Research Foundation Board
Chair: Dr Jacinta Kelly
Company Secretary: Ciaran Cuddihy
Dr Jacinta Kelly
Jacinta Kelly is the Chair of the Saint John of God Research Foundation. Jacinta joined the SJOG Research Foundation Board in December 2022. Jacinta has a BA (Mod) and a PhD in Immunology from TCD, and an MA in Management. Since 2015 she has been Chief Executive of the NCRC, having joined the organisation in 2009 as its Deputy Director of Research. Her role in NCRC has been in the strategic development and management of the Centre. This included the development of processes for the competitive disbursement of a multi-million euro annual budget in research funding, and the implementation of international best practice in running research grant calls, ensuring impartiality, transparency and fairness and monitoring. She was for many years a member of the ethics committee of the Faculty of Health Science, TCD.
Jacinta has experience as an Editor in international scientific publishing with Elsevier and with Hogrefe and Huber Publishers, and she also has extensive experience of third level teaching and biomedical research.
She is currently a Board Member of the Medical Research Charities Group and a member of their Staff and Finance committee and is a member of the steering group of the Irish Health Research Forum. She was previously a Board member, and Chair, of Amnesty International Ireland.
Professor John Waddington
John Waddington is Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (now RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences). For over 35 years he has taught medical students on the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders and conducted research on the epidemiology and pathobiology of psychotic illness. His work has been widely published in medical and scientific journals, including numerous collaborations with colleagues at St. John of God Hospital and associated services. He was an inaugural awardee of the Schizophrenia International Research Society and is a member of the Royal Irish Academy. John is pleased to bring this background and experience to bear on helping the St. John of God Research Foundation in achieving its objectives.
Dr Rory Shelley
Rory Shelley is a retired consultant Psychiatrist since 2016.
From 1988 to 2014 he was a Consultant Psychiatrist at Saint John of God Hospital, Stillorgan, Dublin specialising in General Adult Psychiatry, with special interest in Psychopharmacology. In addition, he was also a Clinical Lecturer for the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences at Trinity College Dublin and a tutor to trainees of Psychiatry at Saint John of God Hospital, Dublin. He was a co-ordinator for the training rotation in Saint John of God Hospital and Saint Vincent’s University Hospital. He was also an examiner and exam organiser Part 2, MRC Psych (London).
From 2014 to 2016 he was lead and Professor of the Dept. of Psychiatry in a new Medical School jointly between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Perdana University, KL, Malaysia.
In 2016 he retired from full time clinical activity but still supports tribunals and second opinions for the Mental Health Commission. He locums as Consultant Psychiatrist with the HSE and SVUH. He is currently on the Board of Saint John of God Hospital clg and Saint John of God Research Foundation clg.
Prof Pamela Gallagher
Prof Pamela Gallagher, PhD, C. Psychol. Ps.S.I., is a Full Professor of Psychology and founding Head of the new School of Psychology, Dublin City University. She is a respected international leader and widely published in her research field of living well with illness, disability and technology. She has been a Fulbright Visiting Scholar to Johns Hopkins University, an editorial board member of a number of international peer reviewed journals and was a member of the Irish Cancer Society Research Advisory Committee. She is currently a member of the Central Remedial Clinical Research Advisory Committee. She chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of the ESPRC Funded Centre for Doctoral Training in Prosthetics and Orthotics across the University of Salford, Imperial College London, the University of Strathclyde ad University of Southampton.
Michael Foley
Michael Foley is the Civic Engagement for Societal Impact Manager in Trinity College Dublin. His role is to promote networking and collaboration with Trinity’s many civic partners, such as health services, local authorities, NGOs, communities and government bodies, in order to tackle societal challenges. Prior to this, he was Programme Manager for the Trinity PPI Ignite Office, supporting Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) in health-related research.
Michael has been facilitating public processes for over twenty-five years as part of his work in the National Disability Authority, Age & Opportunity and now Trinity. He has also developed engagement processes and resources with organisations such as the Irish Universities Association, Health Research Charities Ireland and IPPOSI. With an MSc in Applied Social Research, Michael was also the Research Module Coordinator and Lecturer on the MA in Mediation and Conflict Intervention in Maynooth University for a number of years.
