Diabetes Ireland Conference & Exhibition Speakers’ Bios
Professor Hilary Hoey
MA, MD, FTCD, FRCP(UK), FRCPI, FRCPCH (UK), MICGP, D Obs RCOG
Chairman Diabetes Ireland, Paediatric Endocrinologist, Director of Professional Competence RCPI, Vice President European Paediatric Association and Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations (EPA/UNEPSA), European Regional Representative on the International Paediatric Strategic Advisory Group on NCD. Emeritus Professor & Past Head of Department of Paediatrics Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Previously Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist Tallaght University Hospital and CHI Crumlin. Past Dean Faculty of Paediatrics RCPI, Past President Irish Paediatric Association and Past President European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE).
Graduated University College Dublin, trained Hospital for Sick Children Great Ormond Street London, University San Francisco, Children’s Hospital Pittsburgh and studied medical education at the University of Dundee.
Currently a member of many national and international councils, committees and working parties. Member of: Academy of Medical Royal Colleges UK Directors of CPD Committee; EACCME (UEMS European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education); Council of the International Academy for CPD Accreditation and of the European CPD Forum.
Received many National & International awards including ESPE Outstanding Clinician Award 2016, The Irish Lifetime Achievement Health Care Award 2017, International Collaboration Award Croatian Medical Association 2021, the McKenna Lecture Medal Irish Endocrine Society 2021.
Research includes over 200 peer reviewed publications. Specialist reviewer of many international academic publications and editorial boards. Served as External Examiner Universities of Cambridge, Nottingham, Kuwait and Cairo, UCD, RCSI, Galway and Limerick
Professor Partha Kar
Professor Partha Kar is the Type 1 Diabetes & Technology lead for NHS England and co-lead of the Getting it Right First Time (Diabetes) and Consultant, Diabetes & Endocrinology in Portsmouth
In his role with NHS England–He has helped to expand use of technology in Type 1 Diabetes- namely use of Flash Glucose/CGM & implementation of use of CGM in T1D pregnancy along with use of online digital self-management platforms- while recently leading on real world data collection on Closed Loops for subsequent NICE review. He has worked subsequently with NICE on updating relevant guidelines in non-invasive glucose monitoring access in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.
His other work has involved introduction of frailty into Quality Of Framework (QoF) treatment targets, Diabulimia pilot projects in the NHS; championing “Language Matters” and helping to create an overview of Diabetes care in Primary Care Networks.
Recent work has included principles of Peer support for Type 1 Diabetes as well as a Decision Support Tool for those with Type 1 Diabetes
He is one of the leading users of social media in diabetes care- and writes a monthly blog for the British Medical Journal.
He has been:
*Co-creator of TAD (Talking About Diabetes) – TED talks from those with T1Diabetes
*Co- creator of Type 1 Diabetes comic (Volume 1 to 5)
*Co-creator of DEVICES (Virtual Reality educational modules in diabetes)
He has also been recognised as one of the most influential figures from the ethnic minority population across healthcare in the UK by the Healthcare Service Journal in 2020,2021, 2022 & 2023
He received an OBE for services to Diabetes care in 2021
His has worked with NICE regards opening up access to “Artificial Pancreas” to those with Type 1 Diabetes- and leading on the 5 year implementation plan
Ms Áine Mahon
Áine is a Trainee Educational Psychologist undertaking Doctoral training in University College Dublin. She holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Health Psychology.
Áine has worked in a variety of settings including HSE Child Disability Services, HSE Primary Care Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and in the private sector on a multidisciplinary team specialising in Autism, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. Áine has also worked as an assessor of applications for the Disability Access Route to Education scheme. She is currently working in CHI Connolly Paediatric Psychology Department.
Áine works from a family-centred, strength-based approach and is passionate about including the young person’s voice in her research and professional practice. Her past research has primarily focused on the experiences of those living with long term heath conditions. As part of her Doctoral training, she performed a systematic literature review exploring the experiences of adolescents with type 1 diabetes, with a particular focus on the implications for school life. She is currently undertaking a qualitative empirical study on this research topic.
Ms Aisling Egan
RIDN, RCN, RPN, RANP.
Aisling is a registered advanced nurse practitioner (RANP) specialising in paediatric diabetes. She holds an MSc in Advanced Practice (Nursing), ProfDip in Prescription of Medication with Health Assessment, HDipNS in Children’s Nursing from University College Dublin, and BSc in Management of Childhood Diabetes from the University of Birmingham.
She joined the diabetes department at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) in Crumlin, over 16 years ago. Her specialist areas of interest are CSII therapy, diabetes technologies, and adolescent transition to adult care.
She has been living with type 1 diabetes since she was 16 years old and a pump user for 28 years.
Dr Christine Newman
Dr. Christine Newman is currently working as a consultant endocrinologist in Galway University Hospital and lead clinical researcher in the Diabetes Collaborative Clinical Trials Network. She graduated from NUIG in 2012 with an MB BCh BAO and completed her MD in the area of diabetes in pregnancy in 2022.
She has previously held posts as a clinical lecturer in the School of Medicine at the University of Galway and clinical fellow in Diabetes Technology and Endocrinology in Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals Group. She obtained postgraduate qualifications from the The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and is a member of the college and she has a Speciality Certificate in Endocrinology and Diabetes from the Society of Endocrinology.
Dr. Newman’s research interests are currently focused in the area of diabetes in pregnancy, diabetes technology and evidence synthesis and she is currently leading a refresh Priority Setting Partnership with the James Lind Alliance in the area of type 1 diabetes.
Professor Ciara Coveney
Ms Ciara Coveney is a Registered Advanced Midwife practitioner in Diabetes in Pregnancy based in the National Maternity Hospital. She is a dual qualified nurse and midwife with an MSc in Advanced Practice and leads the midwifery team in a multidisciplinary clinical diabetes team. In 2021 she was appointed as Adjunct Assistant Professor in University College Dublin.
In her clinical practice she is a specialist in pre-gestational diabetes, diabetes technology, gestational diabetes and high risk midwifery led care. She was a member of the Diabetes in Pregnancy Model of Care Working Group. In 2020, Ms Coveney led the implementation of diabetes in pregnancy virtual clinics in the NMH and has consulted on the implementation of virtual clinics in conjunction with the HSE across multiple national hospital sites. She is currently undertaking a research study “Evaluating the Implementation of a Virtual Care Pathway for GDM Midwifery Services”. She has been involved in several multidisciplinary publications and is a member of the Joint Research Network NMH/UCD.
Dr Colin Davenport
Dr Colin Davenport is the Lead Consultant for Integrated Diabetes Care in Connolly Hospital and Community Healthcare Organization 9. Dr Davenport is a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). During his training in endocrinology he completed a Health Research Board-funded PhD in the area of cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes with RCSI and Dublin City University (DCU).
After completing his specialty training he was awarded the inaugural Aspire Fellowship in Obesity Medicine in Ireland. He subsequently gained experience as an endocrinology consultant in the obesity departments in St Columcille’s Hospital Loughlinstown and University Hospital Galway before spending a year developing diabetes services in Wexford General Hospital. In 2022, Dr Davenport was appointed to the first integrated diabetes care consultant post in the country, and is currently focused on developing specialist-led services for diabetes and obesity in the community.
In addition to 45 peer-reviewed publications and his participation in multiple seminal international trials of diabetes care such as LEADER, Dr Davenport has helped to develop both the national model of care for obesity and the guidelines for the management of type 1 diabetes in Ireland.
Dr Darren Rattigan
Dr Darren Rattigan is currently working as the Endocrine Clinical Lecturer in Connolly Hospital and the Royal College of Surgeons. He completed an undergraduate degree in Human Health and Disease in Trinity College before completing Graduate Entry Medicine in The Royal College of Surgeons, graduating with first class honours. Since graduation, he has completed his Basic Specialty Training in medicine and presented at multiple local and national academic meetings. Darren will be commencing Higher Specialist Training in Endocrinology this year.
Professor Derek O’Keeffe
Prof Derek O’Keeffe holds dual first-class honours degrees and dual doctorates in Medicine and Engineering. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard, a Green Templeton Scholar at Oxford and is a graduate of the Endocrinology Clinical Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. As well as multiple academic publications, he holds biomedical patents and several international research prizes. He is the current HSE National Clinical Lead for Diabetes and Principal Investigator in the Virtual Hospital project.
He has explored over 100 countries, is a licenced pilot and a black belt Taekwondo instructor. He has volunteered extensively, is a six star athlete and was awarded The Outstanding Young Person of the World by Junior Chamber International.
He currently works as a Consultant Physician (Endocrinologist) at University Hospital Galway and is the Professor of Medical Device Technology at the University of Galway. He is a globally recognised key opinion leader in digital-health (e.g. NASA / WHO) and he is founder and director of the Health Innovation via Engineering (HIVE) lab where his team develops patient centred solutions to clinical problems.
Professor Edward W. Gregg
Edward W. Gregg is Professor and Head of the recently launched RCSI School of Population Health, which aims to guide the key decisions in health policies, promotion, and health services through science, education, and collaborations. He also holds a joint appointment as Professor and Chair in Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology in the School of Public Health. Before that he led a multi-disciplinary public health research unit for chronic diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control Prevention.
He has worked extensively in chronic disease epidemiology and surveillance, prevention effectiveness trials, the development of natural experiments to study health policies, and modelling of health impact and cost-effectiveness of public health interventions.
His research has focused on understanding the causes, dynamics, and prevention of diabetes and its complications, and includes long-term follow-up studies of the lifestyle interventions as well as the evaluation of US and UK-based public health prevention programmes. He has led and served in numerous health policy development roles for diabetes and chronic diseases for organizations such as the World Health Organization, Lancet Commission, US CDC, and American Diabetes Association.
He has was awarded the ADA 2016 Kelly West Award for Excellence in Diabetes Epidemiology and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) 2015 award for Epidemiology award for Epidemiology.
Ms Emma Davidsen
Emma Davidsen is Master in Public Health Science (Copenhagen University, Denmark), and currently a PhD-student at Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen and Aarhus University, Denmark. Her research areas include health promotion, development of complex interventions in families, unintended consequences in health promotion research and stigma.
In her PhD she specifically investigates experienced and internalised stigma in relation to gestational diabetes mellitus through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.
Professor Fidelma Dunne
MD, PhD, FRCP (UK), FRCPI, MRIA
Fidelma Dunne is a Professor of Medicine at University of Galway Ireland, and Consultant Endocrinologist at Galway University Hospitals. Professor Dunne is immediate past President of the IADPSG (2016-2022), President of the Irish Endocrine Society (2021-2024), National Specialty Director for Endocrinology training (2023-2026), and Adjunct Professor at Steno Diabetes Research Centre in Odense, Denmark (2020-2025). She was a Fulbright scholar (2014-2015) at Columbia University New York and served two terms on the executive board of the Irish Medical Council. Currently she is Director of the Institute of Clinical Trials at the University of Galway and Lead for the All Ireland Clinical Trial Network in Diabetes.
Her research interest in diabetes and pregnancy spans 30 years with >250 peer review publications. She was awarded the Jorgen Pedersen award from DPSG in 2021 and has been elected as member to the prestigious Royal Irish Academy in 2024. She initiated the ATLANTIC DIP network which established key metrics for Diabetes in pregnancy nationally and shaped clinical and research practice. She has completed the EMERGE trial of Metformin in pregnancies complicated by GDM (JAMA 2023) and is currently conducting the longitudinal follow-up of EMERGE women and their children.
During COVID she established the INSPIRE group which completed a number of core outcome sets (COS) and patient reported outcomes (PRO) with global international participation using a virtual platform, and these are now used internationally. In addition, she has been involved in the DALI, CONCEPTT, EVOLVE and EXPECT trial programmes which have influenced clinical practice globally.
Dr Kate Gajewska
Kate is a Clinical Manager for Advocacy and Research in Diabetes. In her role Kate is responsible for all advocacy activities, and oversees Diabetes Ireland Research Alliance. Consecutively, Kate is still involved in academic research as a Postdoctoral Researcher (Knowledge Broker) at the School of Public Health, University College Cork. In 2020 Kate has been awarded a PhD degree by RCSI: University of Medicine and Health Sciences for her thesis focusing on access to insulin pump therapy in Ireland.
Prior to joining Diabetes Ireland, Kate worked as a lecturer in Epidemiology and Public Health at RCSI: University of Medicine and Health Sciences, and a Postgraduate Researcher in the OPEN diabetes project focusing on the DIY artificial pancreas systems. Before conducting her PhD she worked as a research data manager in Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, in Dublin, and as a psychologist and a diabetes educator in an outpatient diabetes clinic in Warsaw, Poland. She completed MSc in Clinical Psychology in 2010, and received a Postgraduate Award in Mixed Methods for Health Services Research. Kate’s research interests include diabetes, mainly type 1 diabetes, its epidemiology, determinants of (barriers and facilitators to) access to technology in diabetes care, health and well-being of people with chronic illnesses, as well as health services research and its role in improving health, outcomes and quality of care. She is the author of peer-reviewed publications, educational materials, presents as a speaker at international and national conferences, and actively engages in patient advocacy and scientific organizations (i.e. ISPAD, IES, PSI) as a healthcare professional, researcher and a person living with diabetes (since 1987).
Dr Lisa Devine
Lisa Devine is a GP in County Wicklow. She initially trained in hospital medicine, gaining her Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland before realising that her vocation lay in General Practice. She trained as a GP and gained Her Membership of the Irish College of General Practitioners of Ireland.
Lisa has several special interests in particular Diabetes, Chronic Care and Medical Education. In recent years she has enjoyed contributing to the Irish General Practice point of view in Ireland via her work with the East Coast Area Diabetes Steering Group. She collaborates internationally in the field of Diabetes Care in her role as a Primary Care Diabetes Society Committee member.
Lisa has worked in medical education as a writer, tutor , education creator and Course Director. She is delighted to take up the role of HSE ICGP National GP Lead in Diabetes.
Dr Loredana Marcovecchio
MD, PhD
Dr Loredana Marcovecchio (MD, PhD) is a clinical scientist and consultant in paediatric endocrinology and diabetes at the Department of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge, UK.
Since 2005, she has been actively involved in epidemiological studies, assessing risk factors for vascular complications in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. She also contributed to the design and conduct of the first randomized trial on ACE inhibitors and statins in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (AdDIT trial). More recently, she has been working in the field of prevention and treatment of type 1 diabetes, with a key role in the design and coordination of immunotherapy trials in newly diagnosed children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes, including the ITAD and MELT-ATG trials. Since 2021, she has been the clinical coordinator of the INNODIA clinical network.
Her research has led to over 120 publications in high impact journals and 5 prestigious research awards, including the ISPAD Young Investigator award in 2015.
Since 2020, she has been a member of ISPAD Guidelines Editorial committee.
Professor Louise O’Toole
Louise O’Toole is a consultant medical ophthalmologist. She practices in the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, the Mater Private Network and Bon Secours Dublin. Louise is an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor at University College Dublin. She holds the position of Deputy Clinical Lead for Diabetic RetinaScreen.
Ms Marcia Carvalho
Márcia Carvalho is a SPHeRE PhD scholar in Health Psychology on the Collaborative Doctoral Programme in Chronic Disease Prevention at the University of Galway. She is also a member of the Health Behaviour Change Research Group.
Márcia graduated from the University of Porto (Portugal) with a BSc in Psychology in 2017 and completed an MSc in Clinical and Health Psychology at the same university in 2019. Prior to her doctoral studies, Márcia worked as a research trainee at the Health Behaviour Change Research Group, assisting in a Health Research Board-funded project. Subsequently, she worked on the same project as a research assistant in the School of Psychology at the University of Galway.
Márcia’s research interests include behaviour change maintenance, type 2 diabetes prevention and management, and intervention optimisation.
Dr Mary Jane Brassill
Dr Mary Jane Brassill is an Integrated Care Diabetes Consultant at Tipperary University Hospital and South Tipperary, CHO5. She graduated from University College Cork in 2004 and completed higher specialist training in Diabetes and Endocinology in 2011. After undertaking a research fellowship at Imperial College London, she returned to Ireland in 2013 as Consultant Endocrinologist at Tipperary University Hospital before moving to the Integrated Care Consultant post in 2023. She was a member of the working group for the new Integrated Model of Care for people with Type 2 Diabetes.
Professor Michael O’Grady
Michael O’Grady is the National Clinical Lead for Paediatric Diabetes. He is a graduate of the National University of Ireland, Galway and completed Higher Specialist Training in Paediatrics, including fellowship training in Paediatric Endocrinology in Perth.
He was appointed Consultant Paediatrician in Regional Hospital Mullingar in 2012 and is the Paediatric Clinical Lead. He is a former National Specialty Director for Higher Specialist Training in Paediatrics and the current President of the Irish Paediatric Association.
He was appointed as UCD Clinical Professor in 2020. His research interests include diabetes technologies, diabetes management in educational settings and type 2 diabetes. Some of his work in these areas have been cited in recent International Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) guidelines.
Professor Orla Neylon
Dr Neylon graduated from NUI Galway in 2002, entering general paediatric specialist training in 2004. After 5 years training in Ireland she completed a clinical & research fellowship in paediatric endocrinology at The Royal Children’s Hospital and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne Australia. She concurrently completed a thesis entitled “The Interface between Human Behaviour and Diabetes Technologies in Youth with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus” for which a Doctorate of Medicine was awarded by NUIG.
She has a keen interest in APLS teaching and research interests include neonatal endocrinology, patient interaction with diabetes technologies and puberty/menstrual management and bone health in individuals with chronic disability. She worked as a Consultant General Paediatrician and Endocrinologist in Sligo University Hospital from 2013 to 2017, then moving to a post as Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist at University Hospital Limerick.
She is a member of several national paediatric and endocrinology committees and adjunct Associate Professor of Paediatrics at the School of Medicine at the University of Limerick.
Professor Parth Narendran
Parth’s research interest focusses on understanding the autoimmune destruction of insulin secreting beta cells that lead to type 1 diabetes and exploring how this process can be modulated. He is part of a national effort to explore the feasibility and acceptability of early surveillance programmes for pre-type 1 diabetes and is also exploring which therapies are best tested in the prevention arena. He has developed an international reputation for exploring whether exercise can be used to modulate the autoimmune process in type 1 diabetes. He has recently taken up the Chair of the MS Prevention Taskforce for the Multiple Sclerosis Society to explore treatment parallels across other conditions with similarities to type 1 diabetes.
Parth leads the Diabetes Research Unit and the Type 1 Diabetes clinical service at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. He is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications including publications that have been cited by international bodies on Type 1 diabetes and its management. He has served on the Diabetes UK Research Committee and was previously on the Research Advisory Board of the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation and Regional Advisory Committee for the NIHR RfPB programme. He chaired the Academic subcommittee of The Association of British Clinical Diabetologists stepping down in 2023 having led and supported the setting up of its first research grant funding scheme and national Diabetes Update training programme for doctors specialising in diabetes and endocrinology.
Parth reviews for all the major national and international diabetes journals. He contributes to the NIHR Horizon Scanning, and NICE Medical Technology reviews for new therapies.
Dr Patrick Divilly
Dr. Patrick Divilly is a Consultant of Endocrinology & Diabetes Mellitus in St Vincents University Hospital in Dublin. He is a graduate of University College Dublin. He did a clinical research fellowship in Kings College Hospital. He has a special interest in hypoglycaemia, health economics and diabetes technology.
Ms Pauline Dunne
(BSc (Hons), MSc, Dip HSM, RD)
Pauline is a CORÚ registered dietitian whose professional journey started within the Health Service Executive (HSE) Midland area. There, she gained diverse experience across acute and primary care settings contributing to the development, delivery and implementation of dietetic services, multidisciplinary teams, and standards of practice. In 2013, Pauline joined Diabetes Ireland in the multifaceted role of Regional Development Officer.
Pauline has a keen interest in exploring effective and accessible ways to prevent and manage chronic disease. Currently, she is a UCD PhD candidate, and SPHeRE scholar (2020-2024), through a HRB funded collaborative doctoral programme in chronic disease prevention. Pauline’s research activities have been recognised twice this year, being nominated, and shortlisted for the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute (INDI) 2024 Research Dietitian of the year award, and named a winner of the prestigious 2024 Nutrition Society Irish Postgraduate Competition.
Her ongoing research explores the development of a primary care intervention to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes after gestational diabetes.
Dr Rita Forde
Dr Rita Forde is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at University College Cork. Having been awarded a Doctoral Fellowship from the Foundation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND), Rita completed a PhD at King’s College London exploring the experiences of pre-pregnancy care for women living with type 2 diabetes. She was subsequently appointed as a Research Fellow and then as a lecturer in Long-term Conditions and Reproductive Health at the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King’s College London.
She is currently working on a number of funded UK based studies related to diabetes and women’s health. During her time in London Rita held honorary clinical positions at the diabetes services in both King’s College Hospital and at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trusts. Prior to this Rita worked as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner with the diabetes team at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.
Professor Rob Andrews
Rob Andrews is an Associate Professor at the University of Exeter, an Honorary Consultant Physician at Musgrove Park Hospital Taunton. He is one of the co-founders of EXTOD, a group that aims to provide evidence-based support for people with type 1 diabetes to undertake safe and effective exercise, and to enjoy its associated health benefits.
At the University he leads a group that researches how to encourage and support patients with diabetes to exercise. Past studies include; The Early ACTID study that look at the effect of diet and exercise in newly diagnosed people with Type 2 diabetes; EXTOD education a study that developed and tested an education programme for people with Type 1 diabetes (with accompanying training for health care professionals to deliver this programme) to guide insulin and carbohydrate adjustment for safe exercise; and EXTOD 101 a study that determined the “real world” risks and benefits of exercise in 101 adults with type 1 diabetes who are training for and running a Half Marathon.
Ongoing studies include; EXTOD education online a study that adapts the EXTOD education programme to an online programme; MOTIVATE T2D that aims to determine how to remotely increase and maintain exercise in people with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes; EXTOD adolescents a study that aims to develop an education programme to help encourage and support exercise in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes; and studies that aim to determine the best ways to support women with Type 1, Type 2 or gestational diabetes to become more active.
At Musgrove park hospital as well as doing regular Diabetes and obesity clinics he runs specialist adult, adolescent and paediatric sports clinics to give advice to sports men, women and children who have Type 1 diabetes.
Professor Seamus Sreenan
Seamus Sreenan is a consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown in Dublin. In 2006 he was appointed as associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and was promoted to full professor in 2019. In 2010 Prof Sreenan was appointed director of the graduate entry medical programme at RCSI.
Prof Sreenan received his medical degree from University College Dublin. Having completed training in general medicine in Dublin he completed his specialist training in the endocrinology section at the University of Chicago Medical Center. His research interests have included the pathophysiology of beta cell function in diabetes, utilization of technology in type 1diabetes and the impact of sleep quality on cardiovascular risk in diabetes.
Prof Sreenan has completed more than 40 clinical trials in diabetes as chief investigator at Connolly over the last 20 years and has more than 80 peer-reviewed publications.
Professor Seán F. Dinneen
MD, MSc, FRCPI
Consultant Endocrinologist, Galway University Hospitals, Ireland
Professor of Diabetic Medicine, University of Galway, Ireland
Seán Dinneen is an Academic Endocrinologist based in the West of Ireland. His professional interests include developing and evaluating programmes of self-management education and support for people living with diabetes, developing optimal models of community-based diabetes care and understanding the diabetic foot.
Past leadership roles include Head of the School of Medicine, University of Galway (2013 to 2016) and National Lead for Diabetes, HSE (2016 to 2022).
He is a current Editor with Diabetic Medicine, the journal of Diabetes UK. In March 2021 he became National Lead for the PPI Ignite Network, aiming to increase capacity for high quality public and patient involvement in health and social care research in Ireland https://ppinetwork.ie/
Ms Sinead Powell
BSc. Hons, RD
Sinead qualified as a dietitian from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
She has worked in the area of diabetes for over 25 years both in the UK and Ireland in secondary and primary care and for the last number of years in Diabetes Ireland where her role is diverse but mainly involves facilitation of education workshops, advocacy, project development, awareness and supports to HCPs and PwD.
Current interests are the development of emotional wellbeing programmes and tools to improve communication with and for people living with diabetes.
She is a passionate advocate for people with diabetes on many bodies. She is a CORU registered dietitian and member of the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute (INDI) and long-standing member of the Diabetes Interest Group (DIG) of the INDI. She completed a Postgrad Diploma in Healthcare Innovation from TCD in 2021. She currently sits on the IES committee.
Dr Tomás Griffin
Dr Tomás Griffin has recently taken up a post as a Consultant Diabetologist at Galway University Hospitals/CHO2 and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Galway. He is a graduate of the school of Medicine at the University of Galway (First Honour). He completed a PhD entitled, “The Role of Novel Biomarkers in Addressing the Burden of Chronic Kidney Disease in Diabetes Mellitus” at the University of Galway. In addition, he holds a Masters in Clinical Research (First Honour) and a Higher Diploma in Clinical Education (First Honour) from the University of Galway.
Dr Griffin was awarded and completed a competitive Clinical Fellowship in Diabetes Technology with a special focus on diabetes in pregnancy at the prestigious Leicester Diabetes Research Centre (2021-2022). He is an honorary Lecturer at the University of Leicester and a Clinical Consultant in Diabetes Communication Technology at the University of Dundee. Dr Griffin has worked as a Consultant Diabetologist/Associate Professor of Medicine at University Hospital Limerick/University of Limerick.
Dr Vincent McDarby
Dr Vincent McDarby has worked as the psychologist on the diabetes team at Children’s Health Ireland, Crumlin (formerly Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin) for the past seventeen years and is also the head of the psychology department in the hospital.
He is an active researcher and his primary areas of research interest include childhood diabetes, adjustment to chronic illness and the use of virtual reality in paediatric care. He also completed a PhD by research through Trinity College Dublin where he looked at the use of social media to support adolescents with diabetes.
Dr McDarby has published his research in numerous peer reviewed international journals and presented at academic conferences all over the world, including Beunos Aires, Miami, Istanbul, Toronto and Brisbane.