Clinical Innovation Award

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.