Annual Conference 2023

Colette is a well-known, award-winning broadcaster and columnist. She is Virgin Media Television’s main news anchor. Colette has been working in television and radio for more than two decades. She has presented special live television news programmes on breaking news days, from Storm Ophelia to Brexit to State visits. Colette has presented her own programme on Newstalk on Sunday mornings and she has worked in the newsroom at Today FM. Colette has a weekly column in The Herald newspaper. She holds a first-class honours degree in Journalism from DIT Aungier Street.

Michael O Connell is General Manager of Biogen Ireland and President of the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association. He has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for the past 31 years. He spent 23 years in Bristol Myer Squibb having been appointed Country Manager in 2011. He Joined Biogen in 2014 and is their General Manager for the last eight years.

Prior to joining the industry, Michael qualified as a General Nurse from St Michaels Hospital Dun Laoghaire and qualified as a Psychiatric Nurse from St John of God Hospital Stillorgan.

He completed his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in University College Cork.

Stephen is the Minister for Health since June 2020. He is a TD for Wicklow where he has represented the constituency since 2011 when he was first elected to Dáil Éireann.
Stephen entered politics after a career in the private sector that included working as a mechanical engineer and later as a management consultant.
A graduate of University College Dublin with a Degree in mechanical engineering, Stephen also worked and studied in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stephen has also completed a Masters Degree in Public Administration in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
In his time in National Politics, Stephen has served on a number of Oireachtas committees and on the Fianna Fáil frontbench as spokesperson for Brexit and Health.

Dr. Russell has broad experience at the interface of science, healthcare and commercialisation.
Previously, he was the Highmark Distinguished Career Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Director of the Disruptive Health Technology Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Russell was also the CEO of BioHybrid Solutions, LLC and Chairman of the Board of Directors of YouScript, Inc.

He was the Founding Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, serving in that capacity from 2001-2011. Prior to this he served as Chairman of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.

For the last 25 years, the Russell laboratory has been discovering what can be achieved by exploiting the rich interface of chemistry, biology and materials. Dr. Russell’s work has impacted fields as diverse as chemical and polymer synthesis to tissue engineering and homeland defense. In a series of discoveries, Dr. Russell’s laboratory has found how to meld the synthetic and biological worlds. Dr. Russell’s work also led to a US Army “Greatest Invention” award and four technology company spin-outs.

Neal is a principal in Deloitte’s Life Sciences and Health Care practice focused on business model and commercial operating model innovation, redesign, and transformation. He heads Deloitte’s Life Sciences Strategy & Analytics practice, leading the way on next-gen enterprise/functional evolution by connecting strategic choice with analytics and technology. Neal has more than 15 years of experience advising health care organizations across the ecosystem on critical strategic challenges, including leading businesses in biotech, medtech, health insurance, and retail health care.

Gwynne is former Director of Heart & Vascular, Diabetes & Emergency Department at the Mater Private Hospital and former Managing Director at Uniphar Retail Services division. She has extensive experience and knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, from the manufacturer to the patient. Previously she worked for United Drug Group (UDG) Healthcare for 13 years where she was a member of the Senior Executive team. During her tenure with UDG, she held a number of senior roles namely in pre-wholesale, consumer, homecare and quality. Prior to joining UDG, she held management positions within the Crowley Retail Pharmacy Chain and held a multifunctional role within the medical department of Zeneca Pharma, Ireland.

Gwynne is a pharmacy graduate of Trinity College, Dublin.

A Galway native, Sheila was diagnosed with CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia) in 2017 after finding a lump on her neck. CLL is a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow, which progresses more slowly than other types of leukaemia and usually affects older adults. She made the decision to participate in a Clinical Trial in 2018 and entered remission in 2019. She has been cancer free since.

Dr Bacon is a clinical and laboratory haematologist in St James’s Hospital with specialist interest in lymphoma, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and bone marrow transplantation (BMT). He is also the National Clinical Lead on CAR T cell immunotherapy in Ireland. A ground-breaking form of treatment that trains the body’s immune system to fight cancer for itself. Until recently, this treatment was only available overseas, Larry and his team at St James’ were a pivotal part of bringing it to Ireland.

Les is the father of three children, and his two sons Cathal and Ciarán have been diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD). It occurs in about one in forty thousand here in Ireland. Sadly, Cathal died two years ago from this condition aged six. However, his legacy has been to save his younger brother Ciaran’s life thanks to an early diagnosis and receiving a trial cell and gene therapy treatment in Italy. Ciarán in now five years post treatment and doing well.

Les is a strong advocate for extending the National New-born Screening Programme to include rare diseases such as MLD.

Alan’s son Dylan (now 10) was diagnosed with Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency in late 2014. Then, all meaningful research on MSD had ground to a halt. Promoting and supporting research that can lead to positive clinical outcomes for patients is something that Alan is passionate about. Alan represents MSDAF on the board of Health Research Charites Ireland. Alan was a recipient of a ‘Champion of Hope Award’ from Genetic Disorders UK in 2017 in conjunction with Global Genes. He is a member of the steering committee, patient board and lysosomal disorders committees of MetabERN since 2018. Alan has helped to raise over €850K for research on MSD and helped to attract an additional €1.75M of funding for research on MSD. MSDAF have more than 12 funded MSD research projects as a result of much hard work and persistence from Alan. There are now potential therapies on the horizon for children suffering from MSD as a result.

Dr. Thomas Hofmarcher is an Austrian health economist at the Swedish Institute for Health Economics (IHE). He conducts research on the economic burden of cancer and the value of patient access to new cancer medicines. A core focus of his work is the comparative analysis of cancer care systems around the world, covering all areas of cancer control (prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment, survivorship). While most of his earlier work focused on Europe, recent and current work also covers the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.
His work has resulted in over 30 research articles, policy reports, and book chapters and has been covered extensively in international media. He is a regular speaker at international policy events and workshops. He has also advised the European Commission and the OECD in their work with Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.
He is a guest lecturer at Lund University, Sweden and holds a PhD in Economics from Lund University.

With 20 years’ experience with MSD, Eva started her career as a process development Chemist. Eva has held a wide range of roles in Technical Operations, Manufacturing, Quality Control, Analytical Development and Commercialisation in multiple sites and across different modalities.

Prior to her new role in MSD Dunboyne Biologics, Eva was the Downstream Operations Director/ IPT Lead for the project phase of the MSD Biotech Dublin site and played a prominent role in the facility start-up and culture development at the site. Eva is an avid practitioner of the MSD Production system and an active member of the MSD Women’s Network.

Rory currently leads IDA Ireland’s Biopharmaceutical team. He graduated from UCD with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and later completed an MBA in International Business at the University of Ulster.

Rory has worked with the IDA in Ireland and California for over 20 years in the Life Sciences and Technology sectors. Prior to joining the IDA, he worked in a variety of marketing and economic development roles in the private and public sectors in Ireland, but also in the Czech Republic and Bahrain.

Andrea joined Pfizer in 2015 and in December 2020 he was promoted to Head of the EU Government Affairs team, based in Brussels. In this role, Andrea coordinates Pfizer’s EU external engagement strategy and manages relationships with key trade associations. His areas of focus include the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, intellectual property (IP) incentives, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and pandemic preparedness. In addition, Andrea is the founder and current manager of the @PfizerEUPolicy Twitter account and the pfizereupolicy.eu website.
Before joining Pfizer, Andrea underwent internships in both the European Parliament and in the Council. Andrea holds a M.A. in EU Diplomacy from the College of Europe and a M.A. in EU policies from Padua University (Italy) and the Institut D’Etudes Politiques (IEP) of Strasbourg. An Italian national, he speaks English, French, Spanish and basic Serbo-Croatian.

Colin is a Partner in the Corporate and M&A Group at Arthur Cox. He is head of the firm’s Life Sciences Group and has advised clients in the sector on corporate, M&A, commercial and regulatory issues for more than 20 years.

Robert is Secretary General of the Department of Health in Ireland. He leads the Department of over 600 people in providing leadership and policy direction for the health sector.

Previously, Robert spent ten years as Secretary General in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. With the Department of Finance, he managed the budget and estimates process. During this period Robert was one of the principal advisers to the Government on economic, budgetary and financial policy issues. He was centrally involved in the management of the Troika Programme.

Robert is an economist and has experience in both the public and private sectors. He has worked in several roles within the Department of Finance as well as previously working as an Economic Consultant and a Lecturer. He has been a member of numerous boards including the board of the NTMA and the Economic Management Council. He is currently a Board member of the Football Association of Ireland.

Liam is General Manager of Allphar Services, part of Uniphar’s Supply Chain and Retail Division. With the Group since 2014, Liam is responsible for the commercial operations of the Allphar business, having previously held senior positions across Uniphar Group’s Commercial and Clinical Division.

Liam has fifteen years industry experience, having held a number of senior commercial roles over the years prior to commencing in his current position.

Liam’s role involves working in partnership with the Allphar operational, quality and technology teams to deliver an exceptional Pre-Wholesale service for our manufactures on a day-to-day basis. He is very passionate about the key role Pre-Wholesale plays working with all industry stakeholders; manufacturers, HCP’s, HSE and regulatory bodies in the supply of medicines to patients.

Micheál Martin is the current Tánaiste and served as Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022. A Cork native, he was first elected for Fianna Fáil to Cork Corporation in 1985. Since entering national politics in 1989, the Cork South Central TD has served in four cabinet posts: Minister for Foreign Affairs (2008-2011), Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (2004-2008), Minister for Health (2000-04) and Minister for Education (1997-2000).
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts (Political History) from University College Cork. Before embarking on his political career, he was a secondary school teacher in St. Kierans College, Camden Quay, Cork.
One of Micheál’s proudest achievements in politics is the introduction of the Smoking Ban to Ireland whilst he was Minister for Health in 2004.