Our people

Executive

Eunan FrielEunan Friel

Managing Director, Healthcare Management

Eunan Friel was appointed Managing Director of Healthcare Management in August 2016. Health Management brings together the Institute of Leadership with a Healthcare Outcomes Research Centre and Quality & Process Improvement Centre (QPIC). These three units combine to enhance RCSI’s role in supporting health service delivery across the dimensions of education, research and service.

Previously, Eunan was Managing Director of Surgical Affairs at RCSI, a role he held since October 2010.  Prior to joining RCSI, Eunan was Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson Medical, one of the largest suppliers of medical devices to the Irish market.  He has also held positions at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Company in the US and in Ireland.

Eunan holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Galway and a Masters in Business Studies from University College Dublin.

Prof. Ciarán O’Boyle

Director and Head of School

Prof. Ciarán O’Boyle is the Founding Director of the RCSI Institute of Leadership, Head of School and a Professor of Psychology at RCSI. He has over 35 years’ experience as an educator, researcher and trainer. Ciarán established the first Department of Psychology in an Irish medical school in 1987 and led the team that established the RCSI Institute of Leadership in 2005.

Ciarán has been a Visiting Professor at Trinity College Dublin, a Vice Dean of the RCSI Faculty of Medicine and a member of the RCSI Senior Management Team. He is the National Educator for the RCSI Advanced Trauma and Life Support (ATLS) Programme and has served as a Ministerial appointee on the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland.

Before joining RCSI, he was a senior research psychologist at the UCD Department of Psychiatry and the Irish Foundation for Human Development at St James's Hospital in Dublin. He holds a BSc and PhD from UCD, a Diploma in Theology from the Milltown Institute of Theology & Philosophy and a Postgraduate Diploma in Organisational Leadership from the University of Oxford. He has also participated in Harvard’s Leadership Programme for Senior Educators.

Sara McDonnell

Head of Operations

Sara McDonnell was appointed Head of Operations at the RCSI Institute of Leadership in August 2017.

Sara is responsible for the implementation of the Institute’s strategic plan across three locations in Ireland, Dubai and Bahrain.

Sara has over 20 years experience in education management. Prior to joining RCSI Institute of Leadership, she held the positions of Executive Vice President and Director of Operations at Hibernia College. As co-founder, Sara was instrumental in taking the college from SME to Ireland’s first and only, accredited online, third-level institution.

A science graduate of Trinity College Dublin, with graduate qualifications in marketing and training and development, Sara joined Boston College in the US post-qualification. There she had responsibility for the development and delivery of US government-funded executive programmes to senior business leaders and politicians in support of economic growth and peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland.

Academic staff

  • Research Co-Ordinator and Senior Lecturer: Dr Elaine Byrne
  • Senior Executive Development Specialist: Dr Mary Collins
  • Programme Director: Dr Pauline Connolly
  • Co-Director Year 2 MSc Programmes (Ireland) and Lecturer: Cathy Doyle
  • Senior Research Fellow: Dr Padraic Dunne
  • Programme Director: Tina Joyce
  • Programme Director: Theresa Keane
  • Programme Director: Dr Claudine Kearney
  • Programme Director: Dr Siobhan McCarthy
  • Director of Professional Development & Corporate Training: Dermot O'Flynn
  • Executive Development Specialist: Caroline O’Regan
  • Programme Director: Dr Michael Shannon

Operations team

  • Head of Operations: Sara McDonnell
  • Director of Operations, Dubai: Hasan Altug
  • Operations Manager: Siún Aherne
  • Quality Assurance and Regulatory Manager: Suzanne Macleod
  • Student Enrolment Advisor: Miriam Holden
  • Faculty Administrator: Winona D’Souza
  • Operational Assistant: Naomi Will
  • Enrolment Supervisor Bahrain: Fatema Bader
  • Programme Coordinator: Elaine Hurley
  • Programme Coordinator: Myriam O'Farrell
  • Programme Coordinator: Elaine Carton

Process Improvement

  • Executive Director, RCSI Quality & Process Improvement Centre (QPIC): Kieran Tangney
  • Senior Process Improvement Advisors: Grace Reidy
  • Senior Process Improvement Advisors: Charlie Dineen