University of Galway leads €34m hub capitalising on health-tech research

26 Jun 2025

A group of people standing in a hall with a tall ceiling.

ARC Healthtech Hub announcement. Image: Jason Clarke Photography

The hub will will focus on chronic disease management with the development of smart implants, wearables and AI and ML driven modelling.

The University of Galway is set to be the headquarters for a new €34.3m Research Ireland hub aimed at accelerating the commercialisation of healthcare research.

The new Accelerating Research to Commercialisation (ARC) Hub for Healthtech will be led by the University of Galway’s Prof Garry Duffy, in partnership with researchers from Atlantic Technological University and RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The new centre’s primary goal is to drive regional development in the northern and western parts of Ireland by driving innovative research in healthcare for commercial impact.

The hub will also nurture entrepreneurial scientists and engineers, providing them with the requisite skills needed to achieve commercial opportunities stemming from their work.

Moreover, it will work towards transitioning Research Ireland-funded projects into existing closer-to-market supports.

These commercialisation goals are in line with the National Smart Specialisation Strategy for Innovation, a policy that takes a regional approach to addressing national R&D challenges.

Work in the hub will focus on chronic disease management, with developments in building smart implants, advanced wearable medical devices, sensors, as well as AI and machine learning-driven modelling.

Collaborating teams are set to receive supports to accelerate clinical and commercial pathways and build partnerships with industry and healthcare stakeholders.

The hub will also provide these interdisciplinary teams with the regulatory and market insight needed to achieve their goals.

The massive investment into the health-tech Hub is co-funded by the Irish Government and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The investment is aimed at positioning the Irish north and west as a leader in medtech and connected health innovation.

The new hub was launched by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless, TD.

“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,” Lawless said.

“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.”

Research Ireland interim CEO Celine Fitzgerald said: “The Research Ireland ARC Hub Programme is spearheading regional development across the country.

“Following on from the joint launch of ARC Hubs for both therapeutics and ICT in February, the ARC Hub for Healthtech opens up enormous opportunities in the immediate and longer terms for the northern and western region – its citizens and its healthcare, research and enterprise communities.”

Earlier this year, two ARC hubs were announced with total funding of €63.8m. A €31.6m hub to commercialise therapeutics was launched at Trinity College Dublin, while an ICT hub is set to be housed in TU Dublin.

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