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Executive Committee

Under delegated authority from Council, the Executive Committee oversees the operation and management of RCPI and holds authority for statutory responsibilities. The Executive Committee also holds responsibility for the legal, financial and statutory duties of the College. The President is the Chair of the Executive Committee and the members include the Officers and Deans/Chair of the Faculties and Institutes. The Chief Executive Officer and a Senior Independent Director also sit on the Executive Committee.

 

Meet the Executive Committee

Headshot of Dr Diarmuid O'Shea in his presidential gown. Dr O'Shea is President of RCPI

Dr Diarmuid O'Shea

President

Dr O’Shea became a Member of RCPI in 1988 and a Fellow in 1998. He served as National Specialty Director in Geriatric Medicine from 2000 to 2004 and was elected to RCPI Council in 2007. He established the successful RCPI Masterclass Series in 2007 and has held the positions of Masterclass Series Convenor and Vice-President of Education and Professional Development. He was Registrar of RCPI from 2014 to 2020, playing a leading role in promoting the College’s work to improve patient care, the quality of medical practice and the health of the population. Dr O’Shea is the current RCPI Clinical Lead for the Mandatory Teaching Review. 

Dr O’Shea was also Chair of the Irish Committee of Higher Medical Training between 2017 and 2019, President of the Irish Gerontological Society from 2017 to 2020, and Clinical Lead for the National Clinical Programme for Older People in the HSE from 2010 to 2019.

Contact: president@rcpi.ie

Headshot of Dr Pamela O'Connor, Vice President, RCPI

Dr Pamela O’Connor

Vice President

Dr Pamela O’Connor is a neonatologist at the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, Dublin. An NUIG graduate, she trained in paediatrics in Ireland, followed by fellowship training in perinatal and neonatal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA, returning to a consultant post in 2003 at the Coombe and Crumlin hospitals. As director of neonatology in Crumlin hospital, she further developed services for the neonate with complex medical and surgical needs.

Dr O’Connor is FRCPI since 2004, and in 2019, she was elected as a Fellow representative on the board of the Faculty of Paediatrics. She is honoured to represent the specialty of paediatrics on the council of the RCPI. She is a director on the board of Helium Arts charity that supports children with chronic medical conditions. She is passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of the youngest and most vulnerable members of our society.

Headshot of Professor Micheal Keane, Registrar at RCPI

Professor Michael Keane

Registrar

Professor Michael Keane is Registrar of the College, and an elected Fellow on RCPI Council. Prof Keane is Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics at UCD and Consultant Respiratory Physician at St Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH). He graduated from UCD in 1989 and following initial clinical training in Dublin, moved to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor for a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine in 1995. He subsequently took up a faculty position at University of Michigan in 1998 and in 2000 moved to University of California, Los Angeles, where he was Professor of Medicine and Programme Director for the UCLA Interstitial Lung Disease Center. Professor Keane returned to UCD and St Vincent's University Hospital in 2007 where he is an SFI Principal Investigator at the UCD Conway Institute and SVUH Lead Clinical Coordinator for Lung Cancer services. He is Lead Clinical Director, Chairman of the Medicine Division, Chair of the SVUH Medical Executive and a member of the hospital Board of Directors. He is Clinical Director of the UCD Clinical Research Centre and a member of the Molecular Medicine Ireland Board of Directors. His research interests centre on molecular investigation into, and treatment of, inflammatory lung diseases, particularly pulmonary fibrosis.

Headshot of Dr Maeve Skelly, Treasurer at RCPI

Dr Maeve Skelly

Treasurer

Dr Maeve Skelly is Treasurer of RCPI. She graduated from UCD and trained in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and General Medicine in St Vincent's Hospital Dublin while completing a PhD through the Dept of Pharmacology in UCD. Dr Skelly completed her training in Queen's Medical Centre Nottingham and University of Nottingham. After a couple of years as a Consultant in Sheffield Teaching Hospitals she returned to Ireland to take up her current position as a Consultant Gastroenterologist in University Hospital Limerick. Dr Skelly has been Treasurer of Irish Society of Gastroenterology, Clinical Lead for Bowel Screen in the Mid West and BST Programme Director of UL Hospital. Dr Skelly has served three terms on Council of RCPI and one term as Censor.

Dr Maeve Doyle, Dean of Education and Academic Programmes

Dr Maeve Doyle

Dean of Education and Academic Programmes

Dr Maeve Doyle is a Consultant Microbiologist in the South East Regional Microbiology Laboratory at University Hospital Waterford (UHW). Dr Doyle has made a significant contribution to medical education and training throughout her career. She is Head of Department and Department Lead Consultant in Education and Training at UHW. She is also Clinical Lead for the Trainer Project at RCPI, and Clinical Lead for Postgraduate Education and Training at UHW. 

Dr Doyle previously held the roles of Director of Education and Training, Faculty of Pathology at RCPI and National Specialty Director (NSD) for Clinical Microbiology.  

A Member of the board of the Faculty of Pathology, RCPI, since 2014, and an Officer of the board since 2018, she has been a central figure in the activities and successes of the Faculty during this time. 

Dr Doyle is the Irish representative on Union European of Medical Specialities (UEMS) section Medical Microbiology (MM). She has a key role in the development of the European curriculum in Medical Microbiology and was part of the working group that delivered the pilot European examination in Medical Microbiology in March 2021, and the first European examination in Medical Microbiology in May 2022.  

Headshot of Dr Alex Reid, Dean of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine at RCPI

Dr Alex Reid

Dean of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine

Dr Reid is a consultant occupational physician in Tallaght University Hospital, and is clinical associate professor in occupational medicine at Trinity College Dublin. He graduated from University College Dublin in 1990. Following completion of specialist training in occupational medicine, he was awarded Certificate of Successful Completion of Specialist Training by RCPI in 2002, and Fellowship of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine in 2006.  

He has wide experience in occupational medicine across many services and industries, in both the public and private sectors, and is currently the National Clinical Director for Corporate Services with Vhi Healthcare. 

Contact: fom@rcpi.ie

Headshot of Dr Judith Meehan, Dean of the Faculty of Paediatrics at RCPI

Dr Judith Meehan

Dean of the Faculty of Paediatrics

Dr Judith Meehan is a Paediatrician and Assistant Professor in Paediatrics at Trinity College Dublin. She graduated from the University of Galway in 1992 and was awarded a CSCST by RCPI following the completion of her paediatric and neonatal training in Ireland. She furthered her paediatric training in Melbourne, Australia at the Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Medical Centre. Following her return to Ireland, she was appointed as a lecturer in paediatrics at Trinity College and clinically in the paediatric endocrinology and diabetes department at CHI in Tallaght. 

Dr Meehan has extensive experience in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, clinical practice and research. She graduated with an MD from Trinity College in 2006 - having conducted research on the efficacy and safety of growth hormone in children with Prader Willi Syndrome in Ireland. She is a member of many national and international associations. 

In addition to becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 2012, Dr Meehan was elected to the Board of the Faculty of Paediatrics in 2016. She served as the honorary secretary of the Faculty and as convenor of scientific meetings and educational activities from 2017-2021. 

Contact: paediatrics@rcpi.ie

Headshot of Professor Mary Keogan, Dean of the Faculty of Pathology at RCPI

Professor Mary Keogan

Dean of the Faculty of Pathology

Professor Mary Keogan is the Dean of the Faculty of Pathology. Prof Keogan is the former Clinical Lead for the National Clinical Programme in Pathology, and is currently a Consultant Clinical Immunologist in Beaumont Hospital Dublin. Prof Keogan studied medicine at University College Dublin, undertook postgraduate medical training in medicine in Dublin, completed specialist training in Immunology in Cambridge in the UK, and as a Consultant Immunologist in Papworth NHS Trust, developed a specialised clinical immunology service.

Since returning to Dublin, Professor Keogan has developed a busy clinical and laboratory immunology service in Beaumont Hospital and is medical director of the National Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Service for Solid Organ Transplantation. Research interests include optimisation of transplantation outcomes and improving clinical effectiveness in the use of diagnostic tests.

Contact: pathology@rcpi.ie

Headshot of Professor Cecily Kelleher, Dean of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine at RCPI

Professor Cecily Kelleher

Dean of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine

Professor Cecily Kelleher is Chair of Public Health Medicine & Epidemiology at University College Dublin. She has been the Principal of the College of Health and Agricultural Sciences in UCD since 2015. She previously served as Dean and head of the UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science.

Prof Kelleher is a member of the Royal Irish Academy. She served as the chair for the report to the Minister for Health in the Republic of Ireland of the COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel on Examination of Measures to 2021. Her main areas of research are on lifecourse epidemiology and cardiovascular disease, childhood obesity, Traveller health, and the public health impacts of tobacco smoke.

Contact: FPHM@rcpi.ie

Headshot of Professor Edward McKone, Dean of the Institute of Medicine at RCPI

Professor Edward McKone

Dean of the Institute of Medicine

Professor Edward McKone is a Consultant Respiratory Physician at St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin and a Clinical Professor at University College Dublin.

A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he completed his BST in the Federated Hospital’s SHO Scheme and his initial respiratory specialist training including an MD thesis in St. Vincent’s University Hospital. He subsequently completed a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle followed by 4 years on faculty as an attending physician in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

In 2006, he was appointed to St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin where he is currently a consultant respiratory physician with clinical and research interests in the areas of cystic fibrosis, medical education, epidemiology and clinical trials.

Professor McKone was co-NSD in Respiratory Medicine from 2015-2019 and Director of Education and Training at the Institute of Medicine from 2019-2024. He is Co-Director of the Irish Clinician Educator Track (ICET).

Contact: DeanofInstituteofMedicine@rcpi.ie

Headshot of Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan, Chair of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists at RCPI

Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan

Chair of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan is a Consultant Obstetrician and Urogynaecologist at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH). She has been the institute's National Director of Education and Training for the last five years, following over eight years as National Speciality Director for both the Basic Specialist Training and Higher Specialist Training programmes.

She is clinical lead of the National Mesh and Complex Pelvic Floor Centre Cork, and co-director of the European Board and College of Obstetrics & Gynaecology-recognised subspecialty training programme for Urogynaecology in CUMH. She is past president of the Continence Foundation of Ireland and is a member of the Clinical Advisory Group with the National Women & Infants Health Programme. She is the Fellow’s Representative for Ireland on the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists UK Council and has presented internationally and published on issues around recruitment and retention and the impact of litigation in obstetrics and gynaecology.

Contact: IOG@RCPI.IE

Headshot of Mr Kieran Crowley, Senior Independent Director on RCPI Executive Board

Mr Kieran Crowley

Senior Independent Director

Mr Kieran Crowley is the Senior Independent Director on the RCPI Executive Board. Mr Crowley is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland & a Chartered Director. Mr Crowley has been a consultant to public, private and semi-state organisations for over 30 years – both in Ireland and internationally. Consulting services have evolved over time from financial control, planning and monitoring, management information system projects, custom IT projects, organisation structuring and executive development, to improving board conduct and governance advice.

Positions Mr Crowley has held include: Vice-Chairman (NED) of the Commissioner of Irish Lights & Chair of Audit Committee, 2013 – date; Non-Executive Director (NED) of the Irish Cancer Society 2014 – date; Non-Executive Director (NED) of Oxygen Care Ltd, supplier of anaesthesia systems etc, 2017 – date; Former Non-Executive Director (NED) of AIB Group and its major subsidiaries in Poland, UK and Northern Ireland; 2004-2014; Former three-term Chairman of the SFA 1998-2003. Member of IBEC National Council 1998-2005.

Audrey Houlihan, CEO of RCPI

Audrey Houlihan

Chief Executive Officer

Audrey Houlihan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. Audrey holds over 20 years’ experience in executive and senior leadership roles within the not-for-profit sector.

Prior to joining RCPI, Audrey held the position of CEO at Our Lady’s Hospice and Care Services (OLHCS) where she provided strategic leadership including clinical and corporate governance responsibilities across three hospice sites providing specialist services to people with a wide range of needs from rehabilitation to end-of-life care. Audrey led a transformational change programme and achieved significant growth in the organisation.

During her tenure, she was appointed to several national committees and Director roles that provide advisory services related to policy, strategy and service development matters.

Headshot of Sheila Gallagher, Interim CEO at RCPI

Sheila Gallagher

Chief Financial Officer

Sheila Gallagher is the Chief Financial Officer at RCPI. She joined the College in January 2019 and is responsible for the strategic financial management and growth of RCPI. Sheila has over twenty years’ experience in governance, financial management, organisational change, strategic planning and business development. A former Director for a number of years in RTÉ, Irelands National Broadcaster, Sheila is a fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and a holds degree in Business and Finance from DCU.

 

Contact the Executive Committee

Orla Loughrey
Corporate Office
Tel: 01 8639 791
Email: orlaloughrey@rcpi.ie