Core Team

Prof Andrew Murphy
Director

Professor Andrew Murphy is the Director of the HRB Primary Care CTNI. Andrew is the Professor of General Practice at University of Galway and a GP in Turloughmore Medical Centre, a few miles outside of Galway city. Prof Murphy has a distinguished research career, including leading a clinical trial on the provision of secondary cardiac care in the community which was, at the time, the largest academic-lead trial ever conducted on the island of Ireland. Andrew’s research, largely quantitative and always collaborative, addresses chronic disease management and professional practice in the community. In leading this Network, he builds on previous collaborations with partners in RSCI, QUB and the ICGP. With significant input from the public/patient guiding the research, Andrew has a vision that this Network will break new ground to answer common problems in primary care, that will improve individual patient health and healthcare.

Prof Susan Smith
Associate Director

Professor Susan Smith is the Associate Director of the HRB Primary Care CTNI as of February 2019. She will take a shared leadership role for the development and activities of the Network with a focus on a number of key strategic objectives. Professor Smith joined the Department of General Practice at RCSI in 2011. She also works as a general practitioner in Inchicore Family Doctors, Dublin. Her main research interests include chronic disease management . She has been the Principal Investigator (PI) on five HRB funded clinical trials of interventions to improve outcomes for patients with chronic conditions. She leads the HRB Centre for Primary Care’s multimorbidity research programme and is also engaged in research on polypharmacy, potentially inappropriate prescribing, computerised decision support systems and clinical prediction rules. Susan currently leads one of the Network trials – SPPiRE. Professor Smith is an active contributor and editor within the Cochrane Collaboration and is on the editorial board of the Acute Respiratory Infections Cochrane Review Group. She is also a co-editor of the Journal of Comorbidity and is on the editorial boards of the journals Family Practice and BMC Family Practice.

Dr Patrick Murphy
Network Manager

Dr Patrick Murphy joined the HRB Primary Care CTNI in November 2019. A Chartered Health Psychologist with the Psychological Society of Ireland, Patrick has previously worked as an Assistant Professor in Psychology in the Disciplines of Occupational Therapy and Radiation Therapy, Trinity College Dublin, and as a postdoctoral researcher with the Health Behaviour Change Research Group in the School of Psychology, University of Galway. He completed his PhD in the Research Centre for Psychological Health in Trinity College Dublin in 2015. His research interests include the illness and treatment experiences of patients with chronic illnesses, the development and evaluation of complex behavioural interventions, and the use of qualitative research in clinical trials.

Laura O’Connor
Primary Care Researcher

Laura O’Connor joined the HRB Primary Care CTNI as Primary Care Researcher in October 2021. Previously, Laura worked in the Department of Psychology in University of Galway as a researcher, beginning her research career with the Centre for Pain Research in 2014. Since then, she has worked on a number of research projects focusing on chronic pain and other chronic health conditions, multimorbidity, and psychological wellbeing, often with a focus on the integration of technology into healthcare. She holds a BA in psychological studies and IT and a masters in IT from University of Galway, and her research interests include the management of chronic conditions, ehealth, and qualitative health research.

Breda Kelleher
Administrator

Breda Kelleher joined the School of Medicine, University of Galway in January 2005 as a research administrator in General Practice. This role was expanded in February 2011 to include general administrator in Obstetrics & Gynaecology. In July 2015 she joined the HRB Primary Care Clinical Trials Network Ireland as administrator on a half time basis, while continuing to work within the School of Medicine. Her role includes supporting the Director, Associate Director, Development Officer and Postdoctoral Researcher within the Network, organising training and PPI events, procurement and managing budgets. Breda is also driving the development of an active social media presence for the Network, a growing communication channel for both academic and PPI activities. Breda draws on her experience in a number of different positions in industry prior to joining University of Galway.

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