Blood Cancer Network Ireland and Cancer Research @UCC

The Blood Cancer Network of Ireland (BCNI) is a collaborative network of clinicians, scientists, and population health experts with a shared interest in blood cancer research. This national unit, combined with biobank and patient registry, will create the infrastructure necessary to make Ireland more competitive internationally in blood cancer research, attracting more clinical trials and ultimately leading to improvements in patient outcomes. BCNI is funded by the Irish Cancer Society and Science Foundation Ireland. 

The BCNI is a nationwide collaboration including researchers and clinicians from four academic institutions - University of Galway, University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin and RCSI - and seven hospitals (UHG, CUH, UHL, St. James’s, Beaumont, Mater, Waterford Hospitals), led by the University of Galway, to study blood cancers. The Cork arm of the BCNI Biobank is housed here in Cancer Research @UCC.

The BCNI Biobank in UCC contains samples from over 250 patients obtained from Cork University Hospital. Over time, the genetic make-up of the stored samples will be analysed and made available to researchers. Researchers can submit applications to access these samples for biomedical research. For further details and to receive an application form please email the main study centre at bcni@nuigalway.ie.

Please see our BCNI Biobank Information Leaflet explaining what a Biobank is and what you can do to participate in our Biobank.

Harmony is an EU wide public–private partnership established in 2017 to help gather blood cancer ‘big’ data. Currently there are 53 partners including nine pharmaceutical companies and seven European Patient Umbrella Organizations. BCNI joined Harmony in 2021 and will participate in Harmony led projects such as “Risks associated with COVID-19 in patients with haematological malignancies”.