UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
HONORARY CONFERRING
Tuesday, 3 December 2013 at 11 a.m.
TEXT OF THE INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS DELIVERED BY PROFESSOR CATHERINE GODSON, UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science, University College Dublin on 3 December 2013, on the occasion of the conferring of the Degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa on Barbara Murphy
President, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Barbara Murphy is Chair of the Department of Medicine at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai,NY, one of the top medical schools in the US. She is also Dean of Clinical Integration and Population- Based Health. Barbara has recently completed a term as President of the American Transplant Society. These are remarkable achievements for a young woman from Dublin.
Barbara is remarkable. She was educated at second level at Alexandra College where she was a head prefect in her final year and is remembered by her classmates for her razor sharp wit and Rapunzel-like hair.
She graduated from The Royal College of Surgeons in 1989 winning numerous prizes in medicine, surgery and psychiatry along the way. On completing her clinical training specialising in nephrology at Beaumont Hospital she was awarded a fellowship to Harvard Medical School. Her research in the renal division at Harvard focused on the field of transplant immunology. She made several important discoveries on the immunomodulatory role of MHC-derived peptides. These are discoveries which will be translated into patient benefit to ensure improved outcomes from organ transplants by limiting rejection.
In 2000 Barbara was recruited as Director of Transplant Nephrology to the Renal Division at Mt Sinai. She lead the division of nephrology there from 2004. In 2005 she was named the Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine. In November of last year she was appointed Chair and Dean at the Department of Medicine, the first woman dean of an academic medical center in NY.
Barbara’s research has continued in the area of transplant rejection She was co-investigator on the recent landmark study investigating outcomes in HIV positive patients that receive a solid organ transplant. She currently leads a major multicentre, multidisciplinary study investigating the genetic basis of disease in transplanted organs. Translating the outcomes of this work will have major impact not only in the context of organ transplant but also other kidney diseases.
Subsequent to her Presidency of the American Transplant Society Barbara Co-Chairs their Public Policy committee where she aims to impact patient care and access to healthcare. She seamlessly combines her numerous academic, clinical and research responsibilities and is a generous and supportive collaborator and mentor. Many of those who have trained with her have now secured tenured academic positions at leading medical centres further propagating her contributions.
Outside medicine Barbara’s interests are eclectic and include music: classical, opera and occasionally Eurovision. She is a motor racing fan, a legacy from her days moonlighting as course doctor at Mondello Park. Barbara has a keen interest in Irish and US politics.. She loves to entertain at her home and is a wonderful cook and charming hostess. She is A Domestic Goddess without the baggage associated with the more famous one! Barbara and her husband Peter Fogarty are proud parents of 3 and a half year old Gavin [who we may hear from before our ceremony is over].
Barbara’s dedication and achievements have been recognised with numerous honors including The Lester Hoenig Award, The American Transplant Society Young Investigator Award and The American Kidney Fund Nephrologist of the Year Award.
We welcome Barbara to her home town today together with her parents John and Ann Murphy and Gavin. UCD is delighted to honour Barbara Murphy’s exemplary leadership and contributions in translational medicine, education, advocacy and patient care.
Praehonorabilis Praeses, totaque Universitas,
Praesento vobis hanc meam filiam, quam scio tam moribus quam doctrina habilem et idoneum esse qui admittatur, honoris causa, ad gradum Doctoratus in Scientiae; idque tibi fide mea testor ac spondeo, totique Academiae.