Researcher of the Year 2024 (IRC legacy) Awards

Conway Fellow, Professor William Gallagher, from UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science has been recognised in the Researcher of the Year (IRC legacy) Awards announced by Research Ireland.

Prof. Gallagher's primary research interests are in the areas of cancer biology and molecular therapeutics. He is co-lead of an emerging virtual institute, the All-Island Cancer Research Institute that aims to bring together cancer researchers across the island of Ireland within an overarching research programme. Prof. Gallager was Deputy Director of Precision Oncology Ireland (2019-2024), a nationwide strategic research partnership funded by Science Foundation Ireland focused on developing better treatment strategies and diagnostics for cancer patients. He led the first Irish Cancer Society Collaborative Cancer Research Centre, BREAST-PREDICT (2013-2018).

Pictured (L-R): Professors Wlliam Gallagher, Stefan Muller & Alistair Nichol 

The awards celebrated the very best of IRC-funded researchers deemed to have made highly significant and valuable contributions to knowledge, society, culture and innovation, selected by an independent expert panel chaired by Professor Emeritus Áine Hyland.

In August 2024, the Irish Research Council (IRC) amalgamated with Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) to become Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland, the new national funding agency for research and innovation in Ireland.

UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, Professor Kate Robson Brown said:
"We are immensely proud of the excellence, dedication and talent exhibited every year by UCD's research community, both our academics at every career stage and our highly skilled and committed research support staff. I'd like to offer my sincere congratulations to all who were recognised in the 2024 Researcher of the Year (IRC Legacy) Awards, especially Savannah Devine, on being awarded the Jane Grimson Medal of Excellence as the highest ranked STEM candidate in the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship scheme, and all of the Research Allies who support the university’s research and contribute hugely to its success. Congratulations also to our highly commended academics, Alistair Nichol, Stefan Muller and William Gallagher, all of whose work is thoroughly deserving of the highest recognition." 

The Impact Award recipient is Dr Jakub Gajewski, Research Programme Director, Institute of Global Surgery in RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. Professor William Gallagher and Esther Murphy, Research Fellow and  DigiAcademy Founder in TCD, were highly commended.

Christine Casey, Professor of Architectural History at Trinity College Dublin, was named 2024 Researcher of the Year. Alistair Nichol, Professor of Critical Care Medicine at UCD, and Seamus Martin, Smurfit Professor of Molecular Genetics in TCD, were highly commended.

Dr Aaron Lim, Lecturer in Marine Geosciences from University College Cork, was named 2024 Early Career Researcher of the Year. Dr Stefan Müller, Associate Professor at UCD School of Politics and International Relations, and Dr Mary Canavan, Assistant Professor in Immunology in TCD, were highly commended.

The top-ranked researchers from the prestigious early career programme, Government of Ireland scheme, were also recognised. The programme is one of the largest funding schemes supporting early career researchers in Ireland and the awarded medals recognise excellence in the 2024 Government of Ireland postgraduate and postdoctoral funding calls in the arts, humanities and social sciences (AHSS), and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Read more about the awards at https://www.researchireland.ie/news/2024-irc-legacy-awards/