Programme Mentors

Prof Chris Collins is a Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal and Bariatric Surgeon at University Hospital Galway and a Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Galway. His career brings together engineering, surgical science and clinical leadership, with a focus on developing practical solutions for complex problems in surgery.

Chris originally qualified in engineering before entering medicine, providing a strong technical foundation and a systems-based understanding of device design, workflow optimisation and safety analysis. He went on to complete a PhD in Surgery, where he furthered the development of electrochemotherapy which led to a European-wide clinical trial culminating in multiple publications and a medical device patent.

Over his career he has continued his interest in clinical research and medical-device development, contributing to need identification, concept generation and prototype evaluation across several innovation projects, and he is an inventor on patented technologies. His clinical practice centres on oesophageal and gastric cancer, metabolic surgery and advanced minimally invasive techniques.

Chris has completed leadership training through Harvard Medical School and is active in undergraduate, postgraduate and fellowship-level surgical education while completing a medical teaching qualification. His interests include improving surgical workflow, enhancing decision-making environments and developing engineering-informed approaches to complex surgical challenges.

Linked in profile www.linkedin.com/in/chris-collins-9953962