Principal Investigators

Professor Billy O’Connor is Foundation Professor and Head of Teaching and Research in Physiology at the University of Limerick Graduate Entry Medical School since 2007. Prior to this appointment he was Head of Neuroscience Research in UCD where he held an SFI Investigator Award and Professor of Pharmacology at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.

A graduate of University College Dublin, Stewart Walsh undertook basic and higher surgical training in the United Kingdom.  He completed a Master of Science degree at the University of Liverpool.  Subsequently, he undertook a number of clinical trials of remote preconditioning in major vascular surgery patients whilst working at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.  This work formed the basis of his Master of Surgery thesis.  He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, presented at numerous conferences and edited a surgical textbook.  In 2009, he was awarded the British Journal o

Professor Deirdre McGrath graduated from University College Cork with a degree in Medicine in 1991. She subsequently completed her Specialist Clinical Training in the UK and was awarded a Doctorate in Medicine degree by the University of London in 2002 on the Genetic Predisposition to Granulomatous Lung Diseases.

Dr. Ailish Hannigan is Associate Professor of Biostatistics in the Graduate entry Medical School, UL. She has a degree in Applied Mathematics and Computing from the University of Limerick and a PhD in Biostatistics from University College Cork. Her research interests include the development and application of survival analysis techniques to medicine and dentistry. She is also involved in statistics education research and is the consultant statistician to the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning.

Dr. Chris Exton is currently a lecturer in the department of Computer Science and Information Systems at University of Limerick. He holds a B.Sc. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Monash University, Melbourne.

After acquiring a medical degree Prof.

Prof J Tony Pembroke BSc PhD , Associate Professor of Industrial Biochemistry.  PhD NUIG in Molecular Genetics, EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow University of Leiden, OECD Fellow Rowett Institute, Aberdeen. Research interests in Molecular Microbiology, particularly in infectious ICE elements a group of mobile genetic elements prevalent in Vibrio cholerae and other entheric pathogens.

Education and employment history

BSc in Biochemistry

PhD protein chemistry/enzymology

Post-doctoral Research Associate - Food Science Department, North Carolina State University, USA and University College Cork.

Senior Research Officer, Chemistry Department, Teagasc, Moorepark.

Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor (since 2003) at the Department of Life Sciences, University of Limerick.