ICAT Celebration Event 2025

Susa Benseler trained in Paediatrics in Freiburg and Bonn, Germany. In 2001, she moved to the Hospital for Sick Children (Sickkids), Toronto, Canada providing academic care in Rheumatology and Emergency Medicine. She established interdisciplinary clinical programs for neuroinflammation and vasculitis and international care transformation networks for rare inflammatory diseases providing evidence-based care protocols that have significantly reduced the morbidity and mortality. For the past decade, she served as the director of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute advancing transformational child health programmes. She is also the co-lead of the Understanding Childhood Arthritis Network (UCAN), a multinational, transdisciplinary partnership with families for precision health in childhood arthritis. Since early 2024, Susa serves as the  Chief Academic Officer for Children’s Health Ireland focussed on jointly advancing an academic health sciences system for child health across the island.

For almost 30 years, Peter Maxwell was a consultant nephrologist at the Belfast City Hospital, Northern Ireland (NI) after clinical training in the UK and Canada. He was also the Professor of Renal Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast where he pursued his interests in medical education and research. He was the NI Training Programme Director for nephrology for 15 years and NI Clinical Academic Training Programme Director for 5 years. Peter has been a member of the ICAT Executive Team since the launch of the ICAT programme in 2016.

Peter’s research interests include diabetic kidney disease, genetic risk factors for chronic kidney disease and renal transplant outcomes. He led a multidisciplinary Nephrology Research Group at Queen’s University and has supervised over 50 postgraduate students (doctors and scientists) to completion of higher degrees

Peter has also been directly involved in development and expansion of Renal Services in Northern Ireland in partnership with health care commissioners and patient advocacy groups.

Professor Michael Gill is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin. During his career, he led the Neuropsychiatric Genetics Research Group which contributed Phenotypic and Genomic investigations into Autism, Psychosis and ADHD. The goal of this ongoing international research is to identify and investigate the function of genetic variation contributing to disease risk as a means of improving understanding of disease biology, developing better methods of diagnosis, and establishing new therapeutic approaches. The group has played a significant role in large collaborative genomics studies and has been part of several significant discoveries published in journals such as Nature, Nature Genetics, Archives of General Psychiatry and the British and American Journals of Psychiatry.

In 2012 he was appointed as Director and Principal Investigator of the Dublin Centre for Clinical Research that includes the network of four CRFs at TCD, UCD and RCSI and the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility at St. James’ Hospital. Between 2013 and 2018, he was the first Director of the Trinity St. James’s Clinical Research Facility. Michael was the Principal Investigator of the Wellcome/HRB funded Irish Clinical Academic Training (ICAT-1) Programme. He was Head of the School of Medicine at Trinity College from 2017 up to his retirement in 2022.

Michael Conall Dennedy is a Consultant Endocrinologist at Galway University Hospital and Associate Professor in Therapeutics at the University of Galway. He is a Galway graduate, completing a BSc in Pharmacology in 2000, MB, BAO, BCh in 2002, MD in Obstetrics in 2007 and PhD in Medicine in 2013. He trained through the HSE HRB National SpR Academic Fellowship Programme, an integrated academic clinician scientist programme. Following this he completed a fellowship in endocrinology at the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s hospital. His research interests centre on the pathogenesis and treatment of functional adrenal tumours, both benign and malignant. He retains links with the Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge and has forged collaborations with the Centre for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University of Birmingham. He is also affiliated with the CÚRAM programme and the Translational Medical Device Laboratory.

Conall is the Principal Investigator of the ICAT-2 Programme, director of the undergraduate MB PhD programme at University of Galway and International Specialty Director for Endocrinology for the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, International Clinical Fellows Programme.

Caroline Sabin, PhD, is Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at UCL and the Director of the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Blood-Borne and Sexually Transmitted Infections at UCL.  She is a leading expert on the design and analysis of observational studies in HIV and has initiated and/or been responsible for statistical analyses of many of the studies that have determined models of care for people living with HIV.  Caroline’s research interests are in describing adverse events of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and the effects of aging among people living with HIV.  She established the UK Collaborative HIV Cohort Study, one of the longest running cohorts of people living with HIV, and was the principal statistician for the D:A:D study, which demonstrated associations between ART drugs, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.  She is the co-principal investigator for the Pharmacokinetic and clinical Observations in PeoPle over FiftY (POPPY) study, which describes the clinical comorbidities and healthcare needs of people with HIV as they age.  She is the co-Editor-in-Chief of HIV Medicine and has published over 700 papers.

Dr Andrea Bowe is a final year specialist registrar in Public Health Medicine. She has completed a Masters in Public Health at University College Dublin and recently completed her PhD at the INFANT Research Centre University College Cork. Her PhD work, supervised by Professor Deirdre Murray, focussed on using machine learning for predicting cognitive outcomes in childhood at a population level.

Professor Martina Hennessy is a clinical pharmacologist and consultant physician at St James’s Hospital Dublin with clinical expertise in hypertension, cardiovascular risk and medication safety and research interests in advanced therapies, antiretroviral pharmacology, and medical education. She is the Director of the Wellcome-HRB Clinical Research Facility in St James’s Hospital, Dublin. The CRF is a collaborative partnership between St James’s Hospital and Trinity College. Prof Hennessy is Associate Professor of Medical Education and Director of Internship in the School of Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin.

Prof Hennessy is Chief Academic Officer (CAO) of HSE Dublin Midlands, composed of 8 hospitals, St James’s Hospital Dublin, Tallaght University Hospital Dublin, The Coombe Women’s Hospital Dublin, St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network at St James’s Hospital, Naas General Hospital, Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore, Regional Hospital Mullingar, Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise. The CAO is responsible for developing a structured and integrated approach to research, innovation, education and training for all healthcare professionals in HSE Dublin and Midlands. HSE Dublin and midlands with its academic partner Trinity College Dublin (TCD), is one of the largest of newly designed regional health areas, established as a key transitional step in a government initiative to reorganise the Public Health System.

Richard Kendrick qualified in Dentistry and Medicine and was a Consultant Oral & Maxillofacial surgeon based in The Ulster Hospital, Belfast. Retired in 2011 and became a patient when diagnosed with Lacrimal Sac Cancer under my left eye in 2021. Surgery in my old unit, followed by radiotherapy. Joined the Head and Neck PPI Subgroup of Northern Ireland Cancer Research Forum and have enjoyed my involvement to date.

Dr Rachel Mac Cann graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in 2016 and completed her BST in The Mater Hospital. In 2019 Rachel completed a diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and was appointed to the Higher Specialist Training in Infectious Diseases in 2021. As an ICAT fellow, Rachel explored the role of inflammation and aging in HIV, in particular with regards to the microbiome.

Dr Margaret Brennan graduated from National University of Ireland Galway in 2016 and subsequently completed internship and Basic Specialist Training (BST) in General Internal Medicine at St. James’ Hospital, Dublin. After BST, she obtained a Master’s in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and was appointed to the Higher Specialist Training Scheme in Public Health Medicine in 2021. Through the ICAT programme, Margaret hopes to develop her interest and skills in large-scale epidemiological research.

Professor Camille Harron is Postgraduate Medical Dean and Director of Education at NIMDTA. Previously she was Medical Director for NIMDTA Single Lead Employer. She has held a number of senior education roles including Associate Dean for Careers and Professional Support, Deputy Head of School of Medicine, Training Programme Director for Core Medicine and College Tutor. She has been a Consultant Nephrologist in NHSCT for over 20 years. She graduated from Oxford University in 1990 having completed her preclinical studies in Cambridge with a degree in Physiology. She undertook her Speciality Training in Renal Medicine and General (Internal) Medicine in Belfast and Glasgow and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London). She has completed a PhD investigating the role of vasoactive factors in diabetic nephropathy, a Masters in Clinical Education with a dissertation looking at the use of technology in medical education and a Masters in Career Development and Coaching (Warwick University). Her educational interests include career coaching, wellbeing and mentorship and promotion of the VALUED strategy for doctors in postgraduate training.

Gerard is a Senior Lecturer and Consultant in Clinical Oncology at Queen’s University Belfast and the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre. Clinically, Gerard’s practice is centred around radiotherapy and systemic therapy for lung cancer. Through his research he hopes to improve the prognosis of lung cancer by advancing how patients and treatments are selected and optimised. Gerard completed his PhD in cardiotoxicity in lung cancer in 2022 as a member of the 2nd ICAT cohort. His research spanned translational mouse models, spatial transcriptomics and clinical physics analyses. In 2023 he was a Visiting Fellow at Washington University in St Louis where he joined the Bergom Labortory for 3 months to work on cardiac SABR and cardiotoxicity studies – via a Fulbright Scholarship. Gerard completed a 1-year Clinical Trials Fellowship in Thoracic Oncology at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust and University of Manchester in Q1 2025 under the supervision of Professor Corinne Faivre-Finn and took up Principal Investigator role of the CONCORDE Trial in Belfast on his appointment. His research team is funded by a British Heart Foundation Project Grant Award.

Katie is a clinical immunology SpR currently completing her clinical training in University Hospital Galway.  She is in the final stages of her Ph.D. which focusses on personalising treatment for patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria.  Her body of work has explored the identification of mast cell progenitors in peripheral blood using flow cytometry.  Katie’s research interests include sex differences in immunological disease and autoimmune skin disease.

Peter is a Consultant in Public Health Medicine in the Department of Public Health HSE South West, and a HRB Clinician Scientist Research Fellow based in the INFANT Research Centre and School of Public Health in UCC. He is a graduate of the first cohort of the ICAT programme, and his research spans maternal health, adolescent health and infectious disease epidemiology. He is an Associate Director of the ICAT Programme for UCC.

Carmel T Mooney is a 1986 veterinary graduate of UCD’. After spending several years in Scotland where she completed both MPhil (The University of Edinburgh) and PhD (The University of Glasgow) theses on feline hyperthyroidism, she returned to UCD as Lecturer and now Professor. She has been Head of Section and Head of Subject in Small Animal Clinical Studies from 2015-2023. She is currently Clinical Director of the University Veterinary Hospital, a position she also held between 2006 and 2008. Carmel was also Director of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine – Companion Animal (ECVIM-CA) residency programme in UCD’s Veterinary Hospital and Director of the DVMS Professional Doctorate Programme within the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Carmel obtained the ECVIM-CA Diploma in 1998 and is also a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Specialist in Small Animal Medicine (Endocrinology), awarded in recognition of her clinical and research work in the field of small animal endocrinology. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, awarded in recognition of her meritorious contributions to knowledge. Carmel has been President of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (2005-6) and President of the ECVIM-CA (2015-17). She was Founding Secretary of the European College of Veterinary Endocrinology (2001-2005). She was Editor of the Journal of Small Animal Practice from 2010 – 2015 and is currently Specialty Chief Editor of Frontiers in Veterinary Science Comparative and Clinical Medicine, She is also Chair of the ECVIM-CA Clinical Studies Fund and co-Chair of the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation Standards, Quality Assurance & Governance Committee.

Bernadette trained in geriatric medicine and general internal medicine. During this time she graduated with an MD for work on neuropsychological changes in dementia and was awarded the Paul Beeson Career Development Award in 2007 which afforded three further years of research into mild cognitive impairment leading to a PhD. She currently works as Clinical Professor of Ageing within the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast and Consultant Geriatrician in the Belfast Health & Social Care Trust where she leads a memory service. From a research perspective she is especially interested in Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment and the role of inflammation and nutrition in neurodegeneration; she leads a research portfolio of studies in these areas. Bernadette is Principal Investigator of the Northern Ireland Cohort of Longitudinal Ageing (NICOLA) study and leads on an NIA funded study comprehensively assessing cognition in NICOLA participants (HCAP).

Professor McKenna’s research is centred on optimising treatment options for older patients which positively impact their dental and overall health. His current position combines research, clinical teaching and specialist patient care.  He is the immediate past President of British Dental Association in Northern Ireland and is a past president of the British Society of Gerodontology and the European College of Gerodontology (ECG) as well as the Geriatric Oral Research Group (GORG) at the International Association for Dental Research (IADR).

Dr Caroline Garvan qualified with a degree in Veterinary Medicine in 1993 and spent 4 years in farm animal practice in the UK and Ireland before spending a further 8 years in companion animal practice. She completed an MPhil in Food Safety and Environmental Health in 2007 before joining the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as a Veterinary Inspector.

Caroline is currently a Senior Superintending Veterinary Inspector in the One Health One Welfare section and is head of the One Health, Veterinary Medicines and Antimicrobial Resistance Division. She also holds a Post graduate Certificate in Food Safety, a Diploma in Leadership and a Professional Certificate in Governance. Caroline is a member to the Veterinary Council of Ireland and also sits on the Health Products Regulatory Authority Advisory Committee on Veterinary Medicines.