Clinical Innovation Award 2024

Dr Conor Judge

Consultant Nephrologist, University Hospital Galway

Dr Conor Judge is a Consultant Nephrologist, Electronic and Computer Engineer, PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Senior Lecturer in Applied Clinical Data Analytics at the University of Galway. His primary focus is applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions to enhance patient care, particularly in the realm of chronic conditions like hypertension. He leads the development of an AI Clinical Decision Support System (AI-CDSS) for Hypertension management at the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Galway.

This project uses data from randomised controlled trials to predict complex treatment decisions for persons with hypertension and is a testament to his commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible with AI in healthcare. Dr Judge’s experience extends beyond research. He is a clinical mentor with the BioInnovate programme in Galway, and has interacted with multiple companies for needs validation. He has worked on three separate inventions and one patent application. Dr Judge has received several awards in recognition of his research including The HRB’s Clinician Scientist Fellowship 2023, the Cleveland Clinic Award in 2020, an Irish Canada University Foundation Scholarship, and the Wellcome Trust HRB Irish Clinical Academic Training (ICAT) PhD Fellowship (Adaptive Clinical Trials). He also has received research funding from SFI (Future Innovator), HRB (Secondary Data Analysis Project) and the Department of Public Expenditure (Public Service Innovation Fund for AI Natural Language Processing).

Dr Declan Sheppard

Consultant Radiologist, University Hospital Galway

Dr Declan Sheppard is a Consultant Radiologist, and Clinical Director of Radiology at University Hospital Galway. Dr Sheppard has an interest in diagnostic and interventional radiology especially Oncology, and holds a Cardiac CT level 3 accreditation. Dr Sheppard graduated from Trinity College Dublin and trained in radiology in Glasgow before embarking on fellowship training in the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre Houston, Texas, in Oncological Imaging, and Cardiovascular Imagining in Norther western Memorial Hospital Chicago Illinois, US.

Dr Claire Stenson

Surgical Trainee

Dr Claire Stenson is a ST1 surgical trainee currently in Upper Gastrointestinal (Upper GI) surgery in Tallaght University Hospital. Dr Stenson graduated from Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in 2021. Having completed her intern year in Beaumont hospital, Dr Stenson undertook a clinical tutor role in RCSI / Beaumont Hospital last year. Dr Stenson has also previously been involved in MedTech Innovator and Spark Ignite.

Prof. Derek O'Keeffe

Consultant Physician, University Hospital Galway

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 has volunteered in Ireland, USA, Ghana & Papua New Guinea. He has travelled in over 120 countries & was awarded The Outstanding Young Person of the World by Junior Chamber International. He is a Black Belt Taekwondo Instructor, Qualified Pilot, Advanced Scuba Diver & Triathlete. He has previously worked with NASA placing a sleep experiment onboard the International Space Station. He was awarded the St Lukes medal by RCPI and won a silver guild award for his health education themed garden at Bloom in May 2022. He currently works as a Consultant Physician (Endocrinologist) at University Hospital Galway (UHG) and is the Professor of Medical Device Technology at the University of Galway.

Prof. Seamus Morris

Consultant Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon, National Spinal Injuries Unit, Dublin

Prof. Seamus Morris's clinical and research interests include spinal injuries, spinal tumours, robotic surgery, spinal deformity correction and surgical training and performance.

Prof. Morris graduated from UCD in 1995 and completed both basic and higher surgical training programs in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland before undertaking fellowship training in Spine and Scoliosis surgery in the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York. He took up his consultant post in 2006. He has served as Director of the National Spinal Injuries Unit, Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and Clinical Secretary of the Irish Institute of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery. He is clinical professor of surgery in UCD where he is cofounder of the MSc Programme in Musculoskeletal Medicine and is also Director of Innovation in the Pillar Centre for Transformative Medicine in the Mater Hospital. He is a principal investigator in UCD having previously led a successful spin out company through commercialization.

Bryan Griffin

Senior Clinical Engineering Technician, St. James's Hospital, Dublin

Bryan Griffin is a Senior Clinical Engineering Technician in the Dept. of Medical Physics & Bioengineering (MPBE) at St James’s Hospital. Bryan has a BEng (Hons) in Electronic Engineering and over 15 years’ experience supporting multiple medical technologies. Bryan has supported general X-ray systems, mammography, haemodialysis, decontamination, sterilisation and LASER equipment in a healthcare setting. Bryan achieved a level 7 qualification in Medical Device Decontamination (DIT Kevin Street), and lectures in TU Dublin, Grangegorman. Bryan completed a Cisco certified CNNA to add to his knowledge of IT systems. Bryan is well versed in medical standards and is passionate about reducing hospital patient lists by creating novel workflow solutions in a clinical setting.

From left to right in the image:

Dr Ann-Marie Brennan

Dr Ann-Marie Brennan(PhD) is the Clinical Specialist Neonatal Dietitian at CUMH. She is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the School of Food & Nutritional Sciences, UCC and, a Co-Investigator within the INFANT Centre UCC. She is the Lead on the PremSmart® Project.

Dr Brendan Murphy

Dr Brendan Murphy MB BCh BAO MD MSc FRCPI FRCPCH MRCP DCH Dip. Health Care Management is Consultant Paediatrician/Neonatologist at University Hospital Waterford, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health and, an Associate Investigator within the INFANT Centre, UCC. Brendan is the Clinical Lead Neonatologist on the PremSmart® Project.

Sarah Fenton

Sarah Fenton is the Senior Neonatal Pharmacist at CUMH. She is the Clinical Informatics Pharmacist on the PremSmart® Project. She is undertaking an Employment-based PhD (CUMH/INFANT Centre, UCC) investigating the sociotechnical and economic aspects of the PremSmart® Project.