UCD Clinical Professor & Consultant Rheumatologist
A graduate of UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science, Professor McCarthy finished her general medical training in Ireland before completing a Fellowship in Rheumatology at the College of Wisconsin where she rose to the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine. Returning to Dublin in 1998, she was appointed as a consultant Rheumatologist at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and Associate Professor of Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Professor McCarthy is Head of the Department of Rheumatology at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital which provides a general medical service and cares for 6,000 rheumatology outpatients annually. The Rheumatology department comprising three consultant physicians, three clinical nurse specialists, a specialist clinical registrar and a senior house officer operates four specialist outpatient clinics per week, an emergency referral clinic, an early arthritis referral service and a joint injection clinic.
Professor McCarthy's research is focused on the biological effects of calcium-containing crystals in degenerative joint disease as well as in atherosclerosis and breast cancer. She has secured competitive research grant funding from US Arthritis Foundation, National Institutes of Health, American Federation for Aging Research, US Department of Defence and the Wellcome Trust as well as from Irish research funding agencies.
Winner of numerous research and teaching awards, Professor McCarthy has mentored 18 medicine and science graduates and has authored over 80 publications. She has established a strong international reputation and has spoken at numerous scientific meetings, most recently at the American College of Rheumatology 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting. Professor McCarthy is on the Board of Arthritis Ireland where she is a member of their Academic Development Committee and Medical Advisor to the Chief Executive.