Research Team

Prof. J. William (“Bill”) McEvoy is the Medical and Research Director of NIPC. He is also Professor of Preventive Cardiology at the University of Galway campus, and a Consultant Cardiologist at the University of Galway. Prof. McEvoy graduated in 2004 with first class honors from UCC School of Medicine, Cork, Ireland. He undertook senior house officer and cardiology registrar training at the Mater University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. In 2008, he joined the Osler Medical House staff at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. After internal medicine residency, he completed cardiology fellowship at Hopkins including advanced training in cardiac prevention, cardiac imaging, and cardiovascular epidemiology.

Prior to returning to Ireland in 2018, Prof. McEvoy was an Assistant Professor on the cardiology faculty at Johns Hopkins for 3 years, with clinical roles in the cardiac intensive care unit and in the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. He maintains an adjunct appointment at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Prof. McEvoy’s research focuses on testing novel biomarkers of risk and comparative effectiveness research; with an emphasis on hypertension and atherosclerosis. His research has resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications, grants and awards. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of physicians of Ireland and has a clinical interest in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, in both critical care and outpatient settings.

Professor Wood is a cardiologist committed to prevention of cardiovascular disease and holds joint emeritus academic appointments at Imperial College and the University of Galway.

He has contributed to international policy and guidelines on cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention through the World Health Organisation, World Heart Federation and the European Society of Cardiology. He was a founder and President of the European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, a Board member of the European Society of Cardiology and most recently President of the World Heart Federation (2017-18).

He is the principal investigator for the ASPIRE and EUROASPIRE studies across 27 European countries, evaluating standards of preventive cardiology practice in hospital and primary care. He led the EUROACTION and EUROACTION+ trials in preventive cardiology evaluating nurse-led models of preventive care in hospital and general practice across 8 European countries, and the principals of EUROACTION were incorporated in the Imperial College NHS Cardiovascular Health programme for the NHS. He was Course Director for the Imperial College Masters degree programme in Preventive Cardiology (2008-18) providing education and training for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals.

He is now working for the National Institute of Prevention and Cardiovascular Health at the University of Galway to support the development of research in all aspects of cardiovascular prevention and health, to help expand the MSc course in Preventive Cardiology at the University of Galway into a portfolio of MSc courses in cardiovascular health and disease prevention, and to contribute to innovative service development in secondary and primary prevention of CVD.

He is Senior Editor of the European Society of Cardiology Textbook of Preventive Cardiology and also founded the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (now European Journal of Preventive Cardiology) and served as the first Joint Editor in Chief.

He is married to Dr Catriona Jennings, a cardiovascular specialist nurse, and they have four adult children. He enjoys cooking for family and friends and also sailing, having recently circumnavigated the UK in a Frances 26 sailing boat.

Gerard Flaherty graduated from the University of Galway in 2000 with a first class honours degree and gold medals in all 8 final year subjects. He gained Membership of the RCPI in 2002 and Fellowship in 2011. He has completed 9 Diplomas and 3 Masters degrees, including a Masters in Medical Education (Dundee) and Masters in International and Travel Health (Sheffield). He obtained his intercalated BSc and doctoral degree from the University of Galway and is being assessed for a second doctorate.

As Director of the Undergraduate Medical Programme at the University of Galway he is responsible for design, delivery and assessment of the medical curriculum, as well as recruitment of international students. He received a President’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 2008 and was awarded Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Educators in 2010. He has over 200 publications and research presentations to date, including a textbook, 6 textbook chapters and 15 papers in the field of preventive cardiology. He has served on the AMEE Executive Committee since 2017. He is Founder and Programme Director for the Masters in Preventive Cardiology programme at the University of Galway. He is a Fellow, examiner, and former education convenor for the Faculty of Travel Medicine at RCPS Glasgow and is Past President of the Travel Medicine Society of Ireland. He served on the Executive Board of the International Society of Travel Medicine, 2014-2019, and was awarded Fellowship in 2017. He is currently Section Editor (non-communicable diseases) for Journal of Travel Medicine and a member of the editorial board of Medical Teacher. He is Adjunct Professor in Travel Medicine and International Health at the International Medical University in Malaysia.

Dr Jenni Jones is the Director of Training and Education for the NIPC. She is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Galway where she directs a portfolio of postgraduate programmes in the specialty of “Preventive Medicine and Cardiovascular Health”. She is also a Reader in Physiotherapy at Brunel University, London. She has more than 20 years clinical experience in cardiovascular disease prevention and rehabilitation and continues to maintain a clinical caseload in conjunction with teaching and research.  She also holds an honorary post at Imperial College London where she previously worked developing and delivering a range of postgraduate programmes in cardiovascular disease prevention. She has served as President to both the British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR) and the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Cardiac Rehabilitation (ACPICR) and is now one of the Emerging Leaders of the World Heart Federation (2017 cohort) and current Chair of the Congress Programme Committee for the European Society of Cardiology Association of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions (ACNAP). Her research interests include non-communicable disease prevention and control with a special interest in cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation, lifestyle medicine, health-behaviour change and health promotion approaches to cardiovascular health and diabetes prevention.

Irene Gibson is a nursing graduate from the University of Limerick. Irene is a strong advocate for the nurse’s role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention and much of her career to date has focused on the design, development and evaluation of innovative community based models of CVD prevention. Irene has previously worked as Director of Programmes at Croí the West of Ireland Cardiac & Stroke Foundation, where she provided strategic and operational oversight for a diverse portfolio of CVD health initiatives ranging from public awareness campaigns to prevention, rehabilitation and patient support programmes. Examples include the award winning Croí MyAction programme, CLANN an obesity management programme and Croí MySláinte a virtual CVD prevention and Rehabilitation programme. In 2020 she led the accreditation process resulting in the Croí Heart & Stroke Centre becoming the first centre in Ireland to receive European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) Accreditation. 

Irene has presented at many health care professional conferences both nationally and internationally, she was a contributor to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Handbook of Preventive Cardiology and has published research in the areas of hypertension, obesity and CVD prevention. Irene holds an MA in Health Promotion, Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Education and is an Adjunct Lecturer at the College of Medicine, University of Galway. She is the past Programme Leader for the MSc in Preventive Cardiology at the University of Galway and is Director of Programmes and Innovation at the National Institute for Prevention and Cardiovascular Health (NIPC). She is the chairperson of the ESC Association of Cardiovascular Nurses and Allied Health Care Professionals (ACNAP) Advocacy Committee, whilst also being a member of the both the ESC Advocacy Committee and the EAPC Primary Care and Risk Factor Management nucleus. Irene is currently a HRB SPHeRE PhD scholar on the Collaborative Doctoral Programme in Chronic Disease Prevention at NUI Galway. Over the next four years she aims to conduct patient-focused research in the area of e-health CVD prevention programmes.

Catriona Jennings is currently at the National Institute for Prevention and Cardiovascular Health at the University of Galway where she is the Director of Nursing and Interdisciplinary Relations. She is currently coordinating the INTERASPIRE international surveys of Preventive Care in Malaysia, Argentina, Indonesia and Colombia. Prior to this she served as the European Research Nurse coordinator in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the International Centre for Circulatory Health, Imperial College London between 2002 and May 2019. She has coordinated both randomised controlled trials (RCT) and surveys. The EUROACTION cluster RCT was conducted in eight countries and 24 centres in Europe between 2002 and 2006. Catriona led the multidisciplinary London team who were responsible for training project staff and developing the health professional and educational materials. She coordinated the third, fourth and fifth EUROASPIRE surveys in over 20 countries in Europe, and the British Cardiovascular Society UK based surveys of preventive management in coronary patients and high-risk individuals called Aspire-2-Prevent and Aspire-3-Prevent. At the end of 2011 she completed coordination of a second EUROACTION study called EUROACTION plus intensive smoking cessation with varenicline which was implemented in 4 countries including the UK. She read French for her first degree and subsequently trained as a nurse at Charing Cross Hospital in London. She then specialised in cardiac nursing and finally cardiac rehabilitation, leading a programme at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. Catriona was a Senior Teaching Fellow at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London where she had a leadership role in Masters Programmes in Cardiovascular and Respiratory Healthcare and in Preventive Cardiology between 2012 and 2019. She has completed a PhD on concordance for cardiovascular risk factors and concordance for change in families. Catriona has taken leadership roles in professional societies serving as President of the British Association for Nursing in Cardiovascular Care which is an affiliated group of the British Cardiovascular Society and Chair of the European Society of Cardiology Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions. Catriona is the Past Chair of ACNAP and Editor in Chief of the ESC Textbook of Nursing

Professor Kornelia Kotseva, MD, PhD, FESC holds an honorary academic appointment at the National Institute for Prevention and Cardiovascular Health,
University of Galway, and a position as a Consultant Cardiologist at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK. Prior to this she had academic appointments for more than 20 years at the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, as well as at the Medical Universities in Sofia and Varna, Bulgaria and as Visiting Professor at the Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Belgium.
She has been Chair of the Steering Committee of the ESC EUROASPIRE IV and V surveys, aiming to describe the risk factor management in patients with coronary disease and in people at high cardiovascular risk in Europe. Furthermore, she was a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator of several other European and UK studies: EUROASPIRE III and EUROASPIRE III Health Economics, ASPIRE-2-PREVENT, ASPIRE-3-PREVENT surveys, EUROACTION and EUROACTION PLUS randomised controlled trials, the productivity losses and indirect costs after cardiovascular events in Europe study, the Heart QoL project and other studies. She was an expert panel member of the World Heart Federation Roadmap programme of the prevention of cardiovascular disease among people with diabetes, the Euro Heart Index and the EU funded EConDA project on cost-effectiveness for chronic diseases. She is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the World Heart Federation/ European Society of Cardiology INTERASPIRE survey in five WHO regions
Professor Kotseva has won numerous prestigious awards and has authored more than 250 publications in peer reviewed journals, two textbooks and chapters for a further eight textbooks. She is serving as Editorial Board member of the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology and American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs.
She led the module on Cardiovascular Risk Estimation and was involved in the development of the Master’s programme on Cardiovascular Health and Disease Prevention, Imperial College London.
Her main research and clinical interest is primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Agnieszka received a Master’s degree in Business Administration and an MSc in Management and Professional Communication at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. She coordinated the logistics of research for the EUROASPIRE UK studies in preventive cardiology at Imperial College London.

Currently she is managing INTERASPIRE studies in preventive cardiology across five WHO regions under auspices of National Institute for Prevention and Cardiovascular Health, Ireland and the University of Galway. She is also a Honorary Clinical Fellow at the School of Medicine, University of Galway.

Agnieszka is a member of  the Royal Voluntary Service supporting NHS England during the Covid-19 pandemic. She was the President of Poland Street Association – a voluntary sector organisation, based in London,  promoting Polish culture and historical heritage, intercultural integration and volunteering opportunities. Currently she is an active member of this organisation. Agnieszka was also a member of the Polish Community Consulting Board for the Embassy of the Polish Republic in London. She has co – organised a number of events with the Central Synagogue of London as a part of aims for the intercultural dialogue. She also worked closely with the Greater London Authority on community engagement matters.

Agnieszka sings as soprano for Schola Cantoru – a four part harmony choir at the Polish Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady Mother of the Church in London, UK and as guest soprano for Lutnia Choir in Wiecbork, Poland.

Andrea received a Master’s degree in Research Sociology at Faculty of Humanities and Social Science in University of Zagreb, Croatia. Currently she is working as a Research project administrative assistant at NIPC.

Andrea was a member and Vice president of Student Sociology Association, and she has co – organised several events at University of Zagreb as a part of educational progress. She was also a volunteer at Forum for Freedom in Education, participating in numerous educational projects.