Membership/Fellowship: Sinéad Wall – mail@acslm.ie

Accounts: accounts@acslm.ie

CPD Officer’s:  Jemma Kehoe & Leo Mulvany – cpd@acslm.ie

Executive Officer: Helen Barry – ceo@acslm.ie

Bernie Quirke – President of the Academy of Clinical Science
                                  and Laboratory Medicine

ACSLM CEO, Helen Barry

Helen Barry MBA, MSc, FAMLS, HDip Healthcare RM, DipSHWWW.

 Professional Qualifications

MBA in Healthcare Management – HETAC
HDip Healthcare Risk Management – UCD
Dip Safety Health and Welfare at Work – UCD
MSc Microbiology – UCD
BSc (Hons) Biochemistry – UCC

 Additional Courses

Accounting for Non Financial Managers – UCD, 2002
Quality Management – Smurfit Business School, 2003
Six Sigma Green Belt – ASQ, 2006

Committees
I have served on a number of committees,.

HSA Advisory Committee H&S in Healthcare – 1999-2001

Academy of Medical Laboratory Science, Council Member – 2007 – 2010

Health Protection Surveillance Centre, Scientific Advisory Committee – 2004 – 2008

Women in Technology and Science (WITS) Ireland, Executive Member – 2005 – 2012

HSE Working Group, Centralisation of Virology Services – 2012 to 2014

HSE GC Control Group Resources Sub Committee – 2013 to 2017

Lectures
I have lectured at all the major third level colleges, NUIG, UCD, TCD, TU Dublin in general Microbiology, Biosafety, Health Care Management, clinical risk management, occupational health and safety.

I have presented at many conferences including LabCon, BioMedica and the Heath Summit.

Vice President: Bernadette Jackson

Treasurer: Brian O’Malley, Cavan General Hospital

Dr Irene Regan, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital

Marie Culliton, M.Sc., M.B.A., F.AC.S.L.M.,

Laboratory Manager, National Maternity Hospital, Dublin

Marie Culliton entered the profession of Medical Science in 1973, commencing the certificate in Medical Laboratory Sciences in Dublin, Ireland. In 1978, specialising in Microbiology, the Diploma in Medical Laboratory Science was achieved. Marie then took a career change and opted for Clinical Chemistry. Fellowship of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, London, was completed in 1980.

Marie has a specific interest in the disease Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia. This formed the topic of her thesis while undertaking the MSc. in Clinical Biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin which was completed in 1990. Predominant research work concerned examining the relationship of Androgens with 17α OH Progesterone in the treatment of this disease.  In addition other research interests are the aetiology of the disease Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and the investigation of Androgen excess states.

Marie continued her academic studies with an MBA in Health Services Management, from University College Dublin and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, awarded in 2001.With this additional qualification Marie moved into laboratory management, 1^st as quality manager at St Vincent’s and now as Chief Medical Scientist and Laboratory Manager at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin.

At The National Maternity Hospital, Marie has developed and interest in monitoring of Fetal Wellbeing. This encompasses the management of Rhesus Disease and also the emerging area of 1^st Trimester Screening. The Biochemistry 1^st Trimester Screening  service at the National Maternity Hospital is accredited to ISO 15189.

Marie has been a member of the Council of The Academy of Medical Laboratory Science since 1985 and has served 2 terms as President. Marie has been a delegate to the European Association for Professions in Biomedical Science (EPBS) since 2001. She was President of EPBS from 2004-2018.

Marie was appointed by the Minister for Health and Children to the Council of CORU, the Registration Council for Allied Health Professionals where she served 2 terms and was Deputy Chair of the Council. She was subsequently appointed to the Medical Scientists Registration Board where she serves as Chair.

Along with other members of the profession Marie has been raising our profile in the media through appearances at the Oireachtas Health Committee, interviews on RTE and Newstalk radio, podcasts with Susan Mitchell and more recently on television.

Marie has been a delegate to the International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science (IFBLS) on several occasions and has now been elected to its Board as President Elect.

Sinéad Creagh, Cork University Hospital

Sinead is a Fellow of the Academy of Clinical Sciences and Laboratory Medicine, she is currently Laboratory Manager at Cork University Hospital.  Her academic background includes BSc in Biomedical Sciences from CIT/UCC, MSc in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Ulster, Diplomas in Quality Management and Leadership.  She has completed FRCPath Part 1 in Medical Microbiology and is currently her second year of Leading Care MSc as part of the HSE Leadership Academy awarded by UCC.

Sinead was a Medical Scientist in the Department of Clinical Microbiology, Cork University Hospital for seventeen years, seven of which were at a senior grade.  As the Laboratory Manager, she oversees CUH’s Laboratory, Phlebotomy and Post Mortem departments.  Sinead represents the laboratory at a number of collaborative groups at local, regional and national levels.

Following graduation from the BSc in Medical Science programme, Dublin Institute of Technology (now TU Dublin), Claire spent some time working in a diagnostic Haematology laboratory before carrying out research work in Baylor College of Medicine, Texas. She was awarded an MPhil from TU Dublin for this work and went on to become one of the Health Research Board PhD Scholars in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). After spending time in research laboratories in Brown University, Providence, Claire worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the RCSI. She returned to TU Dublin in 2013 to take up her current position and graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Third Level Learning and Teaching in 2015.
Claire coordinates and lectures on all undergraduate and postgraduate Haematology related modules and organises outreach opportunities for the BSc in Medical Science students and others. She is also involved in the design and delivery of Professional Practice modules and is academic mentor for various undergraduate and postgraduate research projects. She is a certified phlebotomist and an active researcher within the School of Biological, Health and Sports Sciences, currently supervising two PhD students. Claire was nominated onto the Heads of University Centres of Biomedical Sciences executive committee this year and is involved in various committees at both school and university level. She has been a member of the Haematology Advisory Body of the ACLSM since 2013 and has been chair since 2020.

Cían Ryan – Lancaster Medical School, UK

Cían graduated from Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (Atlantic Technological University) in 2013, with a B.Sc. in Medical Science. He has 8 years of experience in Irish public hospital laboratories, working across the Midlands Regional Hospital, Mullingar and the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin. During his time in Irish hospitals, he specialised in the monitoring of monoclonal gammopathies and HIV in the clinical immunology laboratory, as well as routine haematology. In 2021, Cían received an M.Sc. in Epidemiology as well as an M.Res. in Global Health – Quantitative and Translational Methods. Prior to commencing his PhD in 2022, Cían was seconded to the UK Health Security Agency where he spent 7 months working as a surveillance scientist responding to the COVID-19 omicron emergency as well as the Monkeypox pandemic.  Cían is currently completing a PhD at Lancaster Medical School investigating how social networks and vaccine assortative mixing translates on the transmission of communicable disease. Prior to joining counsel, Cían sat on the immunology advisory body, before becoming chair between 2017-2020. Cían also currently sits on the engagement and advancement advisory body.

Dermot McBrierty, Beaumont Hospital

Dermot has worked for twenty years in Beaumont hospital, at every level. Currently he holds the post of chief medical scientist in NPT (near patient testing) and also works in the Biochemistry Department. Interests include NPT, Biochemistry, Toxicology, Forensic, CSF Xxanthachromia for subarachnoid hemorrhage  diagnosis, strategy and management.

Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my wife and two daughters, socialising with friends, travel, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, fitness, cooking, and photography.

Alison Malkin, TU Dublin

Dr Fiona O’Halloran, Munster Technological University

Fiona graduated with a BSc in Biomedical Science (1996) from the joint CIT/UCC programme and has a PhD in Biomedical Science and an MA in Teaching and Learning.  Following her PhD Fiona did a number of locum positions as a medical scientist, then went back to research, completing a three-year postdoc that focused on antimicrobial resistant mechanisms. She then worked as a research officer with Teagasc, exploring how food-derived bioactives impact human health. In 2012 Fiona took up a lecturing position in the Department of Biological Sciences, Munster Technological University (MTU), and in addition to teaching on the Biomedical Science programme she is a member of the MTU/UCC board of studies, which is responsible for the development of the joint Biomedical Science programme. Fiona is a principle investigator in both BioExplore and NutRI research groups, and actively involved in the supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate research projects.  As a co-ordinator of the MTU CellEXPLORERS team Fiona also helps to promote science in schools and local communities through this outreach initiative.

Greta Domarkaite – Senior Medical Scientist – Green Laboratory Ambassador

Virology Laboratory I, Irish Blood Transfusion Service, National Blood Centre, James’s Street, Dublin, D08 NH5R

Isabelle O’Callaghan, Specialist Medical Scientist, Cork University Hospital

Isabelle O’Callaghan is a Specialist Medical Scientist with responsibility for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. She has worked for 18 years in Clinical Microbiology and currently works in the Microbiology Department at Cork University Hospital. Isabelle has extensive experience in the various aspects of the Microbiology laboratory. Isabelle holds a degree in Biomedical Science from Dublin Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in Biomedical Science from University College Cork and Cork Institute of Technology. She is on the ISCM EUCAST sub-group and the ACSLM EUCAST discussion group.

Dr Jacqui Clarke, Letterkenny University Hospital

My name is Jacqui Clarke, I am currently the Pathology manager at Letterkenny University Hospital. I began my studies in ATU Galway and then went to the University of Ulster, Coleraine where I completed my PhD through a Wellcome Trust Prize Studentship. I remained in academia for a few years before returning to Letterkenny in 1997 to the Biochemistry Dept.

I progressed through the ranks of Biochemistry and became Pathology manager in May 2018. I love the field of medical science and am very proud of the important work we do every day. I am looking forward to my time on council and hope to influence the advancement of IT in our service delivery, promote our presence in primary care initiatives and ensure that our profession remains a highly educated workforce with excellent professional standards.

Dr. Joan O’Keeffe: Lecturer in Medical Science in the Department of Biopharmaceutical & Medical Science at ATU Galway

Dr. Joan O’Keeffe

Lecturer in Medical Science in the Department of Biopharmaceutical & Medical Science at ATU Galway

Joan is a lecturer in Medical Science at ATU in Galway since 2008, having graduated from TUD with a B.Sc in Biomedical Science and a PhD (Immunology) from TCD. After post-doctoral research into innate immune mechanisms in colon cancer in the Education & Research Centre at St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, she was employed as a lecturer in Biochemistry at the University of Galway in 2006 before joining the Medical Science team at ATU. At ATU she lectured on the undergraduate Medical Science degree program in Immunology and Cell Pathology, and was also a module leader on the M.Sc in Medical Science and the Higher Diploma in Medical Science programs. Joan currently is the co-chair of year 4 in Medical Science and has in the past been placement co-ordinator in year 3. She is co-supervisor of two postgraduate students at the MFRC at ATU (Dr Joan O’Keeffe – ATU Marine and Freshwater Research Centre (mfrc-atu.ie)), where her research interests are in innate immunity, antimicrobial peptides, salmon fish health, and bioactivity in seaweeds. Joan is passionate about sustainable science and have been part of a team at ATU involved in achieving certification for greener labs in science teaching recently.

Mr. John Crumlish, Laboratory Manager at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.

• Over 30 years experience as a Medical Scientist.
• Laboratory manager @ Beaumont Hospital since August 2021
• Formerly Chief Medical Scientist Blood Transfusion and subsequently  laboratory Manager @ Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.
• Over 20 years working in IBTS in a number of departments including Senior Medical Scientist in Virology and Chief Medical Scientist in Crossmatch/Diagnostics.

Karen McGibney – UCD National Virus Reference Laboratory

Following graduation from UCD, I trained as a biomedical scientist in the UK, Great Ormond Street Hospital, a busy tertiary referral hospital for children and major transplant centre, and St Elizabeths Childrens Hospital, a London community hospital. Study at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, led to an MSc in Medical Virology awarded by University of London, and Fellowship of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences.

With further training in microbiology, with the intention of returning to Ireland, I was delighted to find a centre of excellence at the National Virus Reference Laboratory and I have practised clinical diagnostic virology there for over 28 years.

I am currently in an Education and Development role within the NVRL, with a passionate interest in clinical virology, and support that learning NVRL staff and visitors. I would like to see broader entry pathways to the Medical Scientist profession, particularly more post-graduate training options.

Helen Barry, ACSLM CEO and Secretary to Council

Helen Barry MBA, MSc, FAMLS, HDip Healthcare RM, DipSHWWW.

 Professional Qualifications

MBA in Healthcare Management – HETAC
HDip Healthcare Risk Management – UCD
Dip Safety Health and Welfare at Work – UCD
MSc Microbiology – UCD
BSc (Hons) Biochemistry – UCC

 Additional Courses

Accounting for Non Financial Managers – UCD, 2002
Quality Management – Smurfit Business School, 2003
Six Sigma Green Belt – ASQ, 2006

Committees
I have served on a number of committees,.

HSA Advisory Committee H&S in Healthcare – 1999-2001

Academy of Medical Laboratory Science, Council Member – 2007 – 2010

Health Protection Surveillance Centre, Scientific Advisory Committee – 2004 – 2008

Women in Technology and Science (WITS) Ireland, Executive Member – 2005 – 2012

HSE Working Group, Centralisation of Virology Services – 2012 to 2014

HSE GC Control Group Resources Sub Committee – 2013 to 2017

Lectures
I have lectured at all the major third level colleges, NUIG, UCD, TCD, TU Dublin in general Microbiology, Biosafety, Health Care Management, clinical risk management, occupational health and safety.

I have presented at many conferences including LabCon, BioMedica and the Heath Summit.