Personalised Health Index in Ireland

Mary Harney is a former Tánaiste and government minister in the Department of Health and in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. During her seven year tenure as Minister for Health, Ms Harney initiated major reforms including in cancer services, in-care of the elderly and in the regulation of health professionals. 

Since retiring from politics in 2011, Ms Harney has become the director of a number of private companies in pharmaceutical, healthcare, technology and financial services sectors. She provides business advisory services to a range of companies and organisations. Ms Harney has been involved in the FutureProofing Healthcare Indices and both a European and Irish level. Since 2018 and has been a member of the Irish expert panels for the Sustainability Index, the Breast Cancer Index and the MS Index. 

A well-known GP, broadcaster and columnist, Dr Nina Byrnes first appeared on our screens as a co-presenter on the RTÉ series Health of the Nation. She has since become a regular contributor on radio and television with her most recently been part of the team for Doctor in the House on TV3.

Dr Byrnes also writes a weekly column for the Irish Independent and released a book in 2011. She owns the Generation Health Medical Clinics in Dublin where she is still a practicing GP. Dr Byrnes has been involved in the FutureProofing Healthcare Indices since 2018 and has been a member of the Irish expert panels for the Sustainability Index, the Breast Cancer Index and the MS Index.

Liam Doran is the former General Secretary of the INMO having stepped down from the role in late 2017 after nearly 20 years in the position. A qualified nurse, Mr Doran joined the organisation as a Student Officer in 1983.

In his role as General Secretary, Mr Doran led the INMO through many changes in the Irish healthcare system during a time which would see the organisation continuing to grow and becoming the union of choice for all nurses and midwives working in the health services in Ireland. During his tenure, Mr Doran doubled union membership which today stands at 40,000 members and worked with seven health ministers, five HSE directors general and five secretaries general in the Department of Health. Mr Doran has been involved in the FutureProofing Healthcare Indices since 2018 and has been a member of the Irish expert panels for both the Sustainability Index and the Breast Cancer Index.

Prof Stephen Finn is a Consultant Pathologist at St. James’s Hospital, where he co-directs the Cancer Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory (CMD). CMD is the only fully accredited molecular diagnostic laboratory for cancer in Ireland. 

Prof Finn’s clinical expertise is primarily in urological and molecular pathology and his research interests are primarily focused on prostate cancer. He is a former Senior Scientist and Staff Pathologist to the Centre for Molecular Oncologic Pathology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA. Prof Finn has been involved in the FutureProofing Healthcare Indices since 2018 and has been a member of the Irish expert panels for both the Sustainability Index and the Breast Cancer Index.

Prof Bryan Hennessy is a Consultant Medical Oncologist, Beaumont Hospital, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda and Adjunct Professor in the Division of Cancer Medicine at the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. 

Prof Hennessy is an international leader in the application of reverse phase protein arrays (RPPA) for quantitative protein profiling to interrogate predictive and prognostic markers in breast, colon and other cancers, and has established this technology at RCSI. Prof Hennessy is also the Clinical Lead for Cancer Trials Ireland.

Dr Avril Kennan is CEO of Health Research Charities Ireland (HRCI), an organisation that supports a community of 40 charities to engage in all aspects of health research. She oversees a partnership with the Health Research Board to run a funding scheme for patient-focused research projects, the management of the Irish Health Research Forum and the support of a patient and public involvement (PPI) ‘Shared Learning Group’ for research charities.   Avril’s PhD and subsequent lab experience are in the field of molecular genetics. In previous roles in DEBRA Ireland and DEBRA International, she drove a range of international initiatives, including the management of a network of over 200 clinicians and patients to develop evidence-based clinical guidelines and the establishment of an international patient registry.

Mary is responsible for leading Roche’s Personalised Healthcare division, helping to ensure that screening, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases will more quickly and effectively transform the lives of people in Ireland. The concept and definition of Personalised Healthcare covers a broad spectrum for many people, and Mary’s focus is to help create greater understanding for the importance of this field, now and with future advancements, particularly with regard to creating a more sustainable health system. Mary collaborates with organisations and experts from multidiscipline areas to use advanced diagnostics and meaningful data to improve patient outcomes and experiences. Her background in biochemistry and molecular medicine, combined with over 18 years working across Roche medical teams, helps her to communicate scientific topics in a straightforward, uncomplicated manner. Ultimately, Mary’s role aims to ensure the right treatment for the right patient at the right time.

Derick Mitchell, PhD is the Chief Executive Officer of IPPOSI. Dr Mitchell has a strong background in research, strategy and advocacy from over 12 years’ experience spanning a number of leadership roles in research and multi-stakeholder engagement in Ireland and at the EU-level.

Dr Mitchell is a board member of the recently established European Patients Academy (EUPATI) Foundation in the Netherlands, an initiative which is training patients to become involved in the medicines R&D process at the EU level and in over 20 countries.

Dr Mitchell serves on the advisory boards and steering committees of a number of health-related initiatives including Health Innovation Hub Ireland, DataSavesLives.eu, EHealth Ireland, HIQA, UCD Research Ethics Committee, as well as the Medical & Life Sciences Committee of the Royal Irish Academy.

Tony O’Brien is the former Director General for the Health Service Executive (HSE), and has extensive experience providing healthcare and strategic counsel on several prominent boards. Mr O’Brien is currently a Columnist with The Business Post, specialising in health-related topics.

Mr O’Brien lectures on Health Strategy with the School of Medicine for Trinity, and is currently a NED for Evofem Biosciences; Council Member and Associate Faculty at the IMI; and Chairman of the Board of St. Paul’s Child and Family Centre.

Dr. Westrup is the Director of Oncology, and a Consultant Medical Oncologist at Beacon Hospital. Dr. Westrup is appointed Associate Clinical Professor at University College Dublin and sits on the steering committee of the innovative UCD Beacon Academy. Dr. Westrup is the former Medical Director at Beacon Hospital and currently sits on the Clinical Governance Committee of the Beacon Hospital Board.  Dr.Westrup is the Chair of the Beacon Foundation which serves to fund innovative healthcare initiatives.

Dr. Westrup is a member of Cancer Trials Ireland. Her research on breast cancer has been presented at international conferences and is published in peer reviewed journals. She is a member of the National Cancer Care Programme, Melanoma Clinical Advisory Group. Dr. Westrup is also an Advisor on Life Sciences to Atlantic Bridge Ventures with a focus on funding Irish Med Tech start-ups.

Dr Patrick Buckley is VP of Laboratory Operations for Genuity Sciences. Previously Dr Buckley spent two years in the in-vitro diagnostics unit of the Irish Medicines Board (now HPRA), before moving back to research to the Department of Cancer Genetics and a lecturing position in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He then moved to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, to establish the Molecular Pathology Laboratory, an ISO15189 accredited genomics core facility for clinical molecular testing across all pathology departments before joining Genuity Science. He is an adjunct senior lecturer at the School of Biological Sciences at the Technology University Dublin, a co-founder of the Irish Molecular Diagnostics Network and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists.