Save the Date: Research with Impact – Grant Writing & Public Involvement Event!
At Fighting Blindness, our mission is to fund research to drive the development of treatments for conditions of sight loss. We are also committed to supporting the next generation of researchers and clinicians in this field.
We believe that scientific research has the greatest impact when it is both strong in design and meaningful to the people it aims to serve. To support this, we are delighted to announce we are hosting Research with Impact: Grant Writing & Public Involvement – an in-person event to bring together researchers, clinicians, and members of the public.
Event Details
📅 Wednesday, 22 October 2025
🕤 9:30am – 1:30pm (followed by lunch)
📍 Fighting Blindness Offices, 21 Hill St, Dublin 1, D01 P7V0
This event is divided into two sessions-
Morning Session: Strengthening research proposals (9:30am – 11:30am)
Open ONLY to researchers and clinicians, this session is designed to support researchers by providing insights into funding opportunities available, strategies for writing strong grant applications, and sharing experiences from successful applicants.
Afternoon Session: Shaping research together (11:30am – 1:30pm)
Open to both researchers/clinicians AND members of the public, this interactive session will create space for dialogue and collaboration. Hear from public members on their experiences of Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) in research and funding proposals.
A key focus will be on lay summaries, giving researchers and clinicians the chance to engage with public members and discuss their plain-language summaries of their work. Together, the group will explore how to make research communication clearer, more accessible, and more relevant to those it aims to serve.
We encourage attendees to prepare a short lay summary (max 200 words) of your work to share during group discussions. If you would like your lay summary to be included in the group discussions, please email it to research@fightingblindness.ie by Wednesday, 15th October.
The day will close with a light lunch at 1:30pm, offering a chance to continue conversations and connections in a relaxed setting.
Benefits of this event
- For researchers and clinicians, it’s an opportunity to sharpen grant writing skills, build stronger applications, and ensure your work is communicated in ways that engage and effectively inform the public.
- For public members, it’s a chance to use your lived experience to shape research, making it more understandable, relevant, and impactful for patients and the wider community.
Registration
This event is free to attend, but spaces are limited.
Secure your place and be part of building research with impact by clicking the link below:
For further details of the event or if you require any assistance in registering for the event, please contact the Fighting Blindness Research Department at research@fightingblindness.ie.
Full Agenda (subject to change)
Morning Session: Strengthening Research Proposals
9:30 – 9:45: Registration & Tea/Coffee
9:45 – 9:50: Welcome & Introductions
Speaker – Dr Rachel Bermingham, Head of Research, Fighting Blindness
9:50 – 10:35: Grant Opportunities for Researchers in Ireland
Speakers –
Dr Anne Costello, Project Officer, Health Research Board
Dr Marcia Aranha, Project Officer, Health Research Board
Dr Emer Cahill, Programme Manager, Research Ireland
10:35 – 10:55: Essentials of Successful Grant Writing
Speaker – Dr Adam Dignam, Research Funding Specialist, Trinity College Dublin (TCD)
10:55 – 11:15: PI Panel – Experiences from Successful Applicants
Chair – Dr Shannon Lee, Research Officer, Fighting Blindness
Speakers –
Dr Laurence Fitzhenry, Head of Faculty of Science and Computing and Principal Investigator of the Ocular Therapeutics Research Group, South East Technological University (SETU)
Prof Sarah Doyle, Principal Investigator and Professor in Immunology, Director of Research in School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin (TCD)
11:15 – 11:30: Panel Q&A – All Morning Session Speakers
11:30 – 12:00: Refreshment Break and Networking
Afternoon Session: Shaping Research Together
12:00 – 12:05: Introductions
Speaker – Dr Rachel Bermingham, Head of Research, Fighting Blindness
12:05 – 12:30: PPI Contributor Perspectives and Opportunities for PPI Co-Applicants
Chair – Declan Meenagh, Advocacy Officer, Fighting Blindness
Speakers –
Mandy Daly, Founder & Director of the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance
Gerry Eastwood, Fighting Blindness PPI Contributor and PPI Partner
12:30 – 13:20: Breakout Groups – Plain-Language Summary Discussions
13:20 – 13:30: Group Reflections
13:30 – 14:30: Lunch
Speaker Bios
Dr Marcia Aranha, Project Officer, Health Research Board
I work as a Project Officer with the International Cooperation team at the Health Research Board (HRB). My scientific journey started with a PhD at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, followed by postdoctoral research in Behavioural Neuroscience – first at the Champalimaud Foundation in Portugal, and later at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. With firsthand experience in leading funding applications, I understand the challenges and opportunities it presents. I am now dedicated to supporting and promoting participation in EU funding programmes, contributing to initiatives that advance the frontiers of knowledge and deliver meaningful societal impact.
Dr Anne Costello, Project Officer, Health Research Board
Dr Anne Costello is a Project Officer in the Research Strategy and Funding Directorate of the Irish Health Research Board. Anne is responsible for the administration of all academic focused funding calls in the HRB careers portfolio from PhD through postdoctoral research, to research independence and research leadership. Anne has previous experience working in research ethics as programme manager in the NREC office and was a postdoctoral researcher in UCD before moving into research funding.
Dr Emer Cahill, Programme Manager, Research Ireland
Dr Emer Cahill is a programme manager in Research Ireland with responsibility for Enterprise facing programmes and the Pathway Programme. Based in the Researcher Development unit, where the objective is to support early career researchers with funding opportunities and career progression. Dr Cahill’s background is in life sciences, having completed her PhD in Immunology in Maynooth University in 2014.
Dr Adam Dignam, Research Funding Specialist, TCD
Dr Adam Dignam is a Research Funding Specialist of the Research Development Office at Trinity College Dublin. The Trinity Research Development Office is a team of research funding specialists working with Trinity researchers across all disciplines and career stages to support their efforts to fund their ideas and research.
Dr Laurence Fitzhenry, Head of Faculty of Science and Computing and Principal Investigator of the Ocular Therapeutics Research Group, South East Technological University (SETU)
Dr Laurence Fitzhenry is Head of Faculty of Science and Computing and Principal Investigator of the Ocular Therapeutics Research Group (OTRG) at South East Technological University. His work is dedicated to bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and the people it aims to help. Laurence leads INNOVISION, a €3.1M Horizon Europe postdoctoral programme training 12 researchers in vision science, with Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) embedded at every stage. He previously coordinated ORBITAL-ITN, an international training network that delivered 15 PhD graduates, each focused on developing innovative treatments for retinal disease.
At the heart of his research is the development of nano- and micro-formulations and drug delivery platforms designed to transform care for conditions such as dry eye disease, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. Dr Fitzhenry is also interested in applying these technologies to other pressing societal challenges that include Covid-19 and antimicrobial resistance. Beyond the lab, Laurence is a strong advocate for clear, accessible science communication: he has organised public information evenings, World Café events, and patient-researcher roundtables to ensure that research priorities reflect real patient needs. Laurence’s commitment to writing and communicating for impact is grounded in a belief that effective science must reach patients, clinicians, and policymakers in language that inspires understanding and action.
Prof Sarah Doyle, Principal Investigator and Professor in Immunology, Director of Research in School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin
Sarah Doyle is a Professor in Immunology and Director of Research in the School of Medicine in Trinity College Dublin. She graduated with a degree in Biochemistry from TCD in 2002 and completed her PhD in the Dept. of Biochemistry in the same institution in 2007. Her postgraduate and postdoctoral research in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology focused on innate immune signalling pathways downstream of pattern recognition receptors. In 2012 Sarah was recruited to the Dept. of Clinical Medicine in the School of Medicine in TCD and started her own research group. Prof. Doyle’s laboratory has been recognised through notable honours and awards, and she is a recipient of a Science Foundation Ireland Career Development Award (CDA, 2016), an Irish Research Council Laureate award (2018), and a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator award in 2023.
Sarah is a Principal Investigator (PI) in the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN) and is affiliated with Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI). Prof. Doyle is also the academic principal investigator of the immunology incubator lab in the ophthalmology section in Roche, Basel, an initiative established to strengthen links between industry-based research and development and academia. Sarah is Co-PI of EYE-D, a Research Ireland strategic partnership programme focused on understanding the root causes of retinal degenerative diseases.
Sarah’s research lab is focused on mechanisms of innate immune signalling and cellular immunology over the life-course. The lab applies this knowledge to understand how the innate immune system contributes to retinal health and progressive retinal degenerative diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and inherited retinopathies. In particular, the Doyle lab studies how signals from innate immune pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and IL-1 Family Receptors contribute to health and disease. These receptor families are the primary surveillance system for the detection of tissue injury and are crucial to activation of host defence and maintenance of tissue homeostasis. The balance between pro-inflammatory signals and pro-resolution signals needs to be finely controlled and the Doyle lab research aims to determine how immune dysregulation contributes to disease progression, and how it can be modulated for therapeutic benefit.
For more information on publications and further research outputs from the Doyle Lab, please click here.
Mandy Daly, Founder & Director of the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance
Mandy is the parent of a preterm infant and the founder of the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance (INHA), a collaborative, multi-stakeholder, and multi-disciplinary platform. She is also a EUPATI Fellow and Tutor, with a strong focus on advocacy, education, and research.
Mandy has contributed extensively to neonatal and paediatric healthcare through her involvement in system reviews, clinical audits, registry development, health technology assessments, and the review of obstetric, neonatal, and bereavement guidelines. She has helped design and deliver educational curricula and ongoing training for a wide range of learners, including medical, nursing, pharmacy, allied health professionals, and patient experts.
She actively mentors PhD students and serves on the advisory boards of the PPI Ignite Network, the Clinical Research Facility at University College Cork, and the National Office of Clinical Audit. Since 2012, she has been a board member of the NIDCAP Federation International, and she has collaborated on over 80 national and international research studies, including the development of several Core Outcome Sets.
Mandy also chairs a committee responsible for developing the European Standards of Care for Newborn Health, and acts as a public reviewer for the Irish Health Research Board and BMJ Open Pediatrics. She is a member of the National Office of Research Ethics Clinical Trials Committee, and contributes to the National Clinical Trials Office Stakeholder and Management Committee, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and the Health Products Regulatory Authority of Ireland (HPRA). Her work has been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals.
Gerry Eastwood, Fighting Blindness PPI Contributor and PPI Partner
Gerry Eastwood is a member of Fighting Blindness and a patient with Retinitis Pigmentosa. Shortly after the founding of the patient organisation Fighting Blindness in 1983, then called RP Ireland, Gerry became a member of the Board of Directors, the Management and the Research Committees. This gave him experience of the day-to-day operation of a voluntary organisation and its interactions with other agencies. The Research Committee was a multi-disciplinary group and its role was to conduct independent peer reviews of applications for research funding and advising the main committee of a proposal’s suitability or otherwise. During his time on this committee, he gained a strong comprehension and appreciation of the concepts, terminology and processes involved in medical research. As a participant in various PPI group activities and committees over the past 40 years, he has gained a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the diverse needs and wishes of the patient community and has the experience and skills to represent patients in any forum.
Gerry is a member of IPPOSI and a EUPATI Fellow. The EUPATI Training Course set out to enable patient advocates to actively participate in medicines research & development processes in different roles. He has experience of the regulatory environment through membership of the National Standards Authority of Ireland committees dealing with Electrical Safety and Energy Management and as a member of Ireland’s National Research Ethics Committee for clinical trials.
Working in academia for over 30 years, Gerry understands and has practiced scientific methods and research techniques and processes. He is very aware of the need for ensuring an ethical, evidence based, outcomes-focussed emphasis to all research and especially medical research. His aim as an advocate is to help improve patient involvement in research to create an active and meaningful partnership between the people living with a condition and those researching it. By taking part in this forum he hopes to support Fighting Blindness in its goal of ensuring that the real-life experiences of people are considered in the decision-making processes around health research and healthcare. His objective is to contribute to the efforts to create a patient-centred healthcare environment offering timely access to appropriate and affordable treatments.