ASM – 2023

Dr. Cormac McGrath did his Ph.D. in Atomic and Molecular Physics at Queen’s University Belfast and continued with post-doctoral work there and then at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Switching tack in 2003, he re-trained in Medical Physics and is now a Consultant Clinical Scientist and the head of the Non-Ionising Radiation Group for the Northern Ireland Regional Medical Physics Service where he also leads the MRI team. He is a Magnetic Resonance Safety Expert for five NHS trusts in NI. He is a previous chair of the UK Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine Magnetic Resonance Special Interest Group, and is currently a very active corresponding member. He formed and chaired the IPEM working party that produced a freely available set of MRI Safety Notices (available in a number of languages), and is a member of the UK MRI site planning and MRSE accreditation working parties. He sits on the IPEM MR Safety Expert Accreditation Panel. He was a founding member of the American Board of MR Safety (ABMRS) and currently sits on the Board of Directors as an international member. His current interests are quantitative MRI, MR safety, MR quality assurance, MRI suite design, MRI and radiotherapy planning, 3D printing and Virtual Reality in medicine.

Dr Irene Hernandez Giron obtained her Ph.D. on “Model observers applied to low contrast detectability assessment in Computed Tomography” from the Universidad Rovira I Virgili Spain while also teaching and researching part-time alongside her studies. Prior to that, her M.Sc. focused on the doses imparted in Cardiac CT. After completion of her Ph.D. she worked at Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum (LUMC) in Leiden as a Medical Imaging postdoctoral researcher until recently where she recently joined University College Dublin (UCD) as an Ad Astra Fellow as a lecturer and assistant professor.

Irene’s current research interests investigate objective methods for image quality assessment and developing anthropomorphic models and phantoms as patient surrogates based on 3D printing. Her work also focuses on Artificial Intelligence (AI) perception of diagnostic images. Irene adopts a multidisciplinary approach to research, collaborating with professionals in different fields such as radiologists and clinicians, engineers, X-ray technicians, medical physicists and computer scientists to tackle complex problems in Radiology. This complements her other research interests in X-ray imaging devices with a special focus on Computed Tomography, mammography and cone beam CT.

Irene has also been involved in several international working groups related to standardization of quality control in medical imaging, dose optimization and artificial intelligence implications. She actively participates as teacher in training courses, programs and curriculum development for medical physicists (EFOMP, ICRP).

Colin Kelly received his formative education at Synge Street CBS before attending UCD to study experimental physics and mathematics. He completed a masters in physical sciences by research at DCU (where he claims to have been the late great Wil van der Putten’s first successful student!) and in recent years obtained masters in leadership and management in healthcare from the RCSI. Colin has over 30 years’ experience in clinical medical physics working at St Vincent’s Hospital, St Anne’s Hospital, The Royal London Trust and St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network. Colin is currently head of physics at SLRON St James’s Centre.  He is a council member of the IAPM and represents the association as a member of the ESTRO National Societies Committee. Colin’s development and research focus concentrates on Re-irradiation and Quality. He is a member of the ESTRO taskforce on Re-irradiation and is an EFOMP nominee on the MARLIN consortium currently fulfilling an EU contract on the on reporting and learning from patient-related incidents and near misses in radiotherapy, interventional cardiology, nuclear medicine and interventional and diagnostic radiology.