, covering a four-year period, will support the researchers to further establish their careers and allow for a postgraduate student to each project. The Pathway programme is a national investment announced by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless T.D., with more than €3.2m awarded to University of Galway.   The awardees are:  Dr Brenda McNally, an Assistant Professor in communication and global media, and a Fulbright Ireland scholar in the University’s College of Arts Social Sciences and Celtic Studies. Her research project - Tackling Climate Misinformation in Ireland: An Evidence Base and Novel Resources for Journalists and Communications Professionals - will investigate the evolving forms of misinformation in Irish climate policy debates and examine how they are reproduced in news media. The findings will be used to co-create resources to tackle the crisis of climate misinformation with stakeholders. According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, rampant misinformation is delaying climate action. This is because it confuses the public about the need for urgent action and weakens democratic debate about the necessary responses. Therefore, improving communication about climate policy is urgently required. However, climate misinformation is fast changing making it difficult for journalists and communication professionals to identify and easy to reproduce. The project is co-funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and Met Éireann. Dr Ciaran Arthur, a postdoctoral researcher in the Classics Department in the University’s College of Arts Social Sciences and Celtic Studies. His research project - Connect 4: Uncovering Knowledge Exchange within the Early Medieval Insular World through Linguistic Idiosyncrasies in Obscure Letters, Words, Phrases, and Texts – seeks to re-define interpretations of obscure texts that exist between British and Irish communities in the medieval period, exposing commonalities between different cultures, and how they interconnect. This is based on many texts from early medieval Irish and British manuscripts containing ancient and foreign languages, strange words, exotic alphabets, and cryptic signs. Its digital repository will provide a thematic, multidisciplinary tool to cross-compare, critically analyse, and attempt to solve meanings in these mysterious texts. Dr Anna Trego, a postdoctoral researcher from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences in the University’s College of Science and Engineering. Her research project - Modelling Metabolic Stress Response of Whole Microbial Communities to Environmental Cues – will determine and model the response of microbial communities to environmental change, including changing climates. This project will study how whole communities of bacteria, viruses and fungi interact and respond to a wide range of environmental stresses at the genetic level. It will combine a unique incubation with cutting edge strategies and community modelling to identify patterns and gradients in community stress response. This set-up will provide a high-throughput means of testing stress-response in whole microbial communities from the whole-community level, down to the level of individual metabolic pathways and even genes.   Dr Michael Lydon, a postdoctoral researcher in the University’s College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies. His research project - Knowing the Score: An Analysis of the Gender Balance of Opera Productions on the Island of Ireland (2000-25) – will quantify the extent to which imbalances exist in Irish opera and qualify the socio-cultural, political and economic factors that have supported inequality. The study will assess the gender balance of the key creative and leadership roles for Irish opera productions from 2000-2025. The outputs of this research will include a series of ready-to-implement research-informed equality initiatives and stimulate sustainable and systemic changes in Irish opera that will enrich creativity and culture. Dr Oliver Roberts, a researcher in the University’s College of Science and Engineering. His research project - Good Vibrations – Studying the Seismic Vibrations of Highly Magnetized Neutron Stars (AstroMagnets) - will develop infrastructure with NASA and European Space Agency missions and global radio networks to better understand the connection between fast radio bursts and magnetar flares/bursts in space, through timing analysis of their “starquakes”, as well as monitoring active galactic magnetars, and testing new hardware and methods required to observe magnetars from space. Magnetars are the smouldering remnants of an explosion of a star 10 times greater 10x more massive than our Sun. Magnetars produce episodic bursts, intermediate flares and rarely, giant flares. Professor Lokesh Joshi, Interim Vice-President for Research and Innovation, University of Galway, said: “Congratulations to our five successful researchers awarded this highly competitive Research Ireland funding that will further establish their research careers. This funding will also lead to the retention of postgraduate students to provide additional support to these diverse research projects and deliver meaningful societal impacts. Funding awards like this strengthen the University’s ongoing mission of being a teaching and research-led institution.” Minister Lawless said: “This investment, through Research Ireland’s Pathway programme, will support emerging researchers in their journey from postdoctoral work towards establishing themselves as independent investigators. The projects receiving funding span a broad range of disciplines, ensuring a broad impact on scientific discovery and societal progress. By aligning with Ireland’s national research priorities, these projects will help drive advancements in key sectors such as healthcare, environmental sustainability, history and education.” Celine Fitzgerald, Interim CEO, Research Ireland, said: “Our Pathway programme equips promising researchers with the resources needed to reach the next level and help drive impactful discoveries. These projects will contribute valuable insights into pressing global and national issues including public health policy, digital well-being, technological advancements, healthcare and more.” Ends