Meet our Speakers
CUH Major Trauma Symposium – May 24th 2024
Prof Conor Deasy is the President of the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine, Professor of Emergency Medicine, University College Cork and Clinical Director, Emergency and Acute Care working at Cork University Hospital (CUH).
He also holds the following roles:
- Clinical Lead for the South Trauma Network.
- Clinical Lead for National Office of Clinical Audit’s (NOCA) Major Trauma Audit in Ireland.
- Examiner for the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
- Associate Adjunct Professor at the School of Primary Care, Monash University, Australia.
He was Deputy Medical Director of the National Ambulance Service from 2014 – 2020.
Mr David Donegan joined CUH Group as CEO in August 2022 after a 27-year career working in the UK. He has held board level positions in government, strategic health authorities, acute hospitals and ambulance services in England and was the Director of Secondary Care for the largest Health Board in Wales. He has 4 degrees, including an Executive MBA from Warwick Business School and is a graduate of the NHS Leadership Academy and UCL Senior Leaders Programme. He is a clinician by background, and has been a Clinical Director for Acute & Emergency Medicine in a large teaching hospital in the UK. He is originally from Limerick, and is married to Nuala.
A Welshman, Dr Andy Phillips comes to the HSE from his role as Acting CEO of Safer Care Victoria, Australia. He has worked in clinical, operational and strategic executive leadership roles in healthcare for the past 37 years. Andy maintains his clinical qualification as a consultant clinical scientist.
Since 2009, Andy has been leading large scale health system transformation in Wales, New Zealand and Australia, with a passion for integrating health and social care. Andy has practised co-creating health and relationship centred healthcare for over 20 years, with recent work leading kindness and compassion in healthcare. Andy took up his role as Regional Executive Officer in HSE South West on 1 March 2024.
Mr Keith Synnott is the HSE National Clinical Lead for Trauma Services. He is a Consultant Orthopaedic and Spine Surgeon, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital, and The National Rehabilitation Hospital.
Dr Colm Henry was appointed as the first Chief Clinical Officer (CCO) to the HSE in April 2018. He was previously the National Clinical Advisor and Group Lead for Acute Hospitals from 2014 – 2018, and National Lead for the Clinical Director Programme from 2012 to 2014. Prior to these national roles, he was Clinical Director of the Mercy University Hospital Cork from 2009 to 2012 where he worked as Consultant Geriatrician since his appointment in 2002.
Dr Murray Connolly is a Consultant Anaesthesiologist in Cork University Hospital, with a special interest in Orthopaedic and Trauma Anaesthesiology. A graduate of University College Cork, Murray pursued his Anaesthesia training across Ireland, and has completed Fellowships in both Regional and Obstetric Anaesthesia. Murray has extensive experience in training and education and has an expanding research portfolio in the areas of procedural training, Technology Enhanced Learning, and augmented reality.
Dr Herlo Coetzer graduated from the University of Pretoria South Africa in 2006 and co-lead a private emergency department in a level 3 hospital between 2010 and 2015. In this period, he completed his Diploma in Primary Emergency Care at the College of Medicine, South Africa. After moving to Ireland in 2015 he completed his Membership and Fellowship Exam with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
He works as a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at University Hospital Kerry and has a special interest in Trauma, Critical Care and POCUS. Dr Coetzer is a certified Medical Director & Instructor for ACLS & ACLS-EP. He is also a certified instructor in ATLS, PLS, APLS and EGLS. He holds certification in ETC and HEMS and is working at Critical Charity as a volunteer Physician Responder.
Dr Padraig Delaney graduated from UCC in 2012 and CAI SAT scheme in 2020. He completed his Intensive care medicine fellowship in the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia from 2021 to 2023. He qualified with a Masters in Simulation and Patient Safety from NUIG in 2022.
His special interests include echocardiography, trauma, neuro-critical care and simulation.
His hobbies include surfing, coffee and cooking.
Up the Kingdom!
Mr Mazhar Iqbal is a consultant neurosurgeon at Cork University Hospital (CUH) specialising in general neurosurgery with a sub-specialty interest in complex spine surgery, trauma and neuro-oncology. He trained in Neurosurgery in the UK followed by 2 Fellowships in Complex Spine in Manchester with both Ortho and Neuro-spine teams. He also worked as a Senior Clinical Fellow in Neuro-Oncology, Paediatric and Functional Neurosurgery in Manchester.
He is hoping to further develop the clinical services in CUH Neurosurgery liaising with other acute services including ED, ITU and rehabilitation.
He links in with Neuro-Oncology MDT at CUH and the Complex Spine MDT in Mater Spine Unit in Dublin for selected cases. He has operated jointly at the Mater Spine Unit in Dublin for Complex cases requiring a multi-disciplinary approach. He is a big proponent use of intra-operative multi-modality imaging including Ultrasound, 3D navigation and Neurophysiology monitoring for both cranial and spinal cases.
Mr Kevin Tsang is a consultant neurosurgeon who trained in Bristol and Plymouth before taking up the current post at Imperial College.
He subspecialises in neuro-trauma, including cranial, craniofacial and spinal trauma, as well as CSF disorders. He became head of specialty for major trauma in 2020 and contributes to some trauma team leader shifts in the major trauma centre. In his capacity as unit training lead and quality assurance lead for the neurosurgery specialty advisory committee (and liaison member for Republic of Ireland), he contributes to a lot of trauma and neurosurgery teaching and has been an invited speaker at many national and international events. He works as a trauma surgeon for the FIA, joining the Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit since 2017. Academically, he is well published with multiple systematic reviews on neuro-trauma topics and presents regularly at various conferences.
Dr Ruairi Connolly is a Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine at Cork University Hospital – Major Trauma Centre. Dr Connolly joined CUH from Kings College Hospital, London where he worked as a Consultant in Major Trauma Rehabilitation. He has accrued experience in elite sports medicine following posts with Chelsea Football Club and Irish International Soccer Teams. Dr Connolly has a number of peer-reviewed publications on the topics of brain injury and rehabilitation and is a member of the National Office for Clinical Audit – Major Trauma Audit Division.
Ms Sinead Brosnan is a Speech & Language Therapy Manager and HSCP lead in Cork University Hospital. Health Service Leadership Academy Leading Care 1 & IMI Graduate Award in Executive Healthcare Leadership 2019, Postgrad Dip Healthcare Innovation 2023- 2024.
In 2004, she took up the Senior SLT Neurosurgery post at CUH with clinical specialism in hyperacute/acute complex neuro-rehabilitation across critical care, PDOC, neuro/polytrauma. In 2009, she was accredited by Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability Putney as Sensory Modality Assessment and Rehabilitation Technique (SMART) assessor. Sinead developed a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Pathway in Clinical Decision Unit with Rehabilitation Medicine & Emergency Medicine in 2013. In collaboration with Neurosurgery & Anaesthetics, she established the awake craniotomy service in 2014.
In 2022, Sinead chaired the Major Trauma Centre Rehabilitation & Egress Workstream. This workstream delivered a suite of Trauma HSCP Clinical Care Pathways.
In collaboration with AHP/HSCP leads in MMUH & RVUH, the inaugural AHP/HSCP network was setup in April 2024.
Ms Niamh Kelly-Whyte is a Critical Care Dietitian working in Cork University Hospital. She qualified from UCD with a Masters in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics. She developed a keen interest in nutrition support and critical care nutrition upon qualifying as a dietitian, and has been working as an acute hospital dietitian for the past 3 years.
Ms Laura Connolly is a Senior Speech and Language Therapist working in critical care in Cork University Hospital. She graduated from Speech and Language Therapy in University College Cork in 2017 and has worked across a variety of settings including the acute hospital and primary care. Laura works alongside the multi-disciplinary team in critical care to assess, diagnose and provide intervention for patients with communication and/or swallowing impairments, including those with a tracheostomy and/or those who are dependent on mechanical ventilation. Laura’s areas of clinical interest include hyper-acute dysphagia rehabilitation and tracheostomy weaning.
Dr Stephen Halpin is a Senior Clinical Psychologist at Cork University Hospital (CUH). Having completed his doctoral training at University College Cork, his clinical experience has spanned a wide range of settings including both adult and child mental health, neuro- disability, and brain injury.
He works in the inpatient trauma service at CUH, which provides rehabilitative support to patients following serious and often life-changing injury. He specialises in identifying patients at risk of psychological distress post-injury, providing emotional support to patients, assessing and formulating cognitive and behavioural changes, supporting onward care planning, and promoting psychological-informed ward environments.
He has a key research interest in the area of neuropsychology. He is particularly interested in how brain pathology can influence cognition, emotions and daily functioning. He has authored peer-reviewed research looking at neuropsychological and behavioural outcomes of adolescents with acquired brain injury.
Ms Sinéad Meade holds one of two trauma coordinators posts with the Inpatient Trauma Service at CUH, responsible for coordinating the daily management of major trauma patients from admission to discharge, ensuring timely access to specialist care is delivered and supporting the patient and their family through the acute trauma pathway.
Having earned a BSc Hons. Physiotherapy at University College Dublin in 2012, she initially worked in the private sector as a sports and musculoskeletal physiotherapist, working with athletes in various disciplines. She has since accrued over ten years of experience working in multiple trauma specialties, including acute trauma rehabilitation, critical care, neurosurgical units, orthopaedics, cardio-thoracic and neuro- rehabilitation, here at CUH as well as in hospitals in Australia and New Zealand.
Dr Alan Watts is Senior Lecturer in Emergency Medicine and Consultant in Emergency Medicine at University Hospital Limerick. Originally from New York, he spent part of his childhood in Montpellier in France and lived in Boston until moving to Ireland in 1999. He completed his Specialist Training in Emergency Medicine in 2016 having worked in departments around Ireland. His academic and clinical interests include resuscitation, critical care, chest pain, simulation and pre-hospital Emergency Medicine.
Dr Mike Dunphy is a consultant in Emergency Medicine and Trauma at Cork University Hospital. He graduated from Medicine in RCSI from 2007-2011, and he completed his Fellowship of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in 2021. In addition to this he holds an MSc in Leadership and Innovation in Healthcare from RCSI, and a BSc. in Nursing Science.
Mr Kevin McSorley is currently a Trauma & Orthopaedic Consultant in Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.
Following 18 months in The Alfred Major Trauma Centre in Melbourne, he completed a fellowship in Pelvis & Acetabulum surgery & management of poly-trauma patients with Trauma Service.
Prior to this, he completed the Higher Surgical Training in Trauma & Orthopaedics working in many of the trauma hospitals throughout Ireland. He has a Master’s in synthetic bone grafting & tissue engineering in the setting of fracture non-union and is a graduate of RCSI.
Mr Terence Murphy is Head of Orthopaedic Department, University Hospital Waterford (UHW). He graduated from medicine in UCD in 2002 and completed his orthopaedic training in Ireland in 2015 and went on to complete a Fellowship in Lower limb Arthroplasty in the Holland Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences, and Toronto, Canada in 2015-2016. He commenced his post in UHW and KROH in 2016.
His subspecialty Interests include Primary and Revision Hip and Knee Arthroplasty; Navigated Knee Arthroplasty; and Femoral and tibial osteotomy and lower limb alignment.
He also holds the following roles: National Orthopaedic Clinical Lead for Irish Hip Fracture Database; Clinical lead for Hip fracture committee in UHW; Clinical lead for Irish National Orthopaedic Registry in Kilcreene & Waterford; Course director for ATLS in Kilkenny; AO faculty for trauma education and Course Director for Dublin AO Principles.
Ms Sinead Boran is a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon who was appointed to Cork University Hospital and South Infirmary Victoria Hospital in 2012. Having graduated from University College Dublin, she completed her specialist orthopaedic training under the auspices of The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She gained further subspecialty fellowship training in both North America and Canada.
Mr Justin Chatterjee is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Cork University Hospital. His interests include Breast Reconstruction, Microsurgery and Upper & Lower Limb Reconstruction. He graduated from Glasgow Medical School in 2000 and completed Basic Surgical Training in 2003. He trained as a plastic surgeon for 10 years (2003-13) undertaking Higher Surgical Training in Scotland and completed his senior training at the renowned Canniesburn Plastic Surgery Unit, obtaining CCT in 2013. Mr Chatterjee is dual fellowship trained undertaking Fellowships in Orthoplastic Hand, Wrist & Peripheral Nerve (Birmingham, UK) and Breast Reconstruction (Vancouver, Canada). He has worked in Tertiary Level Trauma Centres for the majority of his career namely, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham, Newcastle, Vancouver and Cork. Mr Chatterjee has published in areas of interest including Hand Surgery, Nerve Reconstruction and Trauma.
Mr Chatterjee holds Board Certification in Plastic Surgery from the UK and Ireland Intercollegiate Board, European Board and North American Healthcare Systems. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ireland and Canada.
Mr Mark Dolan is the Clinical Director of the Peri-Operative Directorate and Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in Cork University Hospital.
Dr Eoghan Molloy is a Consultant Haematologist at Cork University Hospital, with special interest in Transfusion Medicine. He received fellowship training in Transfusion Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Dr Molloy gained experience in major haemorrhage management at several major trauma centers during his time in the US. He worked at the Trauma Centres of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, at MedStar Washington Hospital Centre and Children’s National Hospital, Washington D.C. As part of his work with the Hospital Transfusion Committee at CUH, he participates in the development of evidence-based, high-quality transfusion practices in conjunction with the Blood Transfusion Laboratory, Emergency Medicine Dept. and CUMH.
Ms Fiona Murphy is a Clinical Skills Facilitator in the Emergency Department in Cork University Hospital.
Mr John-Joe (JJ) Reilly is a Consultant in Major Trauma and Emergency General Surgery at East Midlands Major Trauma Centre, based at Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham. He joined the Royal Navy whilst studying at the University of Nottingham Medical School, and after graduation he served as the Medical Officer for a Mine Warfare Squadron in the Arabian Gulf as well as on HMS Liverpool off the coast of Libya during the Arab Spring uprising in 2011.
After leaving the Royal Navy in 2012, JJ completed his Higher Surgical Training in the East Midlands, completing junior and senior fellowships in Major Trauma before being appointed as a consultant in 2022. JJ has an interest in surgical critical care, and the physiology of injury, and spends his spare time trying not to get admitted under his colleague’s care by playing rugby.
Dr David Tuite is an interventional radiologist working in Cork University Hospital. Having completed his general medical training in Dublin he undertook his radiology training in Tallaght Hospital and St James’s Hospital as part of the national radiology training scheme. Having attained his CCST in radiology he completed an interventional radiology fellowship in the Leeds Teaching Hospitals UK, before completing further fellowships in both cardiovascular imaging and interventional radiology in North-western Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He is European board certified in interventional radiology and is a fellow of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Society of Europe.
Dr Eanna Mac Suibhne is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Trauma in Cork University Hospital. Following completion of his specialist training in Ireland, he obtained a fellowship through the Alfred Emergency and Trauma Centre in Melbourne, Australia, the largest trauma centre in Australasia. He is a member of the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine with interests in trauma, point of care ultrasound and Quality Improvement.