PremSmart success in Brussels

16 Oct 2026

Dr Ann-Marie Brennan was invited to Brussels to present the national success of PremSmart, a life-saving neonatal nutrition innovation now used in 95% of relevant Irish hospital units, at a high-level healthcare event held with the Gates Foundation and the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU 2026.

Dr Ann-Marie Brennan, Senior Lecturer in the School of Food and Nutritional Sciences at University College Cork, Lead Investigator at the INFANT Research Centre and Clinical Specialist Neonatal Dietitian at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), was invited to participate in a high-level international healthcare event in Brussels this week.

The event, titled ‘Investing in our Future: How Innovation Can Help Save Women and Children’s Lives’, was held in association with the Gates Foundation and the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU 2026. It focused on how healthcare innovation can improve the lives of women and children.

From Idea to Impact: Innovators’ Fireside Chat

Dr Brennan was invited to join the From Idea to Impact: Innovators’ Fireside Chat panel session. During the discussion, she shared the successful national scale-up of PremSmart, a standardised approach to parenteral nutrition for premature babies.

PremSmart is now adopted across all nine neonatal units providing parenteral nutrition in Ireland, accounting for approximately 95% of its use nationally and delivering an estimated €1 million in annual savings to the Irish health service.

PremSmart’s experience of national implementation resonated strongly with panel discussions about what it takes to bring healthcare innovations successfully and sustainably to scale.

Reflecting on the event, Dr Brennan stated:

“It was really encouraging to see the level of interest in how PremSmart has moved from research into national implementation. We’ve learned a lot about what it takes to successfully implement change across a health system, and there is still work to do to ensure that progress is sustainable in Ireland.

“The next question is how we build on that experience – both by continuing to strengthen PremSmart here and by exploring how elements of the approach could be adapted for other healthcare settings, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

“That can’t simply be about taking something that works in Ireland and applying it elsewhere. It has to be led by local needs and developed with the right clinical and research partners.”

PremSmart forms part of the wider work of INFANT’s Neonatal Clinical Nutrition Research Group, which is expanding its research beyond parenteral nutrition to address broader questions in neonatal clinical nutrition.