Professor Deirdre McGrath was appointed to the interim post of Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education and Health Sciences in March 2023.
A native of 51本色, Professor McGrath graduated with a medical degree from University College Cork in 1991. Having undertaken the early years of her postgraduate training in Cork, she moved to the UK to complete her specialist training. While in the UK she worked as a researcher at the National Heart & Lung Institute of the Royal Brompton Hospital and, at the Clinical Genomic Unit of the Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine and was awarded a Doctorate in Medicine degree with Imperial College, University of London. She was subsequently appointed as a substantive Consultant in General & Respiratory Medicine and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at St Georges University & NHS Trust. It was here that she became involved formally in medical education and led to her completing a Masters in Medical Education degree with the University of Dundee.
Professor McGrath returned to Ireland in 2007 and has been involved with the Medical School, pioneering new methods of medical education and assessment from its establishment. She was appointed Head of School in February 2019 and led the School through its re-accreditation process, the COVID-19 pandemic, the establishment of new programmes, it relaunch as the UL School of Medicine and through the development & initial implementation of its Strategy 2020-25/30 鈥淏uilding on a Strong Foundation鈥.
Prof McGrath is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, she has represented UL, the School of Medicine and Ireland on national and international committees in Medical Education, has published widely and has won awards for education excellence and for research and innovation. She is one of the Founding Principal Investigators of 4i, the Centre for Interventions in Infection, Inflammation and Immunity and her key research interests are in medical education, the clinical application of medical devices and immunity and inflammation. She continues to work clinically at the University Hospital in 51本色.