Executive Management Committee

Alistair is the Chair and Professor of Critical Care Medicine in University College Dublin (UCD), the Chair of the Irish Critical Care-Clinical Trials Group (ICC-CTG), Director of the HRB Irish Critical Care- Clinical Trials Network (HRB ICC-CTN), Dept Director of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care-Research Centre (ANZIC- RC), Monash University, Melbourne and an Honorary Research Fellow, School of Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford.

Alistair is a senior clinical intensivist, laboratory scientist and clinical trialist. Alistair and his collaborators have successfully completed a number of important trials and epidemiological studies (enrolled over 10,000 patients in the last 10 years), including during the H1N1 2009 pandemic (900 patients) published in the NEJM, an RCT of Erythropoietin in traumatic brain injury (606 patients) published in the Lancet (first author-joint). Furthermore he is a Work Package leader of a European Union FP-7 project, which is charged with examining the challenges of conducting interventional studies in critically ill patients throughout Europe.This project is examining embedding of research into clinical practise, examining the acceptability and understanding of consent process used in the critically ill. To date Professor Nichol’s collaborations have been awarded over €35,000,000 in research funding. This has included an award for TRANSFUSE (HRB Definative Intervention award) published in the NEJM this year (5000 patients, first author-joint) and a Clinical Trial Network Award (Improving outcomes in the critically ill) from the Health Research Board of Ireland.

Professor Frances Shiely is Full Professor of Clinical Trials in the HRB Clinical Research Facility (HRB CRF) and School of Public Health, University College Cork. She is the Director of Education in the HRB CRF-UCC and leads the HRB TMRN (Trials Methodology Research Network). With a strong international track record in clinical trial methodology Professor Shiely’s work focuses on improving the design, conduct and reporting of clinical trials.

Her research is trial methodology focused including, embedded studies within trials (SWATs), recruitment and retention, outcome selection, public and patient involvement, with a strong emphasis on under-served populations. She has led and collaborated on competitively funded research from national and international funders, including the EU and the Health Research Board (€26 million), and plays a leading role in methodological innovation within clinical trials.

Professor Shiely is deeply committed to education and capacity building in clinical research. She founded and directs Ireland’s only MSc in Clinical Trials and has led the development of multiple national and international training initiatives for students, researchers, clinicians, and patient partners. She is currently a Principal Investigator on the EU ERASMUS+–funded SENSITISE project, which aims to improve inclusivity in clinical trials through open-access education and training.

She is an active member of national and international research networks, including Trial Forge, ECRIN, MRC-NIHR-TMRP and other clinical trials methodology collaborations across Europe. Through her leadership, research, and educational activities, Professor Shiely is dedicated to strengthening methodological excellence and ensuring that clinical trials are more efficient, inclusive, sustainable and impactful.

Linda has 20 years’ experience using qualitative research to explore a range of health and social questions. A midwife and qualitative researcher by training, Linda’s research focuses largely in the fields of maternity care; methodological research using qualitative and quantitative evidence synthesis, and the application of qualitative methodologies to inform trials, trial methodology and core outcome set development. Linda is passionate about understanding how we help people, and children in particular, to learn how to recognise and assess health claims and has led two projects within the HRB-TRMNs suite of public engagement activities (an evaluation of the HRB-TMRN START initiative and contextualising the Informed Health Choices for use in primary schools in Ireland). She is also a member of the research teams of PRIORITY II; The People’s Trial; the Encounter Study (Recruiters Experiences of Recruiting Pregnant Women to Clinical Trials); COHESION (Core Outcomes in Neonatal Encephalopathy); COS development of the INSPIRE Research Group; the MILO Study (Membrane sweeping to prevent post-term pregnancy); the QUALShare Project (Qualitative data sharing practices in clinical trials in the UK and Ireland); The MERIT Project (Minority ExpeRiences In Trials); and Qualitative Evidence Syntheses focusing on recruitment to trials. Linda is an active member of the Trial Conduct Working Group (Qualitative Research in Trials, and Recruitment to Trials Strands) of the MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership (TMRP) and a Research Advisor with the Qualitative Research in Trials Centre (QUESTS). Linda represents QUESTS on the HRB-TMRN’s Executive Committee.

Valerie is a Professor in Midwifery at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, and a registered General Nurse, Midwife and Clinical Nurse Teacher. Valerie’s research interests extend to all areas of maternity care and healthcare research methods, with specific topic expertise in the areas of assessing fetal wellbeing (fetal heart rate monitoring and fetal movements) and intrapartum care. Valerie’s areas of methodological research expertise include systematic reviews, randomised trials, core outcome set development and survey research, and she has experience in qualitative research methods. Valerie is a senior Cochrane Ireland systematic review trainer, a member of the Executive Committee of the HRB-Trials Methodology Research Network, a member of the Steering Committee of Evidence Synthesis Ireland and was a member of a previous EU COST Action (ISO907) Childbirth Cultures, Concerns and Consequences, Creating a Dynamic EU Framework for Optimal Maternity Care).

Born too many years ago in Ayr, Scotland, Derek was treated successfully for throat cancer in 1995. A former teacher, Derek worked with young people experiencing difficulties in adjusting to mainstream education in Glasgow then Nottinghamshire where he now lives. He subsequently became actively involved in numerous aspects of patient involvement and advocacy at a local, national and international level being the founder Chair of the Consumer Liaison Group for the National Cancer Research Institute, UK. Derek’s connection with methodology research is based on his interest in making all studies as efficient, relevant and effective as possible. In 2020 Derek was appointed Honorary Professor at National University of Ireland, Galway. Recently Derek has been co-chairing the UK Health Research Authority (HRA) #MakeItPublic Campaign Group on Research Transparency. He is also a Non-Exec Director for the ISRCTN Registry.

Prof Katie Robinson is Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy and lead of the Ageing Research Centre at the University of Limerick. Katie qualified with a BSc Occupational Therapy from Trinity College Dublin in 2000, and holds an MSc in Disability Management from UCD and a PhD in Occupational Therapy from the University of Limerick. Katie has been a member of the MSc Occupational Therapy professional qualification program at the University of Limerick for the past 18 years. Katie is interested in ageing research, rehabilitation intervention development and qualitative methods. Katie is currently supervising PhD students focusing on, emergency department care transitions of older adults, early supported discharge after stroke, age attuned hospital care for older adults, allied health led care transition interventions and diet quality among people living with Cystic Fibrosis. Katie has been deeply involved in establishing a Public and Patient Involvement stakeholder panel of older adults at the University of Limerick. Katie is interested in measuring what matters to older adults in intervention research, and she is currently leading a HRB funded study to develop a Core Outcome Set for research with older adults in the Emergency Department.

Professor Lowery’s research focuses predominantly on breast cancer and endocrine cancer, with a translational science approach enhanced by her closely aligned clinical subspecialty interest in breast and endocrine surgery. Her ongoing work on these themes investigates factors that drive tumour intitation and locoregional disease recurrence and the implications that molecular heterogeneity of malignancy may have on surgical strategy.  Her research interests also include the investigation of innovative methods for post malignancy breast reconstruction using adipose derived stem cells.

Dr. Zgaga is interested in understanding genetic factors that affect cancer risk and prognosis, and their interplay with environmental factors. In particular, her research focuses on the role of vitamin D in cancer prevention and survival in those diagnosed with cancer, and on the understanding of the mechanisms of these associations. Recently, she has been developing new epidemiological methods and frameworks for determining causal associations when heterogeneity exists in the populations, which is particularly relevant in the context of nutrients because deficiency – and potential benefit that can be achieved with supplementation – will be varied in the population.