Dr Tomás Griffin
Dr Tomás Griffin has recently taken up a post as a Consultant Diabetologist at Galway University Hospitals/CHO2 and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Galway. He is a graduate of the school of Medicine at the University of Galway (First Honour). He completed a PhD entitled, “The Role of Novel Biomarkers in Addressing the Burden of Chronic Kidney Disease in Diabetes Mellitus” at the University of Galway. In addition, he holds a Masters in Clinical Research (First Honour) and a Higher Diploma in Clinical Education (First Honour) from the University of Galway.
Dr Griffin was awarded and completed a competitive Clinical Fellowship in Diabetes Technology with a special focus on diabetes in pregnancy at the prestigious Leicester Diabetes Research Centre (2021-2022). He is an honorary Lecturer at the University of Leicester and a Clinical Consultant in Diabetes Communication Technology at the University of Dundee. Dr Griffin has worked as a Consultant Diabetologist/Associate Professor of Medicine at University Hospital Limerick/University of Limerick.
Dr Kate Gajewska
Kate is a Clinical Manager for Advocacy and Research in Diabetes. In her role Kate is responsible for all advocacy activities, and oversees Diabetes Ireland Research Alliance. Consecutively, Kate is still involved in academic research as a Postdoctoral Researcher (Knowledge Broker) at the School of Public Health, University College Cork. In 2020 Kate has been awarded a PhD degree by RCSI: University of Medicine and Health Sciences for her thesis focusing on access to insulin pump therapy in Ireland.
Prior to joining Diabetes Ireland, Kate worked as a lecturer in Epidemiology and Public Health at RCSI: University of Medicine and Health Sciences, and a Postgraduate Researcher in the OPEN diabetes project focusing on the DIY artificial pancreas systems. Before conducting her PhD she worked as a research data manager in Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, in Dublin, and as a psychologist and a diabetes educator in an outpatient diabetes clinic in Warsaw, Poland. She completed MSc in Clinical Psychology in 2010, and received a Postgraduate Award in Mixed Methods for Health Services Research.
Kate’s research interests include diabetes, mainly type 1 diabetes, its epidemiology, determinants of (barriers and facilitators to) access to technology in diabetes care, health and well-being of people with chronic illnesses, as well as health services research and its role in improving health, outcomes and quality of care.
She is the author of peer-reviewed publications, educational materials, presents as a speaker at international and national conferences, and actively engages in patient advocacy and scientific organizations (i.e. ISPAD, IES, PSI) as a healthcare professional, researcher and a person living with diabetes (since 1987).
Professor Chantal Mathieu
Professor of Medicine at the Katholieke Universiteit and Endocrinologist at the University Hospital Gasthuisberg Leuven, Belgium
Chantal Mathieu is a physician-scientist who has contributed to the field of diabetes and endocrinology through basic and clinical research. Her basic research work focuses on pathogenesis and prevention of type 1 diabetes. Prof. Mathieu’s clinical work involving new products and treatment paradigms in diabetes, such as new insulins, adjunct therapies and diagnosis of gestational diabetes have made her a speaker in international fora. Prof. Mathieu coordinates the European clinical trial network for interventions in type 1 diabetes ‘INNODIA’ and the European project ‘EDENT1FI’ on screening for type 1 diabetes. Prof. Mathieu is president of EASD and vice-president of the European Diabetes Forum.
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Dr. Patrick Divilly
Dr. Patrick Divilly is a Consultant of Endocrinology & Diabetes Mellitus in St Vincents University Hospital in Dublin. He is a graduate of University College Dublin. He did a clinical research fellowship in Kings College Hospital. He has a special interest in hypoglycaemia, health economics and diabetes technology.
Dr Klemen Dovc
Klemen Dovc serves as a consultant in paediatric endocrinology at the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University Medical Center – University Children’s Hospital Ljubljana and as an associate professor at Chair of Paediatrics, Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Under the mentorship of prof. Tadej Battelino he completed his PhD in 2017 with a thesis investigating automated insulin delivery (AID) in type 1 diabetes (T1D) and a Postdoctoral Clinical-Research Fellowship in Prof Hovorka’s Artificial Pancreas Group at the University of Cambridge, UK in 2018. As a member of DREAM consortium, he was involved in several in-patient and outpatient clinical trials with AID. His clinical and scientific activities focus on diabetes management with state-of-the-art technology, particularly continuous glucose monitoring and AID glucose control.
He has led and collaborated on several prospective and cohort studies with multiple publications in high-ranking journals.
Dr. Dovc is an active member of the national and international scientific communities, including EASD Training and Education Committee, ISPAD Advisory Board, and one of the co-founders of the ISPAD Young Researchers Community – the JENIOUS group, where he led and was involved with several projects and publications. He co-authored sections of the ISPAD Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines related to diabetes management in school and management of hypoglycemia and is currently appointed as an associate editor for the 2024-2026 edition.
Dr. Dovc received the JDRF-ISPAD Research Fellowship Award in 2018 and was appointed as an expert at EU Commission Expert Panel for Medical Devices, Endocrinology & Diabetes Thematic Panel between 2020 and 2023. He collaborates on several publicly-funded research projects, and was a Slovenian National Research Agency Grant recipient in 2022. He volunteers with the Slovene pediatric diabetes patients’ association “Sladkorčki”.
Cathy Jones
Cathy is a Diabetes Specialist Midwife at University Hospitals of Leicester and Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC). Completing her training in Northern Ireland at Queen’s University, Belfast, she has worked as a midwife for over 10 years, and made the move to work as a Diabetes Specialist Midwife at Leicester in 2021. This has included research experience through the LDC.
She has experience of caring for women before, during and after pregnancy with pre-existing diabetes and gestational diabetes. She has a passion for technology use within diabetes care and specialises particularly with Hybrid Closed Loop technology and Continuous glucose monitoring.
Sharon Levis
Sharon works as a Senior Dietitian in Bantry General Hospital (BGH). Sharon has worked in acute Dietetics for over 20 years, in various clinical areas including Intensive Care, GI Surgery, and ENT Surgery, as well as Diabetes. Sharon set up the Nutrition and Dietetic service in BGH in 2013, which is currently a department of 1.8 WTE Senior Dietitians.
Along with responsibility for department lead and an inpatient caseload, Sharon has been working with the BGH Diabetes Team in increasing capacity for the past 9 years, now involving mostly Type 1 service users.
Marion O’Donovan
Marion O’Donovan works in BGH as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in acute Diabetes. Marion was worked for over two decades in acute general hospitals and the CUMH where she set up the first dedicated gestational diabetes clinic in 2009. Marion was the first CNS Diabetes appointed to BGH in 2016. Marion took up her position as ANP in 2019 and continues alongside her team in expanding the diabetes services provided to the West Cork & Kerry population.
Over the past 12 months, Sharon and Marion have developed and established the insulin pump service for people living with Type 1 diabetes attending the service.
Aine Cunningham
Aine Cunningham RGN, RNP, MSc work as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Galway University Hospital (GUH). Prior to this, she worked as a Diabetes Nurse Specialist in GUH since 2008.
She has a special interest in type 1 diabetes particularly working with young adults, transition from paediatric to adults and pump therapy.
Aine is a DAFNE educator since 2010 and is passionate about empowering people to self-manage their diabetes
Dr Hannah Forde
Dr. Hannah Forde is a Consultant Endocrinologist working in Beaumont Hospital. She studied medicine at the National University of Ireland, Galway and graduated in 2010. She completed her basic specialist training in General Internal Medicine at University Hospital Galway and was awarded Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCPI) in 2013. She then undertook clinical and laboratory research investigating the pleiotropic role of the biomarker “TRAIL” in cardiovascular disease and was awarded her PhD by Royal College of Surgeons Ireland in 2018.
She completed specialist training in Endocrinology and Diabetes Mellitus and General Internal Medicine in Ireland and was awarded her Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Specialist Training (CSCST) in 2020. She subsequently completed a sub-specialty fellowship in type 1 diabetes and diabetes technology in Leicester General hospital under the supervision of Prof. Pratik Choudhary.
Her areas of interest include the management of complex type 1 diabetes and virtual healthcare.
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Professor Fidelma Dunne
MD, PhD, FRCP (UK), FRCPI, MRIA
Fidelma Dunne is a Professor of Medicine, Clinician scientist and Director of the Institute for Clinical Trials, University of Galway. She holds an MD (University College Cork), PhD (University of Birmingham UK), Masters Medical Education (University of Dundee Scotland), and Master’s Clinical Research (University of Galway). She was a Fulbright scholar at Columbia University New York in 2015. In addition, she is the Director of the All-Ireland Clinical Trial Network in Diabetes and an Adjunct Professor at Steno Diabetes Research Centre Odense Denmark (2020-2025).
Professor Dunne has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to advancing research and improving outcomes in the critical area of diabetes and pregnancy over 25 years with >260 peer review publications, 13,000 citations, H index of 62 with > 22m euro in grant funding. She was awarded the International Jorgen Pedersen (DPSG Europe 2021) and Norbert Freinkel awards (ADA 2024) for contributions in this field and has been elected a member of the prestigious Royal Irish Academy (2024). In 2024 she also received University of Galway Presidents award for research in the team category as Principal Investigator of the EMERGE trial and the national award for research from the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) being selected by peers.
Professor Seamus Sreenan
Seamus Sreenan is a consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown in Dublin. In 2006 he was appointed as associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and was promoted to full professor in 2019. In 2010 Prof Sreenan was appointed director of the graduate entry medical programme at RCSI. Prof Sreenan received his medical degree from University College Dublin. Having completed training in general medicine in Dublin he completed his specialist training in the endocrinology section at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
His research interests have included the pathophysiology of beta cell function in diabetes, utilization of technology in type 1diabetes and the impact of sleep quality on cardiovascular risk in diabetes. Prof Sreenan has completed more than 40 clinical trials in diabetes as chief investigator at Connolly over the last 20 years and has more than 80 peer-reviewed publications.
Professor Claire Meek
Claire Meek is Professor of Chemical Pathology and Diabetes in Pregnancy at Leicester Diabetes Centre. She runs the diabetes in pregnancy service at University Hospitals Leicester, which includes a large, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse cohort of women with early onset type 2 diabetes (EoT2D). She runs observational and interventional studies to improve clinical outcomes for women with diabetes in pregnancy.
Prof Meek started her research career at the University of Cambridge, studying nutritional interventions to improve glycaemia and weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes. Postdoctorally, she contributed to the CONCEPTT trial, assessing real time continuous glucose monitoring in type 1 diabetes in pregnancy, translated into clinical care internationally. In 2018, she received a Diabetes UK intermediate clinical fellowship to run a RCT of a dietary intervention in gestational diabetes (DiGest trial; recently finished). She also received a Future Leaders’ Award from the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (2019) in association with the Novo Nordisk Foundation, assessing progression to EoT2D after gestational diabetes. Prof Meek has received several other national and international awards including from the American Diabetes Association, the European Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group, the Association of Physicians (UK) and the British Medical Foundation.
Professor Beverley Shields
Beverley is an Associate Professor in Medical Statistics with over 20 years experience working in diabetes research. Her key research areas include diabetes classification and precision medicine in Type 2 diabetes, but she supports a broad range of research activity relating to all aspects of diabetes.
Dr Aisling O’Connor
Dr Aisling O’Connor is a Consultant Endocrinologist at Galway University Hospital. She completed an undergraduate degree in Science at Trinity College Dublin in 2007 prior to completing a degree in Medicine at Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary in 2014. She was awarded Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (MRCPI) in 2017. She has a Specialty Certificate in Endocrinology and Diabetes from the Society of Endocrinology.
She is currently completing Medical Doctorate (MD) at University of Galway under the supervision of Prof Timothy O’Brien. Her research is focused on integrated care and the introduction of enhanced community care as a model of care for type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Dr Colin Davenport
Dr Colin Davenport is the Lead Consultant for Integrated Diabetes Care in Connolly Hospital and Community Healthcare Organization 9. Dr Davenport is a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). During his training in endocrinology he completed a Health Research Board-funded PhD in the area of cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes with RCSI and Dublin City University. After completing his specialty training he was awarded the inaugural Aspire Fellowship in Obesity Medicine in Ireland. He subsequently gained experience as an endocrinology consultant in the obesity departments in St Columcille’s Hospital Loughlinstown and University Hospital Galway before spending a year developing diabetes services in Wexford General Hospital.
In 2022, Dr Davenport was appointed to the first integrated diabetes care consultant post in the country, and is currently focused on developing specialist-led services for diabetes and obesity in the community. In addition to 48 peer-reviewed publications and his participation in multiple seminal international trials of diabetes care such as LEADER, Dr Davenport has helped to develop both the national model of care for obesity and the guidelines for the management of type 1 diabetes in Ireland.
Dr. Ihtisham Malik
Dr. Ihtisham Malik is a Consultant Endocrinologist at St. Luke’s General Hospital and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. He also holds Fellowships from the American College of Physicians and the International Diabetes Federation, and is fellowship-trained in General Internal Medicine that include training as IMG through prestigious RCPI-CPSP programme.
Dr. Malik has demonstrated strong clinical leadership by developing the Community Diabetes Service in Carlow-Kilkenny, earning regional and national recognition at the Lean Symposium and as a finalist at the IHCA awards.
Dr. Gintare Valentelyte
Dr. Gintare Valentelyte is a postdoctoral research
er at RCSI specialising in health economics. Gintare’s research has made substantial contributions to the fields of health services research, digital health, health policy evaluation, population health outcomes, and cost-effectiveness of population-level interventions. Gintare’s is currently based at the Converge Centre for Chronic Diseases and Population Health Research at the School of Population Health, RCSI. with her current research focused on modelling the impact of various diabetes-related interventions in Ireland.