Cohort 1 ICAT Fellows (2017)
Dr Kapil Sharma
Clinical Specialty: Psychiatry
Dr Kapil Sharma graduated from The National University of Ireland Galway in 2011. He commenced the general adult psychiatry higher specialist training scheme in 2016, dual training in forensic psychiatry. He is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Irish College of Psychiatrists.
His research interests are in the area of neuroscience and mental health, especially the biological basis of major mental disorders.
PhD research area: The effects of antipsychotics on human glial cells, neuroinflammation and demyelination
PhD Supervisors: Prof. Kumlesh Dev, TCD; Prof. Aiden Corvin, TCD
Trinity College Dublin (TCD)
Dr Liam Townsend
Clinical Specialty: Infectious Disease
Dr Liam Townsend is an Infectious Disease trainee, with interests in premature ageing and the effects that inflammation, social factors, and chronic disease have on the ageing process.
PhD research area: Autophagy and Mitophagy in Ageing and HIV Infection: Novel Markers and Possible Predictors of a Frailty Phenotype
PhD Supervisors: Prof. Cliona O'Farrelly, TCD; Prof. Colm Bergin, TCD; Dr Clíona Ní Cheallaigh, TCD; Dr Nollaig Bourke, TCD
Trinity College Dublin (TCD)
Dr Conor Judge
Clinical Specialty: Nephrology
Conor is currently completing his Higher Specialist Training in Nephrology. Prior to medicine, he completed an honours degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering. Being on the boundary between academic disciplines he has sought unmet clinical needs that can be translated into software engineering solutions. His current interest is novel software solutions for large-scale clinical research.
PhD research area: SMART Trials - Investigation of technology-enabled adaptive clinical trial methodologies for more efficient and effective clinical research
PhD Supervisors: Prof. Martin O'Donnell, NUIG; Dr Martin O'Halloran, NUIG
National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG)
Dr Sarah Cormican
Clinical Specialty: Nephrology
Sarah graduated from NUI Galway in 2014. As an undergraduate she participated in research related to complications of diabetes and the
primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Sarah completed three years of postgraduate clinical training in Galway University Hospital and
Beaumont Hospital. As a postgraduate medical trainee Sarah became involved in research concerning accelerated atherosclerosis in chronic kidney disease, recurrent glomerular disease after renal transplantation and the prevalence of genetic kidney diseases in Ireland.
PhD research area: The pathophysiological role of intermediate monocyte subpopulations in progression of chronic kidney disease and its cardiovascular complications
PhD Supervisors: Prof. Matthew Griffin, NUIG; Prof. Laurence Egan, NUIG
National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG)
Dr David Mongan
Clinical Specialty: Psychiatry
David graduated in Medicine from Queen's University Belfast in 2012 and has been working in Psychiatry since 2014. His clinical and research interests lie in the aetiology and prevention of mental disorders such as psychosis, and how insights in these fields might aid early intervention.
PhD research area: An inflammatory biomarker study of psychosis: a longitudinal study in an at risk population
PhD Supervisors: Prof. David Cotter, RCSI; Prof. Mary Cannon, RCSI
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI)
David completed his PhD in 2021; you can read about his experience and future plans in our alumni update.
Dr Peter Barrett
Clinical Specialty: Public Health Medicine
Peter graduated from University College Cork with First Class Honours. He has undertaken Masters degrees in Global Health from Karolinska Institutet, and in Public Health from the University of Cambridge. He has worked clinically and in Public Health Medicine in the UK and Ireland, and is currently a third year Specialist Registrar in Public Health Medicine. Through the ICAT programme, Peter hopes to develop his interest in large-scale epidemiological research, and to gain practical experience in implementing research findings into evidence-based policy.
PhD research area: Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and the Risk of Kidney Disease in Women: A Nationwide Cohort Study
PhD Supervisors: Dr Ali Khashan, UCC; Dr Fergus McCarthy, Cork University Maternity Hospital; Prof. Ivan Perry, UCC
University College Cork (UCC)
Peter completed his PhD in 2021; you can read about his experience in our alumni update.
Dr Delia Bogdanet
Clinical Specialty: Endocrinology
Dr Delia Bogdanet is an SpR in Diabetes and Endocrinology. She is a graduate of ‘Carol Davila’ University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Romania. She has a Masters in Diabetes and Endocrinology from Queen Mary University of London. Delia is an emerging clinician scientist.
Her main research is in the field of gestational diabetes where she has presented nationally and internationally and published in a wide range of journals. She also has a keen interest in rare diseases epidemiology research and part of her work has focused on this topic.
PhD research area: Plasma glycated CD59 (gCD59), a Novel Biomarker for the Diagnosis, Management and Follow up of Women with Gestational Diabetes (GDM)
PhD Supervisors: Prof. Fidelma Dunne, NUIG; Dr Paula O'Shea, Galway University Hospital; Prof. Jose Halperin, Harvard Medical School
National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG)
Dr Róisín Hambly
Clinical Specialty: Dermatology
Roisin is a graduate of NUI Galway and completed 4 years vocational General Practice Training through the Trinity College Dublin /Health Service
Executive Training Programme in 2012. She is a dermatology specialist registrar in St Vincent’s University Hospital and her research interests include hidradenitis suppurativa and chronic inflammatory skin disease such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.