For ey Are Good Fellows

RCSI INTERNATIONAL FELLOWS ARE GLOBAL LEADERS IN SURGICAL PRACTICE AND IN GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH. WE FOLLOW THE CAREERS OF EIGHT FELLOWS, AND FIND OUT WHERE THEY ARE NOW

Professor Conor Delaney Fellow 1993

MCh, PhD, FRCSI, FACS, FASCRS, FRCSI (Hon), MAMSE

Colorectal Surgeon; CEO and President, Cleveland Clinic Florida; President, American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.

In his role as the CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic Florida, Conor Delaney oversees ve hospitals, a state-of-the-art research centre and numerous outpatient centres located across southeast Florida, and serves as a member of the Cleveland Clinic enterprise Executive Team. Previously, Professor Delaney was Chairman of Cleveland Clinic’s Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute, where he was responsible for a number of departments including the departments of colorectal surgery; gastroenterology; hepatology; nutrition; general and transplant surgery. Professor Delaney completed a residency through RCSI, a transplant immunology fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh and a colorectal surgery fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. He was a sta surgeon at Cleveland Clinic in the Departments of Colorectal and Minimally Invasive Surgery from 2000-2005 and was Chief of the Division of Colorectal Surgery, Chair of Digestive Health and Vice Chair of Surgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland.

Professor Delaney currently serves as the President of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. He is also Cleveland Clinic’s Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Distinguished Chair in Healthcare Innovation and a Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. He has published 11 books, more than 420 original manuscripts and chapters and has given over 450 lectures nationally and internationally. His clinical interests include laparoscopic colorectal surgery; carcinoma of the colon, rectum and anus; Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, sphincter-saving surgery; reoperative abdominal surgery and colonoscopy. His research interests include various aspects of colorectal surgery, surgical techniques, optimisation of postoperative recovery and optimisation of value in clinical care.

“My day-to-day work is primarily with the 11,000 caregivers on our Florida team, although I continue to have many enterprise level virtual meetings each week, as well as regular trips back to Cleveland where I was for 22 years. As we come out of the challenges of the pandemic and the healthcare sta ng crisis, our priorities are focusing on our mission of caring for life, researching for health and educating those who serve. It has been a privilege to partner with and add to the Florida team as we integrate new hospitals with the enterprise, bring the right scale of services to each hospital and submarket, and bring Cleveland Clinic care to our communities,” says Professor Delaney.

MR PHILIP J. O’HALLORAN FELLOW 2021

BSc, MB, FRCSI, PhD

Consultant Neurosurgeon with subspeciality interests of Neuro-Oncology and Traumatic Brain Injury, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

Philip O’Halloran graduated from University College Cork in 2003 with a BSc (Physiology) before studying Medicine in RCSI where he also completed his Higher Surgical Training. During his neurosurgery training, Mr O’Halloran was the lead author and co-investigator of the Beaumont Brain Tumour Biobank. In 2017, he was awarded a PhD in Neuro-Oncology following research conducted at RCSI and the European Institute of Molecular Imaging in Germany.

In 2019, Mr O’Halloran was awarded the prestigious Neuro-Oncology/Skull Base surgical fellowship at Toronto Western Hospital. Subsequently, he became the rst Royal College of Surgeons in England approved Surgical Neurotrauma Fellow at the Royal London Hospital Major Trauma Centre.

In 2021, he was awarded the Dan Rooney Concussion Fellowship, during which he spent time at the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to develop baseline clinical knowledge of concussions and their evaluation, and study clinical research methods. e academic position was also the research lead of UPMC Sports Concussion Network in Ireland.

Mr O’Halloran was appointed as a Consultant Neurosurgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham at the beginning of 2022 and has expertise in awake craniotomy, day case glioma surgery, laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT), and uorescence guided surgery as well as intra-operative monitoring. He is an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at RCSI and research interests include translational oncology incorporating orthotopic glioma models/patient-derived xenogra s. Mr O’Halloran is also an Associate Editor of the British Journal of Neurosurgery. An internationally recognised opinion leader in sports-related brain injury as well as an independent match day doctor of the English Rugby Gallagher Premiership and European Cup, he is also the principal investigator of the pioneering Rugby Headgear E ectiveness Study.

“My role is to independently assess the e ect of this new headgear design on brain injury using state-of-the-art blood and saliva biomarkers, neuroimaging, instrumented mouthguards and neurocognitive tests. We have assembled a world-leading, independent panel of scienti c and medical experts in brain health and brain injury to monitor the study; it represents an important piece of the jigsaw of what is an ongoing international collective e ort to protect amateur and professional players,” says Mr O’Halloran.

Ms Deirdre Seoighe Fellow 2015

MB, BCh, BAO, MCh, FRCSI

Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon at Waikato Hospital, Middlemore Hospital and Gisborne Hospital, Private practice at Waikato Specialist Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Deirdre Seoighe undertook specialist training in plastic and reconstructive surgery in Ireland, followed by a fellowship in burns surgery at Middlemore Hospital, Auckland. She has been working at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, New Zealand since 2017. She is the clinical lead for burns surgery covering a vast area in the central North Island of New Zealand. is includes the Taupo Volcanic Zone and a very active geothermal region. Ms Seoighe is the clinical lead of a research group looking speci cally at geothermal and volcanic injuries. During her time at Waikato Hospital, she has served as head of department and also helped to set up a combined plastic surgery and dermatology medical laser unit. e plan is to provide a publicly-funded high quality and comprehensive laser treatment unit that will treat patients from all over New Zealand.

“New Zealand has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world. is places huge demands on the plastic surgery department as we try to deliver services to almost one million people over a vast geographical distribution. Plastic surgery is a challenging and variable specialty. ere is always a new challenge; recently I had the opportunity to lead the plastic surgery component of New Zealand’s rst hemicorporectomy. Floods, cyclones, a volcanic eruption and a global pandemic have put pressure on the hospital system and our department. Despite setbacks and challenges, we continue to grow our department and try to improve the quality of care we deliver to our patients,” says Ms Seoighe.

PROFESSOR NADEY S. HAKIM FELLOW 1987

MD, PhD,

Hon D Arts, FRCSI

Consultant General Surgeon

Cleveland Clinic London, Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, President American College of Surgeons (UK Chapter), Membre de l’Academie Française de Chirurgie.

A specialist in bariatrics and kidney/pancreas transplantation surgery, Nadey Hakim started the rst Pancreas Transplant Programme in South East England. He was the British surgeon on the International team which performed the world’s rst successful arm transplant and was the rst surgeon to be awarded the prestigious Max orek Professorship of Surgery. With over 250 peer-reviewed papers and 24 textbooks, he is a proli c author and sought-a er international speaker.

Professor Hakim gained his medical degree from Paris Descartes University with the prestigious award of Laureate of the Faculty of Medicine. He trained in surgery at Guy’s Hospital London. At the University of London, he obtained his PhD a er completing a gastrointestinal fellowship at the Mayo Clinic and a transplant fellowship at the University of Minnesota.

Currently Professor of Transplantation Surgery at Imperial College London and Professor of General Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic London, Professor Hakim’s academic awards and professional achievements are extensive. ey include ve honorary professorships at universities worldwide including Baskent University and several international visiting professorships. In 2007, he was awarded the J. Wesley Alexander Prize for outstanding transplantation research.

Formerly World President of the International College of Surgeons, Vice President of the Royal Society of Medicine and Vice President of the British Red Cross, Professor Hakim is a member of several professional organisations, holds educational roles such as Assessor for the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Member of the International Relations Committee of the American College of Surgeons and President of the UK Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. His editorial roles include having been Editor in Chief of International Surgery for 11 years before becoming Emeritus Editor.

Currently Councillor for Europe of the e Transplantation Society and Vice President of the International Medical Sciences Academy. He was made Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2016.

“As a Member of the International Relations Committee of the American College of Surgeons I have o ered my transplant surgical skills to countries in the developing world, having regularly visited Nigeria to perform live related kidney transplants. I will very soon perform the rst kidney transplant in St Kitts and Nevis, having been invited by the Prime Minister of the country. As the Councillor for Europe of the Transplantation Society it gives me great pleasure to expand the eld of transplantation to less fortunate countries,” says Professor Hakim.

Ms Rizwana Khan Fellow 2000

MBBS, FRCSI, MRCOphth

Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon, Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital; Tallaght University Hospital and Hermitage Clinic.

Rizwana Khan completed her Basic Surgical and Higher Surgical Training in Ireland, followed by a two-year fellowship in Orbits, Oculoplastics and Neuro-Ophthalmology at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin.

Orbits and oculoplastics is a subspecialty of ophthalmology dealing with eye socket and eyelid disorders and its management in the form of plastic and reconstructive surgery. It also includes the management of lacrimal system disorders, and eyelid and socket tumour reconstructive surgery.

Ms Khan has a keen interest in the use and development of innovative technology in her subspecialty, including the use of CO2 laser in oculoplastic surgery and image-guided navigation in orbital surgery. She also specialises in multifocal intraocular lens implantation.

She is the co-director of a fellowship programme in Orbits, Oculoplastics and Neuro-Ophthalmology in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, and is currently undertaking a doctorate with RCSI while guiding her trainees in surgical training and research.

“I have always been interested in the use of new innovative technology in ophthalmic surgery. I secured a state-of-the-art electromagnetic imageguidance technology for orbital surgery in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital. I have been leading a clinical trial to explore its role in our surgical practice and have shown that this technology has potential to make complicated orbital surgery safer, faster and more e ective,” says Ms Khan.

Professor Tony Costello Honorary Fellow 2010

MD, MCh, PhD, FACS, FASCRS, FRCSI (Hon)

Robotics Pioneer – Urology; Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne; Consultant Urologist, Epworth Hospital, Richmond Campus, Melbourne; Director and CEO at Australian Medical Robotics Academy.

Tony Costello is one of the leading prostate specialists in Australia and a pioneer in the eld of robotic surgery in urology, performing the rst open radical prostatectomy using robotic surgery at Epworth Hospital in Australia in 2003. Since then, over 2,600 cases of robotic radical prostatectomy have been performed at Epworth. Professor Costello is an invited faculty member of the American Urological Association where he teaches aspects of robotic surgery to an international audience annually. He is also on the Editorial Board of the US publication Journal of Robotic Surgery, the British Journal of Urology and the Journal of Endourology.

Professor Costello is the only Australian member of the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons. e AAGUS is an association of leading academic urologists from the US, Canada and around the world dedicated to the study of diseases of the genitourinary system. Active membership is limited to 75 of the world’s most distinguished academic urological specialists.

“I have had the great privilege to train a number of Irish urologists in the art of robotic surgery. I have always admired Irish surgery and in particular the talent in Irish urology. My recent collaboration with RCSI has reinforced my belief that RCSI is the most nimble College in its ability to deal with the complexities of providing a modern surgical pedagogy. As a proud Honorary Fellow of RCSI, it is wonderful now to be working in collaboration in the area of Education and Robotic Assisted Surgery. It gives me such pleasure to have teamed up with RCSI and to be launching the Foundation of RAS course developed at IMRA, which RCSI will deliver to Irish surgical trainees. is is such an important technological advancement and RCSI show great leadership in adding it to their surgical training programme. I really look forward to seeing this collaboration develop and to achieving great things together.”

Dr Evelyn Murphy Fellow 2021

MB, BCh, BAO, MCh, FRCSI, PROGRESS Women in Surgery Fellow 2023

Evelyn Murphy is undertaking Higher Specialist

Training in Trauma and Orthopaedics at RCSI, due for completion in 2023, and is currently posted at Galway University Hospital. She has four postgraduate quali cations, has published over 55 papers and has been awarded and shortlisted for more than 15 prizes, bursaries and research grants for her work.

Ms Murphy is the recipient of the 2023 PROGRESS Women in Surgery Fellowship. e prestigious bursary, awarded by RCSI and supported by Olympus Medical, promotes female participation in surgical training at fellowship level. Ms Murphy will undertake a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery and Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Surgery in Sydney. It will incorporate percutaneous surgery, sports surgery, trauma and total ankle replacement, covering basic and complex fusions and osteotomies and forefoot reconstructions. Following the fellowship, Ms Murphy will be one of the pioneers in this eld in Ireland.

“I am actively involved in mentoring junior trainees completing research projects and supporting them in presenting at conferences and progressing to higher degrees. I was recently part of the faculty at the ATLS trauma provider course in Kilkenny and got to experience multidisciplinary teamwork in action. I am in the nal stages of preparing to move to Sydney to pursue my fellowship in minimally invasive foot and ankle surgery. I am delighted to receive the 2023 PROGRESS Women in Surgery Fellowship and honoured to be the rst Orthopaedic recipient of this award. During my fellowship I intend to develop key skills in minimally invasive foot and ankle surgery which will allow me to continue to innovate in the eld of orthopaedics. I recently was successful in my application for a consultant position in Cork University Hospital,” says Ms Murphy.

DR COLUM P. NOLAN FELLOW 2011

MB, BCh, BAO, LRCP/LRCS, FRCSI

Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon with a subspecialty in Spine Surgery; Medical Director at Oxford Spine and Neurosurgery Centre, Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, Singapore.

Colum Nolan graduated from RCSI and undertook comprehensive neurosurgery training in Ireland and at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia. He pursued his interest in complex spine surgery as a spinal fellow at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, UK, gaining experience in the management of degenerative spine disorders, complex spinal tumours and fractures, and developing his skills in minimally invasive spine surgery. Dr Nolan was the former Spine Director at the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) and was instrumental in growing the combined NNI-Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) spine service. He also started and headed the neurosurgery service at Sengkang General Hospital. He is currently a visiting consultant at NNI and the National University Hospital.

Dr Nolan has been published in many international journals and presented at many local, regional and international conferences. He was a member of the medical council, professional development committee and peer-review learning quality assurance committee at NNI, and a clinical physician faculty member for the integrated neurosurgery training programme. He was also an adjunct assistant professor at Duke-NUS Medical School. ■