Dr. Amanda McCann PhD, is a Principal Investigator and Senior Conway Fellow in the UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research in University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland. She is also Professor in the UCD School of Medicine and was Head of Pathology within the School from 2015-2018.

Her group’s specific cancer research interests are focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying chemoresistance for women presenting with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). In this regard she has published extensively in the area of cancer cell senescence and the role of extracellular vesicles/exosomes in the chemoresistant phenotype. She was also a member of the founding committee in the establishment of the International Cellular Senescence Association (ICSA).

In 2016, she established and currently chairs the UCD Patient Voice in Cancer Research (PVCR) committee, made up of patients, researchers and health care professionals, that aims to engage the general public and cancer survivors in cancer research ensuring a two-way dialogue between patients and researchers. In December 2019, she was awarded a VIA (Values in Action) award for her work in this regard.

Within UCD, Amanda has been on an expert panel for the Rapid Realist Review (RRR) detailing the mechanisms that enable the reciprocal involvement of seldom heard groups in health and social care. This initiative was funded through a HRB Ignite award, with the remit that UCD in collaboration with 10 partner organisations develop a network and resource platform to firmly embed patient and public involvement (PPI) in UCD’s research learning and teaching activities.

In relation to patient advocate groups, she previously was a Co-Director of IPPOSI and research advisor to Debra Ireland. In 2017, Amanda was elected President of the Irish Association for Cancer Research (IACR), and has led on patient involvement with cancer researchers across Ireland as part of the annual IACR conferences. As President of the IACR, she represented the association on the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) National Societies Committee (2018) and was previously Honorary Secretary of the IACR 1998-2000.