2025 - All Island Health Protection Conference

Prof. Sir Michael McBride

Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, Northern Ireland

Prof Sir Michael McBride was appointed to the post of Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health in September 2006. Prior to joining the department, he had been Medical Director at the Royal Group of Hospitals from August 2002. He graduated with Distinction from Queen's University Belfast in 1986 and completed his undergraduate and postgraduate training in Northern Ireland. In 1991 he attained a Research Fellowship at St Mary's Medical School and Imperial College London, where he carried out research into new drug treatments for HIV. He has been a Consultant in the Health Service since 1994 and has more than 10 years health service management experience. He has a longstanding interest in continuing medical education and was Postgraduate Clinical Tutor in the Royal Group of Hospitals between 1996 and 2000 and Director of Education in the Royal Hospitals from 2000. At the request of the Health Minister he took up the post of Chief Executive of Belfast Health and Social Care Trust from December 2014 to February 2017, combined with his role as Chief Medical Officer. Prof Sir Michael McBride was knighted in Her Majesty's 2021 Birthday Honours for services to public health in Northern Ireland and awarded a Professorship in Public Health Practice from Queens University Belfast in 2021.

Dr Joanne McClean

Director of Public Health, Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland

Dr Joanne McClean took up post as Director of Public Health on 1 September 2022. Joanne graduated from Queen's University in Medicine with Honours in 1999. After graduation she worked in junior doctor hospital training posts before completing specialist training in public health medicine. Joanne has a Masters in Population Health and is a member of the Faculty of Public Health and of the Royal College of Physicians. She was appointed as a Consultant in Public Health in the Public Health Agency in January 2012. In her consultant post she had a particular interest in health service public health and in child health. Between June 2021 and August 2022 she was seconded to the Department of Health as Associate Deputy Chief Medical Officer to work on the COVID response. Joanne was made an Honorary Professor of Public Health Practice by Queen's University in February 2023.

Dr Jillian Johnston

Consultant in Health Protection, Northern Ireland

Consultant in health protection in Northern Ireland for 11 years with experience nationally and locally, from policy development to investigation and management of incidents, outbreaks and other hazards. Currently regional lead for TB prevention and control, strategic oversight of the acute response function in Northern Ireland and the public health act.

Prof. Mary Horgan MD FRCPI FRCP

Interim Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health & Professor of Infectious Diseases, UCD

Professor Mary Horgan is interim Chief Medical Officer and Professor of Infectious Diseases at UCD and Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. She is the immediate past President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and is the first woman to hold this position since the College's foundation in 1654. She is the former Dean of the School of Medicine at UCC and was the first woman to be appointed to this position. She is a graduate of UCD School of Medicine in 1986 and was awarded the UCD Alumni award for health in 2019. She is a Director of Education of the European Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (ESCMID). She also served on the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), led the expert advisory group on rapid testing and chaired Ireland's first National Research Ethics Committee.

Dr Eamonn O'Moore

Director of National Health Protection, HSE

Dr Eamonn O'Moore is Director of National Health Protection. A UCD graduate (1991), he has worked extensively in the UK and internationally with WHO and ECDC in health protection. He trained in Public Health in Oxford and at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. His UK roles have included Director of Thames Valley Health Protection Unit, National Lead for Health & Justice (PHE), and Deputy Director for Vulnerable People (UKHSA). During COVID-19, he was SRO for the PHE public health response in adult social care and secure settings. He was National Incident Director for the UK response to the 2014/15 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Dr O'Moore has a strong focus on health equity, prison health, and infectious diseases such as TB, blood-borne viruses and migrant health. He has advised national and international governments, published widely in peer-reviewed journals, contributed to international guidelines with ECDC and WHO, and is editor and senior contributor to the Oxford University Press textbook on Prison Medicine and Health.

Dr John Cuddihy

HSE National Director of Public Health

Dr John Cuddihy is HSE National Director of Public Health. John has been involved in Public Health reform in Ireland from the Crowe Horwath review and report implementation to more recently leading the implementation of the Public Health reform programme. He has previously held positions as Director of Public Health, Director of HPSC and National Clinical Director of Health Protection.

Dr Mike Ryan

Former Assistant Director-General, WHO Health Emergencies Programme

Dr Mike Ryan has been at the forefront of managing acute risks to global health for nearly 25 years. He served as Assistant Director-General for Emergency Preparedness and Response in WHO's Health Emergencies Programme from 2017 to 2019. Dr Ryan first joined WHO in 1996 with the newly established unit to respond to emerging and epidemic disease threats. He has worked in conflict affected countries and led many responses to high impact epidemics. He is a founding member of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN). He served as Coordinator of Epidemic Response (2000-2003), Operational Coordinator of WHO's response to the SARS outbreak (2003), and as WHO's Director of Global Alert and Response (2005-2011). He was a Senior Advisor on Polio Eradication for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative from 2013 to 2017. He completed medical training at the National University of Ireland, Galway, a Master's in Public Health at University College Dublin, and specialist training in communicable disease control at the Health Protection Agency in London and the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training.