Welcome to the XXXV Waterford Surgical October Meeting
On behalf of my colleagues on the organising committee, Professor Fiachra Cooke, Mr Peter McCullough, Professor Padraig Daly, Ms Niamh Foley, Mr Seamus Murphy, Professor Ruairi MacNiocaill, Professor May Cleary, Mr Daniel Hechtl, Dr Éibhleann Connaughton, Ms Aisling Brett, Ms Vicki O’Brien and Ms Jennie O’Leary, it is my privilege to formally welcome you to this year’s XXXV Waterford Surgical October Meeting. This gathering represents an important opportunity for academic collaboration and professional reflection. The theme of this year‘s meeting is “Service Developments; Adapting to Modern Practices”.
I am deeply appreciative of your presence and your commitment to advancing the science and practice of surgery. This meeting brings together leaders, innovators, and scholars from across the surgical disciplines. Such breadth of expertise strengthens the intellectual foundation upon which academic surgery continues to grow.
This year’s Waterford Surgical October Meeting focus is on the exciting developments in surgery that is currently happening on our doorstep and beyond. The meeting will explore modern service delivery across many surgical disciplines and technological advancements, including how this is modernising research and training. Advances in sub speciality care are rapidly reshaping clinical decision making. In addition, technological advancements including robotics and artificial intelligence offer huge opportunities in clinical care, training and research. These innovations offer remarkable potential to improve patient outcomes. I am very proud and delighted to announce an extremely distinguished faculty that will share their knowledge and wisdom in these areas. The speakers are truly world class and their perspectives are sure to inspire and innovate those of us in attendance.
Furthermore, the meeting places a huge focus on the tremendous endeavour of research amongst us. It is an honour to be exposed to your research that exemplifies a substantial investment of time, skill, and scholarly dedication. I extend sincere thanks to all presenters who have chosen to share their work with us. Academic surgery relies on the open exchange of ideas, and this meeting provides an ideal forum for that exchange. This is a setting in which established experts and early career researchers can interact meaningfully. It is also a setting in which new collaborations may be formed and existing partnerships strengthened. I encourage all attendees to participate actively in the dialogue that follows each session. I have no doubt that your work enriches all of our collective understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing modern surgery.
One of the huge highlights of this meeting is the Gordon Watson lecture which will be delivered by Mr William Wallace, Consultant General & Colorectal Surgeon, Belfast Health & Social Care trust. It is a huge honour and pleasure to welcome Mr Wallace. We are fortunate and look forward to hear him share his experience, wisdom and insights into the lessons he has learned as an innovator throughout his exemplary career spent working with intestinal failure and building an intestinal failure unit. This promises to be one of the highlights of the meeting.
To this end, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to the XXXV Waterford Surgical October Meeting. I wish you a rewarding and intellectually enriching day.
Professor Peter M. Neary MB, MScLHPE, MA, MD, FRCS(Colorectal)
Professor & Inaugural Chair of Surgical Oncology
Academic Head of Department
Consultant General & Colorectal Surgeon
University Hospital Waterford/University College Cork
Dr Sarah Cooney
Biography
Dr Sarah Cooney is a Clinical Research Fellow at University College London, having recently completed Basic Specialist Training in Medicine at St James’s Hospital, Dublin. She graduated from University College Dublin and has a strong interest in Obesity, Metabolic Medicine and Clinical Research, with research experience exploring the metabolic and nutritional consequences of upper gastrointestinal surgery.
Dr Czara Kennedy
Biography
Czara Kennedy is a General and Upper GI Surgery Specialist Registrar (SpR) currently working in the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. She is currently a PhD candidate at University College Dublin (UCD) under the supervision of Professor Helen Heneghan, focusing her research on venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention and Direct Oral Anticoagulant (DOAC) absorption following metabolic bariatric surgery. She also holds a Master’s degree in Clinical and Translational Research from UCD and recently completed her Fellowship examinations.
With a multidisciplinary clinical background as a qualified dietitian, Dr. Kennedy is heavily involved in surgical leadership, education, and trial management. She serves as the Vice Chair of the Irish Surgical Research Collaborative (ISRC) and has held prominent committee roles, including President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Irish surgical training group.
Mr Emmet Andrews
Biography
Originally from Dublin and educated in Belvedere College, Emmet graduated from University College Dublin in 1994. He represented UCD in rugby and boxing. After internship he completed the Basic Surgical Training Scheme in Belfast, acquiring the FRCS (Eng) and FRCSI. Emmet returned to Ireland for further surgical training followed by full time research in Cork University Hospital where he completed an MD in UCC. Following Higher Surgical Training with rotations in Galway, Cork and Dublin, Emmet undertook a Fellowship in Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery in Melbourne Australia. He returned to replace Professor Liam Kirwan in 2010 as Consultant General & Colorectal Surgeon in CUH and Senior Lecturer in Surgery in UCC. His special interests are robotic and laparoscopic colorectal surgery (including familial and screen detected cancers), pelvic floor disorders (faecal incontinence, prolapse), and laparoscopic general surgery including inguinal and incisional hernia repair. Emmet also provides a service in elective general paediatric surgery in Cork University Hospital. He lives in Cork city with his wife and three children.
Dr Dara O’Keeffe
Biography
Dr (Ms) Dara O’Keeffe, MB BCh BAO BMedSc MRCS MHPE DipHCM
- Director of Surgical Simulation and Skills, National Surgical and Clinical Skills Centre, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Dr Dara O’Keeffe trained in surgery for eight years before entering healthcare education in 2006. At the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, she was instrumental in establishing the first mandatory programme in Human Factors for trainees in Surgery and Emergency Medicine. There she also designed and implemented national assessments in technical and non-technical skills, before moving to a role in Simulation-based Learning at the Brigham and Women’s hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School. She returned to RCSI in 2015 where she has continued to develop high-fidelity simulation programmes for postgraduate trainees across multiple specialties and disciplines. She has a master of Health Professions Education from the University of Chicago and a diploma in Healthcare Management. She was a founder member of the Irish Association for Simulation and is currently Chair of the Accreditation Review Board of NASCE (Network of Accredited Skills Centres in Europe). In this role she is responsible for reviewing and accrediting simulation centres internationally. She is also a committee member of ICOSET, the International Collaborative for Surgical Education and Training. Her areas of specialisation and research include Human Factors, faculty development and using simulation for assessment.
