University of Limerick – Rehabilitation, Patient-Centred Outcomes and Inclusive Trials in Neurodegenerative Diseases

About

The Ageing Research Centre at the University of Limerick (UL), Ireland, is seeking to contribute as a consortium partner for HORIZON-HLTH-2027-02-DISEASE-14-two-stage: Clinical trials for advancing innovative interventions for neurodegenerative diseases.

Professor Katie Robinson, Professor in Occupational Therapy and UL lead for the Health Research Board Trials Methodology Research Network (HRB-TMRN) is founding Director of the Ageing Research centre.Her research focuses on ageing, dementia, rehabilitation, long-term residential care, emergency care for older adults, clinical trials methodology and the development and evaluation of person-centred interventions and models of care.

She is particularly interested in how innovative treatments for neurodegenerative diseases can be combined with multidisciplinary rehabilitation and supportive interventions to improve everyday functioning, independence, quality of life and outcomes that matter to patients and families.

The University of Limerick offers expertise in:

• Occupational therapy, rehabilitation and multidisciplinary interventions for older adults with cognitive and functional difficulties

• Dementia, cognitive impairment, frailty, multimorbidity and complex care needs

• Development and evaluation of person-centred interventions and integrated models of care

• Core Outcome Set development, outcome selection and measurement in clinical trials

• Assessment of functional ability, independence, activities of daily living, participation and quality of life

• Clinical trials methodology, including inclusive recruitment and retention of older adults and people with cognitive impairment

• Patient and public involvement (PPI), stakeholder engagement and international consensus methodologies

• Qualitative and mixed-methods research embedded within clinical trials

• Research involving nursing-home residents and other populations frequently underrepresented in clinical trials

• Health services research, implementation and translation of evidence into clinical practice

Our research includes involvement in the development of a National Clinical Framework for the Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease in Ireland, a national model of integrated specialist healthcare for nursing-home residents, and the CREAT-ED international Core Outcome Set for emergency care research involving older adults.

These programmes provide experience in multidisciplinary collaboration, evidence synthesis, stakeholder engagement, consensus development and the identification of outcomes that are meaningful to patients, families and healthcare professionals.

Potential contributions to a DISEASE-14 consortium include:

• Co-development and evaluation of rehabilitation, occupational therapy and other non-pharmacological components of multidisciplinary interventions alongside innovative pharmacological treatments

• Leadership or co-leadership of work packages focused on patient-centred outcomes, functional assessment and Core Outcome Set methodology

• Selection and evaluation of meaningful clinical trial outcomes, including everyday functioning, independence, participation, quality of life and care needs

• Development of inclusive recruitment, consent and retention approaches for older adults, including people with cognitive impairment, frailty or complex health needs

• Design and delivery of PPI activities involving people living with neurodegenerative diseases, family carers and healthcare professionals

• Embedded qualitative and mixed-methods evaluations to understand patient experiences, intervention acceptability, barriers to participation and implementation

• Evaluation of intervention delivery across community, hospital and long-term residential care settings

• Support for translating trial findings into clinical pathways, rehabilitation practice and integrated models of care

We are particularly interested in collaborating with European clinical trial investigators, neurologists, geriatricians, dementia researchers, pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, rehabilitation researchers, patient organisations and clinical trial methodology networks.

Our aim is to contribute to innovative, high-quality multinational clinical trials that establish not only whether treatments are clinically effective, but also whether they improve the everyday lives, independence and care experiences of people living with neurodegenerative diseases.

Topic: HORIZON-HLTH-2027-02-DISEASE-14-two-stage – Clinical trials for advancing innovative interventions for neurodegenerative diseases.