The UCD-CRC is based at the Mater Misericordiae,  St. Vincent's University Hospitals and National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street. Patients with different chronic diseases including end-stage kidney disease, pulmonary fibrosis and cancer, donate samples to the Centre on a regular basis, and these are assessed in the context of their own treatment and for the development of more accurate therapies for these diseases.

Our Facilities

Clinical Infrastructure

The CRC has created core research infrastructure to support and advance high quality, impactful investigator-led translational and personalised medicine research at the Mater Misericordiae and St Vincent’s University Hospitals.

• The clinical research infrastructure includes:
• Eight out-patient interview rooms for patient examination and tissue collection
• Four procedure rooms for more complex patient studies
• An endoscopy suite for internal medical examination, including arthroscopy and bronchoscopy
• Recovery room facilities for patients’ post-procedure
• Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) Scanner with full body composition analysis capabilities which support osteoarthritis/osteoporosis studies
• Climate-controlled storage facilities for Investigational Medicinal Product materials

Laboratory Infrastructure

CRC on-site laboratory facilities support the immediate processing of biological samples collected during research studies. The laboratory infrastructure on hospital sites complements biomedical research facilities on the University campus and includes:

• Cell and tissue culture suites for primary cultures, equipped with sterile cell culture hoods & incubators
• A molecular biology laboratory with standard equipment and facilities for molecular analysis
• Imaging Laboratory (with contrast and fluorescence microscopy)
• UCD-Abbott Core Biomarker Laboratory including ARCHITECT i2000SR, ARCHITECT ci4100, the new Alinity ci and the Roche Cobas411 high throughput analysers. A Quanterix multiplex Elisa machine was added to the portfolio in 2019.

The UCD CRC has developed a network of biological resource centres for sample receipt, storage and processing across the hospital campuses in recognition of the importance of access to appropriately consented, well pheno-typed quality controlled biological samples to translational research. This network includes;

• Dedicated biobank rooms with monitoring and control
• Multiple freezer units with temperatures ranging from -20 to-80oC (11 -20o C; 4 -40o C and 34 -80o C freezer)
• Large Liquid Nitrogen storage capacity
• 24/7 monitoring of freezer and temperature-controlled storage
• Comprehensive security and emergency response plans

Information Systems

The appropriate use of intelligent and secure IT solutions is key to the Centre’s translational research mission, permitting the generation and exchange of data and information between the ‘bed’ and the ‘bench’.

The CRC is addressing these challenges by implementing cost-effective IT solutions which combine to create a sophisticated clinical research information infrastructure that supports all aspects of clinical research.

Our Team