59th Annual Conference Speakers

IACR Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cancer Medicine and Research

Prof. Elaine Kay

Consultant Histopathologist, RCSI/Beaumont

Professor Elaine Kay graduated from medical school in TCD, Dublin and qualified as a surgeon before becoming a histopathologist. She worked as a Consultant Histopathologist in Beaumont Hospital/RCSI Dublin.

Her area of special interest was in the field of oncology, particularly breast, prostate and gastrointestinal malignancies and has published widely in the field, promoting the role of histopathology in human disease research and the value of multidisciplinary collaboration.

Irish Cancer Society Guest Lecturer

Prof. Peter J. O’Dwyer

Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Co-Chair ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group

Peter J. O’Dwyer, MD, is a GI medical oncologist, Group Co-Chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group, and professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Within ECOG-ACRIN, he co-chairs the landmark NCI-MATCH precision medicine cancer trial, and is the CEO and Chair of PrECOG.

Dr. O’Dwyer received his medical degree at the University of Dublin, Trinity College. Dr. O’Dwyer has published over 350 scientific papers, and participates in numerous national and international organizations.

Biomedical Session Speakers

Prof. René Bernards

Professor of molecular carcinogenesis at the Netherlands Cancer Institute

Dr. Frances Drummond

Research Manager at Breakthrough Cancer Research

Dr. Philip Dunne

Reader in Molecular Pathology at Queen’s University Belfast and a Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Beatson Institute in Glasgow

Prof. Richard J. Gilbertson FRS

Li Ka Shing Chair and Head of Department of Oncology Director, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, University of Cambridge

Prof. William Jacot, MD, PhD

Head of the Translational Research Department at the ICM Val d’Aurelle Cancer Institute of Montpellier in France

Dr. Claire Kilty

Acting Head of Research, Irish Cancer Society

Prof. Johan Lundin

Professor of Medical Technology at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm and a Research Director at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki

Ms. Aoife Ni Mhuiri

CEO/Founder, Salaso

Prof. Catherine O’Brien

Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at University Health Network, and a Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center

Dr. Edwin Roger Parra Cuentas

Associate Professor and Director of the Multiplex Immunofluorescence and Image Analysis Laboratory in the Department of Translational Molecular Pathology at The University of Texas

Prof. Bente Klarlund Pedersen

Professor of Integrative Medicine, a specialist in infectious diseases and internal medicine and chief physician at Copenhagen University Hospital – Rigshospitalet, Denmark

Prof. Ruth Travis

Professor of Epidemiology, Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford

Prof. David A. Wink

American Association for Advancement of Science Fellow, Deputy Chief, Cancer Innovation Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, NIH

Prof. Wilbert Zwart

Chair of the NKI Translational Research Board, Netherlands Cancer Institute

Survivorship Session Speakers

Isaiah Gitonga

Psycho-Oncology Researcher and Teaching Assistant at Maynooth University

Dr. Suzanne Guerin

Professor of Research Design + Analysis and Head of School at the UCD School of Psychology

Dr. Amanda Kracen

Associate Professor in Psychology at the National College of Ireland in Dublin, and Coordinator of the Irish Psycho-Social Oncology Network (IPSON)

Dr. Clíona Ni Cheallaigh

Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine, TCD and a Consultant in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine in St James’s Hospital, Dublin

Elaine Quinn

Manager of the Patient Voice in Cancer Research and Institute Manager (Communications & Education) at UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular + Biomedical Research

Junior Council Session Speakers

Dr. Emma Dorris

Programme manager for PPI Ignite Network @ UCD

Dr Anne Forde

Careers Consultant for Life Science Postdocs, Careers Service, University of Cambridge

Dr. Ashleigh Hamilton

Academic Clinical Lecturer in the Centre for Public Health, QUB

Mr. Aidan McCormick

Chairperson of NI Cancer Research Consumer Forum (NICRCF). PPI Member of QUB PPI Network, NI Cancer Trials Network (NICTN) and All-Island Cancer Research Institute (AICRI).

Dr. Arman Rahman

Assistant Professor in the UCD School of Medicine. Principal Investigator in the Cancer Biology and Therapeutics Laboratory. Co-organiser of POI’s Invisible Spectrum program.

Mary Roche

Career, Executive and Transformational Life Coach and Facilitator

Prof. Patrick G. Johnston Award for Excellence in Cancer Research Outreach

Wed, 22 February 2023, 18:15 – 19:15

Six early career researchers have been selected based on their lay abstract submissions to IACR 2023. Those selected will take part in a patient communication workshop prior to IACR 2023 and will prepare a lay presentation on their work. Presentations will be delivered to peers and a lay audience at The Patrick G. Johnston Award for Excellence in Cancer Research. The winner is chosen by the audience and judging panel. Every year the event is open to the public.

Ms Alexa Little

QUB

My name is Alexa and I am a PhD student from Belfast. In 2021 I graduated with a BSc in Biomedical Science from Cardiff University and then started my PhD in QUB School of Pharmacy. Here I work with Dr Niamh Buckley and Prof Michael Tunney to investigate the role of a specific bacterium in breast cancer.

Ms Adele Connor

UCD

Adele is a third year PhD student in UCD, having previously obtained a BSc from Maynooth University and an MSc from Ulster University. Adele worked as a Research Assistant in Assoc. Prof.
Antoinette Perrys lab (UCD) and was awarded an Irish Cancer Society PhD scholarship in 2021 (supervised by Assoc. Prof. Antoinette Perry, Prof. Jeremy Simpson, and Assoc. Prof. Joanne Lysaght).
Adele’s work is focused on developing personalised treatment for women with ovarian cancer.

Ms Aideen McCabe

UCC

My name is Aideen and I am a second year PhD student based in UCC. I graduated with a BSc in Plant Biology in 2020, then went on to complete an MSc in Bioinformatics. Currently, I am supervised by Dr Kellie Dean and Dr Simon McDade. My PhD project focuses on investigating the diagnostic potential of long non-coding RNAs in ovarian cancer, as well as exploring the clinical utility of in vitro ovarian cancer models.

Ms Rebecca Lyons

TCD

My name is Rebecca and I am a second year PhD student from Wicklow. In 2021 I completed my M.Sc. in Translational Oncology from Trinity College Dublin. Following completion of my master’s degree, I began my PhD in Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute. I work with Dr. Joanne Lysaght, Dr. Stephen Maher and the Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Group to investigate the immune component of pancreatic cyst fluid for improved cancer risk stratification.

Ms Aoise O'Neill

NUIG

Hi I'm Aoise, I'm from Limerick and I'm in the 2nd year of my PhD in University of Galway. I have a BSc in Industrial Biochemistry from UL, class of 2018, after which I spent 2 years in Vancouver, Canada as a researcher in a startup biologics company. I started my PhD with Dr. Aideen Ryan in the Lambe Institute, University of Galway, in the spring of 2021 and am happy to be part of a dynamic research group investigating the role of hypersialylated stromal cells in immune regulation of colorectal cancer

Ms Niamh Leonard (PhD)

NUIG

My name is Niamh and I am a cancer researcher from Galway. I graduated with my PhD in August 2022 and am continuing my work now as a postdoctoral researcher. I work in Dr Aideen Ryan’s Lab group at the University of Galway. My project focuses on understanding how colon cancer cells interact with the healthy/normal cells in the colon.

59th Annual Conference Sponsors

2023 Charity / Educational Sponsors