Professor Eugene Dempsey appointed as the Horgan Chair in Neonatology

Professor Eugene Dempsey was appointed as the inaugral Chair in Neonatology at the INFANT research centre based at UCC and Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH).

The Irish Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research (INFANT) is Ireland’s first translational research centre focused entirely on pregnancy, birth, and early childhood, improving healthcare outcomes for mothers and children.

The post was secured thanks to a very generous donation from alumnus Daragh Horgan, and his wife Anne. The Horgans wanted to support sustained leadership for the neonatal research programme at INFANT. Speaking on the appointment, Professor Dempsey said:

“This new role represents an exciting opportunity to grow our world leading research programme in newborn care. Over the next five years we will continue to develop strong international collaborative links in new-born clinical trials.

We will lead and partner in some of these exciting multinational trials all aiming to generate new knowledge and enhance patient outcome. These trials encompass many important aspects of clinical care including new-born stabilisation at delivery, studying antiseizure medication in full-term newborns, and measuring brain oxygen levels non-invasively in preterm infants.

We will also establish a centre for new-born neurocritical care, given our research and clinical strength in this area, whilst also ensuring that we train the next generation of neonatal academic scientists through close alignment with our undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programs at UCC.”

This new role represents an exciting opportunity to grow our world leading research programme in new-born care. ”

Professor Eugene Dempsey Horgan Chair in Neonatology