𝐂𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭

📻🗞𝐂𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝-𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐱𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.. 📻 🗞️

An Irish medical scientist Cian O’Donnell ─ who is living with the same heart condition that his father, who was a heart surgeon in Cork, died from at aged 49 ─ has been awarded full funding by CRY to join an international project dedicated to finding cures for inherited heart conditions based at the University of Oxford.

It is pioneering research ─ aiming to save and transform lives by finding cures for genetic heart muscle diseases, but it will rely on continued donor support and fundraising over the next three years.

Our sponsorship, with your support, enables Cian to take up a three-year fulltime research position with the £30 million British Heart Foundation-funded CureHeart project team in Oxford, where he is developing and testing functional cures for mutations that cause inherited heart conditions, leveraging the latest technology from world-leading academic labs.

Cian is receiving training under the leader of the CureHeart project Professor Hugh Watkins, regarded as a world leader in the study and management of inherited heart conditions.

Dr. Deirdre Ward, Consultant Cardiologist at the CRYP Centre and Cian O’Donnell spoke on RTE Radio 1 today 19th February and Cian told David McCullough: “In 2010, my family’s world was turned upside down when my dad Aonghus, who was a heart surgeon working in Cork, died from a lethal arrhythmia caused by the genetic heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He was only 49 years old. Soon after his death, my sisters and I became patients of the CRYP (Cardiac Risk in Young Persons) screening centre in Tallaght and started attending regular screening visits. In 2019, I began to experience a rapid onset of cardiac symptoms that led to me being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ─ the same genetic heart condition as my dad ─ and having a defibrillator implanted. The CureHeart project was established at Oxford in 2022, and soon after, I decided to do everything I could to pursue joining it. At the start of 2025, I was accepted into Oxford to work as part of its team, and I’m proud to represent CRY throughout my work on the project. As a patient-researcher, I hope to make an impact towards curing these diseases and fixing them at their root cause, and to have eligible Irish patients involved in future social sciences and clinical studies at CureHeart if feasible.”

CRY Ireland has committed to funding Cian’s PhD, enabling three years of full-time research.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐂𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞-𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡.

Cian’s work with CureHeart is an incredible opportunity for people to support pioneering research that could ultimately help to save or transform lives ─ including of people in Ireland living with inherited cardiac conditions ─ and also help to reshape the cardiac medicine landscape for this generation and those to come. We are relying on continued support and fundraising over the next three years across the duration of Cian’s term at CureHeart.”

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝’𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐢𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐏𝐡𝐃 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐂𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐢𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭. 𝐓𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ‘𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰!’ 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐚𝐭 www.cry.ie.

Please take some time and listen to the full interview – head here;

https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22585959/

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