Health Fair Speakers '24

Dr. Patrick D. Mitchell

Dr. Mitchell trained as a specialist in Respiratory and Internal Medicine in Ireland and Canada. He undertook a two-year clinical and research fellowship at McMaster University in Canada, which entailed translational research in airway inflammation and servicing both general respiratory and airway inflammation clinics. He also completed a two-year Medical Doctorate thesis on allergic asthma. He has authored numerous peer reviewed research manuscripts and co-authored a book chapter on asthma. His research interests encompass asthma, COPD, eosinophilic pulmonary diseases, transitional asthma clinics, atopic and allergic disease.

Dr Emer Guinan

Dr Emer Guinan is an Associate Professor in Cancer Rehabilitation and Survivorship at Trinity College Dublin with responsibility for building capacity in cancer survivorship research and education across the Trinity St James's Cancer Institute. Her main research interest is in the role of exercise and rehabilitation in supporting patient during and after cancer treatment, and she has been involved in several large-scale national and international projects in this area. 

Prof Frank Murray

Professor FRANK MURRAY has worked as a Consultant Gastroenterologist/Hepatologist in Scotland and Ireland for over 30 years.  

He served as President of RCPI, the largest medical post-graduate training body in Ireland 2014-2017. He represented RCPI at senior levels, nationally and internationally.  

He initiated and chaired of the Alcohol Policy Group in RCPI, and led the alcohol advocacy programme in RCPI, contributing to the passage of the Public Health Alcohol Act, 2018. 

He initiated the EQUALS initiative, which has evolved as a philanthropic joint venture between HSE and RCPI. This project delivers medical equipment and biomedical engineering training in Zambia, and has partnered with the Zambian Government to help delivery of post-graduate medical training in Zambia. 

He was Director, National Doctors Training and Planning, HSE, April 2018-November 2020. 

He chaired European Association for Study of Liver (EASL) Alcohol Policy and Advocacy Group (2022-23). 

Member EASL Public Health, Policy and Advocacy Committee, (2022-present). 

Dr Edel McGinnity

Edel McGinnity has been a GP in Mulhuddart, Dublin 15 for more than 25 years. She is a founder member of Deep End Ireland,  a group of GPs working in areas

of social disadvantage. She has a special interest in Life and all its complications.

Dr James Timmons

James is currently the Assistant Professor of Strength & Conditioning at the School of UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Sciences. He received his BA in Accounting and Human Resource Management from the National College of Ireland in 2004, his BSc in Sport and Exercise Science from the University College Dublin in 2012, MSc in Strength and Conditioning from the University of Edinburgh in 2013, and PhD from University College Dublin in 2018. His doctoral studies focussed on exercise training and dietary strategies to support improvements in body composition and physical function in older adults. His research to date has focussed on an ageing population, including establishing the optimal mode of exercise prescription in older adults, as well as gaining a greater understanding of barriers and facilitators to exercise maintenance in older adults.

James is also an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). He is an Exercise Specialist with over 15 years of Strength and Conditioning experience working with both in high performance sport and with clinical populations. James has been actively engaged in elite sport and exercise all his life and has varied sporting experiences in Ireland, USA, Australia and Spain.

Prof Niall Moyna

Professor Moyna is a Clinical Exercise Physiology Professor at Dublin City University. His primary research interests are focused on understanding the role of physical activity in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases and in understanding how small differences in our genetic make-up help to explain the variability in our biological responses to exercise. He is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and an Honorary Fellow of The Faculty of Public Health Medicine, Ireland. Prof Moyna has a keen interest in sport.