The Institute of Medicine Summer Symposium

CPD Credits3

Essential updates on key issues 

1 July 2021 | 4pm - 6.30pm | Online event 

Join us for the Institute of Medicine's first Summer Symposium on Thursday 1 July 2021.

The Institute of Medicine Annual General Meeting takes place online from 2.00pm with the Summer Symposium commencing at 4.00pm. Information on the AGM including how to register and the agenda can be found at the Annual General Meeting tab at the top of this page.

At the Summer Symposium, you will learn about latest developments and innovations through special guest lectures, and hear from leading national and international experts who will give essential updates on a range of key issues in medicine today. Join in a special online event to welcome Dr Jeffrey Drazen as an Honorary Fellow of the College.

This special event will take place online and is approved for 3 CPD credits. The Symposium will be chaired by Prof Anthony O’Regan, Dean of the Institute of Medicine.

You will hear from: 

  • Dr Jeffrey Drazen, Editor, New England Journal of Medicine Group. Dr Drazen will receive Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and he will also deliver a presentation, 'The Play of Chance'.
  • Prof Geraldine McCarthy, Consultant Rheumatologist, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, will deliver a talk titled 'The arthropathy years: crystallising our thoughts for the future'. Professor McCarthy will receive the Bryan Alton Medal in recognition of her contribution to clinical and academic medicine. 
  • Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Emergencies Programme, WHO. Dr Ryan will take part in the John Stearne Lecture. In conversation with Prof Anthony O'Regan, Dean of the Institute of Medicine, Dr Ryan will talk about living with a pandemic, the lessons learned and future considerations such as readiness for pandemics, access to healthcare and the skill sets of physicians.

  • Dr Niamh Allen, Principal Investigator for the PRECISE Study, will deliver the Eliza Walker Dunbar Lecture. Dr Allen's lecture is titled 'Celebrating our differences'.

View the full programme for this event

Can't attend? Recordings will be available to watch online afterwards

There are limited places available for the live webinar. If you are unable to book a place, you will be able to watch videos of all of the talks on Panopto, our video sharing platform.

How to join this online event

First, you must book your place at the event on this web page. On the day, you must sign into our virtual learning environment RCPI Brightspace.

On the day of the event, the steps are:

  • Log in to www.rcpi.ie with your username and password (the same credentials used to book this event)
  • Click on the link for RCPI Brightspace
  • In your list of courses you will see The Institute of Medicine Summer Symposium 2021. Click on this.
  • Click on "Join the Live Webinar" - This will launch Zoom, the system we are using for live webinars.

Note, the webinar will only become available to watch at 2.00pm on the day, but we recommend logging in ten minutes ahead of time.

To join this webinar on Zoom you will need a computer (Windows or Apple) or mobile device with internet access and speakers.

If you're joining on a computer

If you're joining the webinar on a computer you can use the Zoom desktop website. You do not need to download the Zoom app - if you see a pop up message about the app, you can dismiss this. 

The Zoom website functions best on Google Chrome.

When you click on the link for "Join the Live Webinar" you will see a message asking you to open Zoom. Click on “Open Zoom”.

You will then be asked for your name and email address. Once you’ve entered these details, click on “Join Webinar”.

If you’re joining on a mobile device

If you're watching the webinar on a mobile device you will need to download the Zoom app. To save time on the day, we recommend downloading the app in advance:

Click here for the iOS Zoom app

Click here for the Android Zoom app 

When you open the Zoom app click on “Join a Meeting”. You will need to enter the meeting ID number. The ID number for this week's event will be sent to you via email beforehand. 

You can find additional help with joining Zoom webinars here

How to submit questions to the panel

Before the event

If you have any questions for our panel please email them to conferences@rcpi.ie and we will endeavour to have these answered as part of the event. Alternatively, you can submit questions via Twitter @RCPI_news.

During the event

We are now using Zoom to broadcast our live webinars. When you open Zoom to watch the live event you may be able to submit questions to the speakers during the event.

When available, to submit questions:

  • Open the Q&A window in Zoom while you are watching the live event
  • Type your question into the Q&A box and click Send
  • Check Send Anonymously if you do not want your name attached to your question in the Q&A.

It may not be possible to answer all questions we receive.

Dr Jeffrey Drazen, Editor, New England Journal of Medicine Group

Dr Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D.

Born and raised in Clayton, Missouri, Dr. Drazen majored in applied physics at Tufts University and graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1972. He currently holds the positions of senior physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Distinguished Parker B. Francis Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, professor of physiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and adjunct professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine. He is the recipient of honorary degrees from the University of Ferrara, the University of Athens, the University of Modena, and the University of Paris-Sud.

Dr. Drazen is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Interurban Clinical Club and the National Academy of Medicine. He serves on the National Academy of Medicine’s Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation.

An active researcher in the field of pulmonary medicine, Dr. Drazen defined the role of novel endogenous chemical agents in asthma, leading to four licensed pharmaceuticals for asthma, now used by tens of millions of people worldwide. He has published over 600 papers, editorials and review articles and has edited 12 books, including six editions of Goldman-Cecil Medicine and two of Asthma and COPD. 

 From 2000 to 2019, Dr. Drazen was editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. During his tenure, the Journal published major papers advancing the science of medicine, including the first descriptions of SARS, timely coverage of the Ebola and Zika virus epidemics, and advances in the treatment of cancer, heart disease and lung disease. It has been at the forefront of worldwide efforts to register all clinical trials and to share clinical trial data. The Journal now has over two million unique visitors every week and the highest impact factor of any medical journal publishing original research. He now serves as Editor of NEJM Group.

Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme

Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme

Dr Mike Ryan has been at the forefront of managing acute risks to global health for nearly 25 years. He served as Assistant Director-General for Emergency Preparedness and Response in WHO's Health Emergencies Programme from 2017 to 2019.

Dr Ryan first joined WHO in 1996, with the newly established unit to respond to emerging and epidemic disease threats. He has worked in conflict affected countries and led many responses to high impact epidemics. He is a founding member of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), which has aided the response to hundreds of disease outbreaks around the world. He served as Coordinator of Epidemic Response (2000-2003), Operational Coordinator of WHO’s response to the SARS outbreak (2003), and as WHO’s Director of Global Alert and Response (2005-2011),

He was a Senior Advisor on Polio Eradication for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative from 2013 to 2017, deploying to countries in the Middle East.

He completed medical training at the National University of Ireland, Galway, a Master’s in Public Health at University College Dublin, and specialist training in communicable disease control at the Health Protection Agency in London and the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training.

Geraldine McCarthy MD, FRCPI Consultant Rheumatologist Mater Misericordiae University Hospital Dublin and Full Clinical Professor of Medicine University College Dublin, Ireland

Prof Geraldine McCarthy MD, FRCPI Consultant Rheumatologist Mater Misericordiae University Hospital Dublin and Full Clinical Professor of Medicine University College Dublin, Ireland

Geraldine McCarthy graduated in Medicine from University College Dublin, National University of Ireland. She received her Fellowship in Rheumatology at the Medical College of Wisconsin where she developed her interest in calcium crystal deposition diseases. Her research has focused on the biological effects of calcium-containing crystals in degenerative joint disease as well as in atherosclerosis and breast cancer and has been funded by many sources including the National Institutes of Health, Arthritis Foundation, American Federation for Aging Research, US Department of Defence and the Wellcome Trust. She was promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1996 where she remained until her return to Dublin, Ireland. She was appointed Consultant in Rheumatology at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and Cappagh National Orthopedic Hospital Dublin in 1999 where she continues to run a busy clinical practice and a clinical research program.

Prof McCarthy teaches as part of the University College Dublin Faculty of Medicine where she was the first clinician to be appointed Full Clinical Professor of Medicine through the Clinical Pathways in 2009. She has current international collaborations in the UK, USA, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, particularly in relation to calcium crystal deposition diseases as well as gout. She continues her involvement in bench research related to the pathogenesis of basic calcium phosphate crystal–induced joint disease. She participates in and contributes to numerous international collaborations related to gout. Other research interests include platelet activation in inflammatory arthritis and its role in enhanced cardiovascular risk. She also participates in collaborative studies of the pathogenesis of giant cell arteritis and HIV-associated bone pathology. She is the author of over 140 publications, including original manuscripts, editorials, reviews and book chapters and has spoken at many national and international meetings. She has been winner of several research and teaching awards and has mentored many medicine and science graduates in clinical practice and in research. She is currently the President of the Irish Society of Rheumatology.

Dr Niamh Allen, Principal Investigator for the PRECISE Study

Dr Niamh Allen graduated from medicine in Trinity College Dublin in 2007 and has completed Higher Specialist Training in Infectious Diseases. She has also worked with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF/ Doctors Without Borders) in Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia, and with Medicins du Monde in Syria. She is currently the Principal Investigator for the PRECISE Study, a national seroprevalence study looking at SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Irish hospital healthcare workers.

The Institute of Medicine Annual General Meeting

Registration is now open for the inaugural Institute of Medicine AGM, which will take place on Thursday 1 July 2021 at 2.00 - 3:30pm.

You can view the AGM agenda here.

Registration prior to the event is required. To complete your registration, please follow the steps below:

  • Click here to register in advance for this meeting
  • Click on 'Join Zoom Meeting’ 
  • Register your details 
  • After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting and an option to save the event to your calendar. 

Please submit any questions to be asked at the AGM to iom@rcpi.ie.

The AGM will be followed by the IOM Summer Symposium at 4pm - separate registration is required for both events. Please use the link below to register your place at the Summer Symposium.

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