Professor Brian Harvey

Brian Harvey is a trained physiologist with a primary honours degree in physics and mathematics and a PhD in physiology. His field of expertise is rapid responses to steroid hormones applied to cancer and inflammation disease. Following his PhD in 1982, he spent 10 years in France working with the French National Science Agency CNRS where he became head of the epithelial membrane transport group at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Atomic Energy Commission laboratories at Villefranche-sur-mer. In 1992 he returned to Ireland to take up the Chair of Cell Physiology and establish the Wellcome Trust Cell Physiology Research Unit at the National University of Ireland in Cork. He has played an influential role in promoting Irish biomedical research and education both nationally and internationally and was the first and longest serving Vice-President for Research appointed in an Irish University from 1998-2010. Through this role, first at NUI Cork and recently at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), he has co-ordinated large-scale national and EU research programmes of over €500 million which have contributed to the building of research institutes and the recruitment of hundreds of researchers in the biomedical sciences. His role in promoting Irish biomedical research has been recognized at home and abroad. He was awarded a knighthood (Chevalier) of the French Order of Merit in 2006 by The President of France for his role in developing Ireland-France scientific exchanges and joint research programmes. In 1994 awarded the Conway Medal in Biomedical Sciences and in 2005, received the International Laureat Prix Servier for research on steroid hormones in lung inflammation. In 2000, elected member of the European Academy of Sciences and Humanities and in 2007 elected to the Royal Irish Academy and in 2011 a founding fellow of the Irish Academy of Medical Sciences. In 2013 he was awarded a Doctor of Science honoris causa by Michigan State University. Current academic roles include Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Medicine, RCSI Beaumont Hospital, coordinator of the National Biophotonics &Imaging Platform Ireland, director of research of the Doctrid Research Institute for assistive technologies and coordinator of the EU Erasmus European Molecular Imaging Doctoral School. He currently serves on the European Research Council Advanced Awards Panel for Physiology & Endocrinology (ERC LS4) and the Danish Research Council for Medical Sciences.

Dr Geraldine Leader

Geraldine is a graduate of University College Cork where she obtain her B.A. (Hons) and Ph.D. in Psychology.  Geraldine is a behavioural psychologist with expertise in Applied Behaviour Analysis and Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Geraldine is a Lecturer in the School of Psychology and in this role established Ireland first M.Sc. in Applied Behaviour Analysis in 2006.  This programme provides professional-level education in the field of applied behaviour analysis to practitioners and researchers seeking carers in the area of autism spectrum disorder and other disabilities.  To date 120 students have graduates from this programme and are employed in a range of services.  Geraldine is Director of the Irish Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Research which is dedicated to disseminating evidence-based research in the assessment and treatment of autism spectrum disorder and related neurodevelopmental conditions.  Currently 5 post-doctoral fellows are conducting research at the Centre.  Geraldine is Associate Director of the Doctrid Research Institute.  Doctrid was established in 2010 by the charity RESPECT and the Daughters of Charity Disability services.  The institute is committed to evidence-based research in autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability with a special emphasis on technology.  Geraldine was appointed Adjunct Professor to Michigan State University in 2013.

Professor Mike Leahy

Dr. Michael Leahy is a professor of rehabilitation counseling and director of the Office of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies. He has a doctorate in Rehabilitation Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and over 35 years of experience in rehabilitation as a counselor, administrator, researcher and educator.  Prof Leahy is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC). His continuing research interests include professional competency development and education, professionalization, regulation of practice, disability and rehabilitation policy, vocational assessment, case management practices and employment outcomes for people with disabilities, evidenced-based practices in rehabilitation counseling, and services for individuals with intellectual disability and autism.

Prof Leahy is a Past-President of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education, a Past Chair of the Alliance for Rehabilitation Counseling, and a Past-President of the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA). He is the Director and Principal Investigator for MSU-DOCTRID International Research Institute (Hegarty Fellows Program and the EU Marie Curie ASSISTID COFUND Project) and is a Co-Director of the MSU interdisciplinary program of Research on Autism, Intellectual and other Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (RAIND). He has published more than 150 referred journal articles, books, book chapters, and research monographs, and presented his research to a variety of rehabilitation and business audiences, including international presentations. He has also acted as the principal investigator and managed nearly 30 large-scale research, training and service delivery grant projects at the state, national and international levels, and has been the recipient of over 20 national research and professional service awards during his career.

Sr Zoe Killeen

Professional Training

RNID (Registered Nurse intellectual disability).

Postgraduate in RGN (Registered General Nursing).

Management Course in Royal College of Surgeons and Edinburgh University.

Career Path

Staff Nurse

Clinical Nurse Manager

Director of Nursing / Administrator

During my career in disability services nursing and administration, my work has brought me into all aspects of disabilities from the child to the adult, and the older person. Also during these years I have worked with many professionals in various disciplines and external agencies.

Ms Gretta FitzGerald

Gretta FitzGerald is the Programmes Manager at the DOCTRID Research Institute including the ASSISTID and Hegarty programmes and was previously Administrative Assistant to DOCTRID and Personal Assistant to Prof Harvey and Sr Zoe Killeen.

Gretta holds an MBA from the Open University, she worked within the localisation industry from 1988 with the role of Production Manager at D.O.T.S., an indigenous Irish company which provided pre-print services to the growing IT industry in Ireland. D.O.T.S. provided such services to Microsoft and Apple computers mainly in the area of translated documentation for software and hardware products. She subsequently joined LionBridge Technologies (then R.R.Donnelly) as DTP Manager where she spent 8 years in various roles including Quality Manager and Business Unit Manager.

In 2001 she established the Dublin office of Larsen g11n in partnership with Inger Larsen who runs the London Head Office. They brought together some 20 years of localization experience to providing professional recruitment services to this industry.

 
Contact: gfitzgerald@respect.ie
Phone: +353 1 685 6003