Episode 08 Innovation in Healthcare podcast series

“Vaccination as a tool continues to excite me and to sort of offer up really innovative, novel, effective, safe solutions to these horrible diseases.”

In this episode, Prof Samuel McConkey, Head of the Department of International Health and Tropical Medicine at the RCSI, and Consultant in General Medicine, Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Beaumont Hospital Dublin, and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, discusses the transformative potential of vaccination for human health, with Priscilla Lynch, Clinical Editor of the Medical Independent, and International Center for Journalism Health Innovation Journalism Fellow.

Prof McConkey is Chair of the board of the European Vaccine Initiative, a leading European non-profit partnership that supports global efforts to develop effective and affordable vaccines against diseases of poverty and emerging infectious diseases that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries.

In this podcast, he highlights the successes of vaccination in tackling a huge range of diseases, and discusses the exciting ongoing advancements in new vaccination technology, such as mRNA vaccines, and their potential for preventing and treating cancers like melanoma and autoimmune diseases.

In addition, Prof McConkey emphasises the importance of ensuring access to vaccines for those who need them the most, particularly in low-income countries, and highlights the challenges of vaccine rollout in very rural and conflict-affected areas.

The conversation also touches on the importance of trust, communication, and sustained funding and support in advancing vaccine research and development.

This project was funded by the International Center for Journalists through the Health Innovation call.

In this episode, we host our first joint interview, featuring the two co-leads of the All-Island Cancer Research Institute (AICRI), a unique initiative that brings together cancer researchers and clinicians from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Prof William Gallagher, Professor of Cancer Biology at University College Dublin; and Prof Mark Lawler, Professor of Digital Health at Queen's University Belfast, speak about innovation in oncology research, and the fascinating journey of how AICRI came about, its successes to date, and the various areas it is working in.

The conversation highlights several key themes in oncology research and innovation, including the impact of environmental factors on cancer, the importance of further commitment to cancer prevention, the need for interdisciplinary research, as well as an increased focus on cancer survivorship and quality of life, the significance of international collaborations, and the use of data in driving advancements in cancer research and patient care.

Prof Lawler and Prof Gallagher also share their personal journeys in oncology research and the motivation behind their work, emphasising the importance of collaboration, inclusivity, and patient-centred research.

Their joint interview highlights the need to break down silos and work together to address the challenges in cancer care.

Episode 06 Innovation in Healthcare podcast series

“…It's been a pleasure really to be in this area, such an exciting area and even in my short window of 15 or 20 years involved now, so many things have changed, so many things for the better in my opinion and there's a greater acceptance. So it was the challenge, the innovation, looking forward. It had everything you wanted [as a specialty] from my point of view.” - Prof Dominic A. Hegarty

In this episode we interview Prof Dominic A. Hegarty, Consultant in Pain Management and Neuromodulation at the Orthopaedic and Spine Centre, Mater Private Hospital, Cork.

Prof Hegarty has specialised in pain management for over two decades and is recognised as one of the country’s foremost interventional pain management doctors, who is constantly developing new techniques to deal with the most complex cases of pain.

He co-founded the Division of Pain Medicine in the Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine in Cork University Hospital and South infirmary and Victoria Hospital in Cork, before joining the Mater Private Hospital Cork where he was appointed as Clinical Director in 2023. Prof Hegarty is also the first formal Professor in Pain Medicine at University College Cork, the current President of the World Institute of Pain, and Clinical Director of Pain Relief Ireland.

In this podcast interview, Prof Hegarty discusses the key challenges in pain medicine, and how innovation and being open to new technologies is vital in achieving better outcomes for patients.

In particular, he discusses the evolution and success of neuromodulation and implantable devices for various pain conditions, the appropriate use of different classes of analgesics to manage pain, and the different approaches in the private and public sector.