Programme leadership
The success of the programme depends on the strength of its team.
Prof. Deirdre Murray
Chair in Early Brain Injury & CP,
University College Cork
Prof Deirdre Murray is a Prof of Paediatrics and Consultant Paediatrician in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Cork University Hospital.
In October 2023 she took up the role of Chair of Early Brain Injury and Cerebral Palsy, University College Cork.
For decades Prof Murray’s research has focused on newborn brain injury and prediction of developmental outcome.
She is a founding member and a principal investigator of the INFANT (Irish Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research centre (www.infantcentre.ie).
Through large international studies she has been working to develop new ways to predict outcome following newborn brain injury using blood-based biomarkers and early neurological assessment.
In 2012 she was awarded a Health Research Board Clinician Scientist Award to study early blood-based biomarkers in hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE), the BiHiVE2 study.
In 2024 she was co-lead on a 10.6 million euro strategic programme award funded by Research Ireland, the CP Foundation and other philanthropic donations to improve prediction and early detection of Cerebral Palsy following perinatal brain injury.
Prof. Denise McDonald
Associate Professor of CP, Trinity College Dublin
Prof Denise McDonald is a Consultant in Community Child Health and works within the Child Development & Neurodisability Service at Children’s Health Ireland.
She is Associate Professor of Cerebral Palsy in Trinity College Dublin and heads a Cerebral Palsy Research Hub focused on musculoskeletal and orthopaedic care for children and adolescents.
Following the completion of higher specialist training in the UK, Professor McDonald completed doctoral research in Ireland and worked as a consultant in the neurodisability service in Great Ormond Street in London.
She has been a consultant in CHI at Tallaght since 2005.
Her interests lie in the management of children and young people with motor difficulties, neuromuscular disorders and severe neurological impairment with medical complexity.
Prof. Jennifer Ryan
Director of CP-Life Research Centre,
Prof Jennifer Ryan is an Associate Professor of Cerebral Palsy in the School of Physiotherapy and Director of Cerebral Palsy Lifespan Health and Well-being (CP-Life) Research Centre in RCSI Dublin.
Jennifer conducts research about cerebral palsy and disability more broadly under the following themes:
- Health services research
- Population health
- Physical activity and exercise
Jennifer is on the editorial board of MacKeith Press, publisher of Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, and is a Trustee of “Up – the Adult Cerebral Palsy Movement”