HEALTH INNOVATION HUB IRELAND - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Communications & PR Lead, University College Cork
- Communications and PR Lead
- for Media and Communications Enquiries Please Contact
Caroline McGarry joined Health Innovation Hub Ireland as Communications and PR Lead in August 2019. Caroline is a graduate of UCC holding BA and MA Degrees and a Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Science. Her Masters degree led her to research at Boston College and the John F Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. Caroline also holds a Diploma in Marketing, Advertising and PR and is a graduate of the Institute of RCSI Leadership.
Caroline has 20 years of experience in marketing, advertising, fundraising, branding, stakeholder engagement, event management, communication strategies and public relations. In her early career, Caroline worked as an Account Manager for a number of Public Relations agencies working for a broad spectrum of clients. At the International Education Board Ireland she marketed Irish third level education internationally on behalf of Irish Universities and third level colleges. She has worked for professional bodies including Member Services Officer for Ireland for the ACCA; and as Director of Marketing at All Hallows College for 8 years. In healthcare arena, Caroline acted as Marketing and PR Manager for Bon Secours Hospital Cork before being appointed as Group Marketing and PR Manager at Bon Secours Health System in May 2016.
In recent years, Caroline has also acted as a consultant and adviser to a number of companies in Health, Food and Beverage, IT as well as advising SME's.
Job Titles:
- Senior Clinical Research Manager, Clinical Evaluation Lead, University College Cork
- Senior Clinical Research Manager, Clinical Evaluation Lead, University College Cork UCC
Dr Michael Twomey is the Senior Clinical Research Manager and Clinical Evaluation Lead in the Health Innovation Hub Ireland, adjunct lecturer in Business Information Systems in UCC and the HSE's MSc in Digital Health Transformation in UL.
His research interests include health innovation, design, design thinking, and empowerment of stakeholders through information.
Graduating with a BSc (Hons) from UCC, Michael began his career as a biochemist, later qualifying in Computer Science (Hons) in UCC and working as a senior IT consultant with a multinational IT consultancy company. Following on from this, Michael founded an IT company in 2003, which provided professional IT services to several domestic and international companies. During his time as CEO, Michael graduated in Cloud Strategy and Innovation (Hons) and was subsequently awarded a master's in data business (Hons) with the Irish Management Institute.
In 2017, Michael departed from the firm to engage in fulltime research, an Irish Research Council awardee, he completed his PhD in 2020. He is also an associate of the Irish Management Institute, with over twenty years of experience working on innovation and IT projects in a range of industries, including healthcare. To date his research has been published in leading academic outlets and has received several awards.
Dr. Martin O'Halloran is co-lead of the Health Innovation Hub Ireland at NUI Galway. He acts as a local point of contact for the hub, and links the Hub into the broader medtech eco-system at NUI Galway.
Dr. O'Halloran holds a joint academic position between the Colleges of Engineering and Medicine at NUI Galway. He is Director of the Translational Medical Device Lab, the first medical device lab to be embedded within a regional hospital and co-located with a clinical trials facility. He currently leads a team of over 25 researchers, developing medical device technology across a diverse range of clinical areas. He has received several awards for his research, including Engineer of the Year (2014), SFI's Young researcher of the Year (2016) and the Irish Research Council's Inaugural Researcher of the Year 2018.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, University College Cork
- Member of the Executive Management Board of Eureka Centre
Dr Mulcahy is the Director of Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI). In this role she is responsible for leading HIHI. Her key priority is to ensure that the objectives of HIHI; supporting companies as they navigate the healthcare system, supporting healthcare innovators to assess and develop their ideas and delivering education programmes to encourage innovation; are achieved across all partner sites of HIHI.
Tanya joined the Health Innovation Hub in December 2013 and has played a pivotal role as National Manager in the advancement of HIHI from a pilot at one location to a national entity, now with 4 partner locations across the country. She has a extensive experience in the public and private sector; her previous role was Manager of the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science, UCC. She has an honours degree in Biochemistry and a PhD in Cancer Genetics from UCC and recently completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Trials.
She has conducted postdoctoral research in population based Neuropsychiatric Genetics at Trinity College Dublin and has over 10 years' experience in biotechnology based research and development industries - Schering Plough (NJ, USA) and start-up Biotechnology company Orchid Biosciences (Princeton, NJ). Dr Mulcahy returned to Ireland from the USA in 2006 and worked with Science Foundation Ireland before joining UCC in 2009.
Tanya has been a member of the Executive Management Board of Eureka Centre for inquiry based Education in Science and Mathematics and a member of the UCC Genovate team. She is the UCC co-ordinator of the BioInnovate programme led by NUIG. She is founder of the Women's Ideas Network and mentors on the UCC Aurora programme.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Regional Manager, Trinity College Dublin
Based in St James's Hospital, Eimear is Health Innovation Hub Ireland's Manager, Dublin (TCD), providing leadership and contributing to the strategic direction of HIHI nationally. Growth through stakeholder engagement, developing networks to drive health professionals and start-ups towards the Hub is central to her role. Eimear's primary area of expertise is supporting the development and commercialisation of connected health solutions. She has specific responsibility for global and domestic procurement and adoption pathways for HIHI clients post pilot. In 2020, Eimear completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Technology Commercialisation with NUIG, researching the commercialisation pathway for connected health solutions in the Irish public healthcare system.
Committed to placing innovation at the heart of Irish healthcare, Eimear leads delivery of the national HIHI Knowledge Network designed to support industry innovators and accelerate innovation in the Irish health system. She completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Innovation through Design Thinking with UCC in 2021, focusing her research on innovation methodologies to empower a culture of innovation in Irish hospitals. She contributes to the ‘Irish Health Innovators' series for the Irish Times, to the Irish Medical Independent and HSE Health Matters.
Eimear has worked in house for multinational pharma, with public health bodies, NGOs and in agency communications, providing insight-led solutions to meet strategic challenges across EU markets. She is expert in stakeholder engagement, creating reputation-defining communications and has extensive experience in management and change strategies. Eimear's experience incorporates both private and public providers across ethical and consumer health covering strategic partnerships, brand building, business development, reputation management, patient advocacy and access campaigns. Eimear holds an MA in Public Relations, a BA in European Studies, and a Digital Marketing Diploma (QQI).
Job Titles:
- Project Manager
- Project Manager, Health Innovation Hub Ireland, University of Galway
Eimer is a Project Manager in the Health Innovation Hub Ireland Galway office. She supports HIHI team activities by engaging with healthcare professionals and supporting industry clients. She also supports the HIHI team in the co-ordination and management of the Enterprise Ireland HIHI Clinical Innovation Awards and has previously supported the co-ordination and management of the Spark Ignite Innovation Call. Eimer assists in the day to day project activities including planning, organizing and communications. She had responsibility for developing and delivering webinar events for HIHI.
Before joining HIHI, Eimer has had experience in a GMP facility, manufacturing human stem cells for clinical trials, in particular, completing appropriate documentation in line with GMP practice. She has project management experience in healthcare technologies. Eimer has an honours degree in Biochemistry and an M.Sc. in Cancer Research from University of Galway.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- National Operations Manager
- National Operations Manager, Munster Technological University
Jane is the National Operations Manager at HIHI and is based in Munster Technological University (MTU). Jane works closely with HIHI colleagues in University College Cork, University of Galway, Trinity College Dublin and the Health Service Executive to ensure the HIHI delivers on its key objectives. Jane is responsible for managing processes, tracking activities, recording performance measures and reporting to stakeholders.
Jane is also the Pilot Activity Lead with responsibility for managing the operation and assessment process for pilot studies in healthcare settings and engaging with key stakeholders. She works with both established companies and start-ups to pilot market-ready solutions that demonstrate value and impact for end-users and purchasing organisations or investors.
Prior to joining HIHI in 2018, Jane worked in the Nimbus Research Centre in MTU leading software and data analytics projects with a particular interest in assisted living applications. Jane was instrumental in MTU being awarded Age Friendly University (AFU) status in 2021 and leads MTU's AFU working group. Jane previously worked as an architect for over 20 years on commercial, healthcare and residential projects including the new Royal Infirmary Edinburgh. Jane has studied Computer Science (MSc, HDip), Architecture (BArch) and Mathematics.
Job Titles:
- Research Support Officer - Admin for the University College Cork
- Research Support Officer - Admin, University College Cork
- Research Support Officer - Admin, University College Cork UCC
Joann is a Research Support Officer - Admin for the University College Cork office. They previously worked as a Research Admin Assistant in the Oncology Clinical Trials Unit within Cork University Hospital, providing admin support for the breast, lung, gynaecology, radiotherapy, and head and neck trials. Prior to this, they worked in intraocular lens assembly with Alcon, completed an undergraduate final year project in the role of osmolytes in Alzheimer's disease, and performed wet lab work on behalf of The Physiological Society to investigate the biodiversity of the ryanodine receptor.
Joann holds a BSc in Physiology from University College Cork, a PG Dip in Translational Cardiovascular Medicine from the University of Bristol, and a PG Cert and Dip in Clinical Trials from University College Cork. They are currently completing a MSc in Clinical Trials with University College Cork.
Job Titles:
- Principal Investigator
- Professor
Professor John R. Higgins commenced as Principal Investigator of HIHI in 2016. In this role he is the holder of the EI grant for HIHI and responsible for the preparation, conduct, and administration of the research grant, in compliance with applicable laws and regulations and institutional policy governing the conduct of sponsored research. He is responsible for the budget and all progress reporting in relation to the grant. He also chairs the Steering Committee and sits on the board of the National Oversight Group. From 2012 to 2016 he was PI of the Demonstrator Hub, which preceded Health Innovation Hub Ireland.
John is the UCC Professor and Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, a practising consultant based at Cork University Maternity Hospital and Clinical Director for Maternity Services in South/South West Hospital Group. He is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. He trained in Internal Medicine and in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Dublin and Melbourne and returned to Ireland to take up the UCC Chair in Obstetrics & Gynaecology in 2001. John gained unique experience from leading the 2009 amalgamation of three maternity hospitals to form the state-of-the art Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH).
In April 2011 he was appointed Head of the College of Medicine and Health in University College Cork where he served until January of 2017. John returned full time to CUMH in the role of Clinical Director for Maternity Services in February 2017. He is responsible for the four maternity units in the South/Southwest which deliver one fifth of the babies born in Ireland. This role is the first of its kind to receive clinical and executive authority over a service under the Health Service Executive.
Dedicated and experienced Critical Care Nurse with over 25 years of expertise in diverse healthcare settings, including Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Post- Anaesthetic Care Unit (PACU), and Cardiothoracic ICU. Currently serving as a Clinical Liaison for a Health Innovation Hub in Ireland, specialising in idea assessment, clinical evaluation, pilot conduct, and collaboration with Medtech companies on various projects.
Martin O'Donnell is the Executive Dean of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and Professor of Translational Medicine at University Galway, and a Consultant Geriatrician at University Hospital Galway. Prof. O'Donnell Graduated from University College Cork, he trained in Geriatric and Stroke medicine in Ireland, McMaster University (Canada) and Stanford University (US). He holds a PhD from the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University. He is Director of the MSc in Clinical Research at University of Galway, being run in collaboration with McMaster University.
His main areas of research interest are in Vascular medicine and Stroke Epidemiology.
HIHI PI, MTU and Head of the School of Mechanical, Electrical and Process Engineering in MTU, Cork | MTU
Job Titles:
- Head of the School of Mechanical, Electrical and Process
Matt Cotterell is Head of the School of Mechanical, Electrical and Process Engineering in Munster Technological University, Cork. He holds bachelor, masters and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from UCD. The School offers a wide range of programmes at craft, technician and engineer level and is also active in research across a wide range of disciplines. A unique feature of the School is its innovation ecosystem that encourages students to develop and evaluate ideas into prototype products/systems and to evaluate them in terms of performance, commercial potential and sustainability. Students and graduates from the School's programmes in mechanical and biomedical engineering have a strong track record in medical device development within MTU and in industry and a number have gone on to set up their own manufacturing companies servicing the life science and healthcare sectors. The School values its strong links with industry and the College of Medicine and Health in UCC through collaborative provision and student placements.
Matt was the founding manager of the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing & Management Systems (CAMMS) in MTU, which offers a comprehensive range of training and professional development programmes to industry. His research interests include the modelling and optimisation of manufacturing processes and workforce development.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Liaison and Principal Clinical Engineer, University Hospital Galway
- Clinical Liaison and Principal Clinical Engineer, University Hospital Galway UG
Michael is a Principal Clinical Engineer, and part of the Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering department at University Hospital Galway for over 20 years with previous industry experience with a leading multinational medical device company. Working across the various departments of the hospital he is responsible for the purchase and support of medical technology. Within this role he has a keen interest in remote patient monitoring and the growth of the Medical Device-IT Convergence and how it can be adopted for the safe and effective use of medical devices.
Michael has an MSc. in Digital Health Transformation and Diplomas in both Industrial Automation and Electronic Engineering. He also lectures for the MSc. In Medical Physics and Digital Health Transformation at the University of Galway and Limerick respectively.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the National Oversight Group
Dave is a science graduate from UCC and a business graduate from TCD. He has over 30 years commercial experience working at leadership level in multinational pharma in Ireland, the UK and the USA. He has been involved in launching over 21 medicines in his career. He also worked in healthcare delivery in Ireland, as founding CEO Charter Medical Group. He was latterly IDA Ireland's Global Head of Life Sciences between 2009-2012.
He founded Adagio Ventures in 2014, a healthcare consultancy investing in and supporting high potential start-ups across healthcare. Today he is a board member of Enterprise Ireland, a non-executive director of Longboat clinical trial software and NuXcel, a medical device incubator.
As well as chairing the national oversight group of Health Innovation Hub Ireland, Dave also chairs several start-ups in pharmaceuticals and digital health development.
He works as President Partnerships, of HealthBeacon, one of Ireland's most exciting global companies in connected health. He is also a venture partner in Strategic Healthcare Investment Partners (SHIP), a US medtech fund who recently commenced operations in Ireland.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Engineer
- Clinical Liaison and Clinical Engineering Team Lead, Tallaght University Hospital
Neil is a Clinical Engineer with 9 years' experience working in Tallaght University Hospital. He manages a team of 5 clinical engineers that manage and maintain medical device technology in a broad range of clinical services. Neil has been supporting the work of Health Innovation Hub Ireland since November 2021. Neil uses his technical knowledge to assess medical device technology for the overall healthcare system including end user and process workflow perspective. Part of his role is to project manage pilots and clinical evaluations within the health system.
Neil has a BSc in Physics, Medical Physics and Bioengineering, an MSc in Renewable Energy Management and a PG Certificate in Facilitation, Mentoring and Development.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Liaison and Clinical Nurse Manager, South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital
Niamh uses her experience in clinical practice, audit and education within her role for Health Innovation Hub Ireland. She ensures each client is supported from concept to implementation of clinical projects. Niamh also supported Health Innovation Hub Ireland as project lead of pilot projects in 2015.
Niamh has experience working in acute medicine, rehabilitation of the older adult and is currently also working within the department of Infection Prevention & Control/Hygiene in the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital Cork.
Niamh has vast experience in change management and leadership, particularly leading out on contracts pertaining to IP&C. She is a registered General Nurse and holds a post grad H Dip in Gerontology (UCC) and a diploma in Health Services management.
Job Titles:
- Biomedical Engineer
- Chartered Engineer With Engineers Ireland
- Clinical Liaison and HSE Biomedical Engineer, Cork University Hospital
- Clinical Liaison and HSE Biomedical Engineer, Cork University Hospital UCC
Noel is a Biomedical Engineer with 19 years' experience working within the Health Service Executive (HSE), where he introduces, manages and integrates medical device technology into a broad spectrum of clinical disciplines. Prior to the HSE, Noel worked for both indigenous and multinational organisations in software and hardware development roles. Noel has been supporting the work of Health Innovation Hub Ireland since November 2013, assessing medical device technologies and healthcare applications presented to the HIHI. Noel utilises his technical and system knowledge to assess to impact of the technology from an overall system, end user and process and workflow perspective whilst also project managing pilots and studies within the health system.
Noel is a Chartered Engineer with Engineers Ireland, has completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Healthcare Leadership & Management with RCSI and most recently in 2018 completed a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma and is an active Lean Practitioner within the Health Service.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Liaison and HSE Clinical Nurse Manager, Bantry University Hospital
- Clinical Nurse
- Specialist
Noreen is a clinical nurse manager with the Health Innovation Hub Ireland. Her aim is to creatively solve problems, improve person based prevention and treatment in the health service. Noreen is based in both the Western gateway building, University College, Cork, and The Acute stroke unit and combined stroke rehab ward in Bantry General Hospital.
Noreen has worked as a specialist in stroke care since 2012. Her role provides evidence based care and ongoing self-management for the stroke survivor in recovery and recurrent stroke prevention. Noreen acts as a liaison between stroke services, primary care teams, and community care teams. She facilitates and developed the West Cork Stroke Support Group.
Noreen obtained a postgraduate certificate in stroke practice in Metropolitan University, Leeds in 2013.
Job Titles:
- Innovation Specialist, Trinity College Dublin and St. James Hospital
- Innovation Specialist, Trinity College Dublin and St. James Hospital Trinity College
Steve is an Innovation Specialist with Health Innovation Hub Ireland and is based in the HIHI TCD hub in St James's Hospital. He liaises directly with start-ups and SMEs to develop health technology products through testing and development projects. He manages multi-disciplinary project teams of experienced clinical, commercial, academic and technical professionals dedicated to developing, scaling and growing Irish healthcare companies.
Steve has a background in User Centred Design and Innovation and has range of design experience spanning Design Research to Product Development, with experience in the development of medical and wellness devices, apps, environments and services.
In 2015 he graduated with first class honours from Maynooth University, with an MSc in Design Innovation. In 2016 he was awarded a PGrad Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from UCD and in 2020 completed the BioInnovate Fellowship programme focussing on Design Research and Needs Led Innovation in medical devices and healthcare.
Steve has completed several start-up accelerator and investor programs and over the last 10 years has co-founded three start-ups, two in the healthcare space, each of which dedicated to creating patient-centric solutions in healthcare.
Steve was successfully co-awarded Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Funding through UCD to continue work on the development of a medical device to help people suffering from Dry Eye Disease.
He has also worked with the Clinical Investigation Center in Montpellier University Hospital, working on the design of a gait training technology for people with Parkinson's disease. He subsequently co-wrote and published a paper on the work.
Steve is committed to creating connections between people involved in healthcare design and delivery to enable better understanding and to using design driven innovation to help deliver improvements across healthcare.