Dr Clare Tempany-Afdhal

Trustee

Dr Clare Tempany-Afdhal graduated from RCSI in 1981. She then completed the Federated Hospital’s Dublin SHO two year program and left Ireland to do a residency in Diagnostic Radiology at Loyola University of Chicago and fellowship in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore MD. In 1991 she was appointed to the faculty at Harvard Medical School and staff in the department of Radiology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Boston. She has remained there ever since and is currently the Ferenc Jolesz MD Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School (HMS), Vice Chair of Radiology Research, and Medical Director of the Advanced Multi-Modality Image Guided Operating (AMIGO) suite at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). A diagnostic radiologist with expertise in prostate cancer, her research lab is dedicated to MR imaging for detection, diagnosis, staging, treatment, monitoring of prostate cancer, and image guided interventions. Her research on Prostate MR, image-guided interventions and the challenges related to engineering these interventions, has been continuously funded by NIH for over 20 years.

Dr Michael Brennan

President and Trustee

Dr Michael D Brennan, a native of Ireland is a 1969 graduate of RCSI. Following internship in Dublin he completed a residency in Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Upon completion of a fellowship in Endocrinology he was appointed to Mayo consultant staff. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the American College of Endocrinology and is Professor of Medicine (Emeritus) of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. He served on national committees including as a Director of the American Thyroid Associations. Mayo Clinic leadership roles included the President and CEO Leadership Council, Vice Chair Department of Medicine with responsibility for clinical practice and coordination and as Medical Director of the Program in Professionalism and Values. Awards include and the 1975 Travel Grant for Outstanding Medical Resident and 2001 Mayo Clinic Distinguished Clinician Award. In 2010 he was elected President of the Staff of the Mayo Clinic. He maintains close ties to RCSI and served two terms on the RCSI Advisory Board and was Chair of the Strategic Plan Review Panel. He is a proud recipient of an Honorary Fellowship of RCSI.

Professor Mark Davis

Trustee

Mark Denis P. Davis, M.D., is chair of the Department of Dermatology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and a professor of dermatology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. He joined Mayo Clinic in 1997 after earning his medical degree from RCSI and completing residencies in internal medicine and dermatology at Mayo Clinic, where he also served as chief resident.

Dr Davis' clinical and research interests focus on complex medical dermatology, hospital dermatology, and the impact of climate change on skin health. He has published over 260 peer-reviewed journal articles and contributed to multiple books, abstracts, and book chapters. He has received numerous accolades, including the 2022 Presidential Citation from the American Academy of Dermatology and the Certificate of Appreciation in International Leadership from the International League of Dermatological Societies.

In addition to his clinical work, Dr Davis is a mentor to many residents and medical students. He also serves on the editorial boards of Mayo Clinic Health Letter and Mayo Clinic Proceedings and leads the Knowledge Content Board – Dermatology (Adult) for AskMayoExpert.

Dr James Dooner

Trustee

Dr Dooner was born in the United States but spent much of his early life, including secondary school, in Ireland. He attended the University of Rochester in New York earning a Bachelor's Degree in Neuroscience with distinction. He graduated from RCSI in 1991. He returned to the US for his ophthalmology training including residency and Retina Fellowship at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. He also completed a retina research fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. For the past 20 years he has lived in Austin Texas where he is in private retina surgery practice. In addition to managing patients with retinal diseases he also is actively involved in clinical research. He is the principal investigator for several nationally-recognized clinical trials involving novel medical and surgical treatment for retinal diseases. He is on faculty at Dell Medical School's Department of Ophthalmology. Dr Dooner is the past president of the Austin Ophthalmology Society. He is a member of the American Society of Retina Specialists, Texas Ophthalmology Association in the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He has been selected as one of Austin's Super Doctors consistently for over the past 10 years. This annual award is only given to the top 5% of ophthalmologists.

Dr Faiz Hasham

Trustee

Faiz Hasham MB FCAI graduated from RCSI in 1981 and then pursued a career in anaesthesiology in England. His training program was with various hospitals affiliated with the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. After obtaining his Fellowship from the Faculty of Anaesthesia at RCSI (FFARCSI now FCAI) he embarked on a research fellowship with the University of Newcastle and then an Obstetric Anaesthesia fellowship at the University of Louisville, Kentucky.

In 1993 he became Director of Obstetric Anaesthesia at Staten Island University Hospital in New York and in 2017 he was appointed as Assistant Professor in Anaesthesiology at the Faculty of the Zucker School of Medicine, Hofstra University in New York.

Faiz is Director of Anaesthesia with Healing the Children, Florida providing anaesthesia services to under privileged children having maxillo-facial, corrective orthopaedic and plastic surgery mainly in South America. He has been arranging medical missions for 25 years and received an award from the Governor of Huila in Colombia for dedication and humanitarian services.

Professor David Kennedy

Trustee

David W. Kennedy, M.D., is best known for his pioneering work in endoscopic sinus surgery, minimally invasive surgery, and his research into the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis and its medical management. He has served as Departmental Chair, Vice Dean, and Senior Vice President at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and is currently a Professor at Thomas Jefferson University. A Past President of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the American Rhinologic Society, and the International Rhinologic Society, he helped to establish the subspecialty of rhinology and was recognised as one of the most influential surgeons of the 20th Century by the American College of Surgeons. Dr Kennedy has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine for his contributions to the medical field. He received the Practitioner of the Year award in 2010. He has published approximately 250 articles and chapters. Faiz is Director of Anaesthesia with Healing the Children, Florida providing anaesthesia services to under privileged children having maxillo-facial, corrective orthopaedic and plastic surgery mainly in South America. He has been arranging medical missions for 25 years and received an award from the Governor of Huila in Colombia for dedication and humanitarian services.

Professor Emma Meagher

Trustee

Emma A. Meagher, MB, FRCSI serves as Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She earned her medical degree from RCSI, and completed postgraduate training in internal medicine, cardiology, and pharmacology.

As Senior Vice Dean for Clinical and Translational Research and Senior Associate Vice Provost for Human Research, Dr Meagher oversees Penn’s clinical and translational research portfolio and sets strategy for the university’s clinical and translational research enterprise. As Vice President of Research within the Health System, she leads the integration and alignment of research and clinical practice across seven hospitals and numerous ambulatory care practices.

She serves as the Chair of the AAMC’s Group on Research Advancement and Development (GRAND), Vice Chair, Clinical Research Forum, and past president of the Association for Clinical and Translational Science.

Professor Cathal Kelly

Trustee ex officio

Professor Cathal Kelly took up the position of Vice Chancellor and CEO/Registrar of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 2009. A Graduate and Fellow of RCSI, Professor Kelly previously held the post of Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences from 2006 to 2009. Prior to his appointment, Professor Cathal Kelly was a Consultant General and Vascular Surgeon, with a special interest in endovascular surgery, in Beaumont Hospital. In 2005, Professor Kelly was awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education at Queen’s University Belfast. In 2009 he was conferred with a Master of Business Administration Degree by Institutio de Empressa of Madrid.

Dr Helen Towers

Secretary-Treasurer and Trustee

Dr Helen Towers graduated from RCSI in 1983. She has been a Board member of Friends of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Inc. since 1995. She pursued postgraduate training in Ireland and subsequently moved to New York City where she completed pediatric residency and Fellowship training in Neonatal Perinatal Medicine. She has been on the faculty of Columbia University since 1995 and is currently Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center and Associate Medical Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York.