2014/15

Brian Shields

BSc MSc PhD

Brian Shields is the Co-Founder and CEO of Neurent Medical, and co-inventor of Rhinitis Neurolysis Therapy, the world’s first multi-point nerve disruption therapy for chronic rhinitis, a condition that affects millions of people worldwide. Brian developed the concept for the innovative treatment during his time as a fellow at the BioInnovate Ireland medical device innovation program (a Stanford BioDesign affiliate programme). Brian has robust technological and business expertise in software development, design and engineering, integration, change management and healthcare service design and delivery. He began his career as a researcher for the National University of Ireland in Galway, and then as a management consultant for Accenture and S3 Connected Health. He co-founded Neurent Medical in 2015. In 2019, he was named Enterprise Ireland Founder of the Year. Brian holds a Ph.D. in Applied Computing from the University of Galway and an MBA from University College Dublin.

Christopher Nelson

BS MS MBA

Christopher Nelson has over 12 years of experience in medical
device product development and project management with a
deep understanding of customer needs, mechanical design,
conceptual development, project leadership and design control
requirements. Christopher's product development experience
includes: hemodialysis, arthroscopy, spine implant/instruments
and ambulatory acute pain infusion pumps. In addition,
Christopher's medical device background is complemented by his education from the University of Florida; Bachelor of Science in
Mechanical Engineering, Master of Science in Systems Engineering and Masters in Business Administration. When he is not reading about the latest science breakthroughs, Christopher enjoys traveling and playing sports.

Dr. Cliona Murphy

MB BCh BAO DME MICGP

Cliona is a medical doctor who graduated with Honours from Medicine, University of Galway in 2006. She is a keen traveller and has also travelled extensively as a medic. Her electives and voluntary work have taken her, amongst other places, to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Zambia, and more recently to Panama to work with the Floating Doctors. Her interest in devices is inspired by this groundwork and her desire is to seek to improve global health through medical innovation. She has broad experience in hospital medicine including paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, accident and emergency, gastroenterology, respiratory medicine, oncology, radiation oncology, medicine for the elderly, psychiatry, general surgery and orthopaedics. Having completed the Cork Specialist Training Programme for General Practice in 2013, she is now a member of the Irish College of General Practitioners and holds a Diploma in Medicine for the Elderly from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. Cliona has an active interest in Forensic Medicine and has completed the taught module of the Post Graduate Diploma in Forensic Medicine at University College Dublin. She has presented her research at European and World Conferences. In her spare time she likes to waterski, surfs, enjoys yoga and likes to cook.

Colm McGarvey

BSc Pharm MPSI

Colm, following the 2015 BioInnovate program, cofounded Selio Medical with his teammate Garrett Ryan, a company which continues to develop a novel medical device to prevent pneumothorax during transthoracic needle biopsy. Utilising the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund mechanism to achieve substantial seed funding, the company has strived to accelerate its technology to market. As CEO, Colm has worked closely with Garrett (CTO) to leverage a number of incubating agencies including the prestigious National Science Foundation I-corps Accelerator Program in Georgia Tech, Atlanta and the industry leading Medtech Innovator Accelerator in San Francisco where they successfully achieved third place out of 600 entries. Selio Medical will spin out from Trinity College Dublin in late-2018 and are currently seeking a Series A investment of €2.5million to bring the technology to First in Human clinical trials in 2019.

Dr. Conor Farrell

MB BCh BAO DCH MICGP

Conor, upon completion of the BioInnovate fellowship returned to clinical medicine, becoming a General Practitioner in Kiltimagh, Co. Mayo. He also became a chapter co-founder of Health 2.0 Galway which promotes IT health innovations in medical practice. Conor continues to support innovation in the healthcare sector, as he is passionate about patient centric care.

Dr. Cyrus Doctor

BSc MBBS MRCS (Eng)

Cyrus, a true advocate of the BioInnovate process, continues to innovate utilising the BioDesign model. He is currently a contractor for Boston Scientific. However, he is also a Lead Project Manager in Trinity College Dublin, working on some exciting projects including a novel wound closure device, which obtained Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Funding to de-risk the project towards Series A investment.

Damien Long

BE MEngSc MBA

Damien was a member of the team who began immersion in Mayo Clinic, a global centre of healthcare excellence, which facilitated for the first time ever a BioInnovate team to go to its base in Rochester, Minnesota and uncover unmet clinical needs. Damien worked closely with the clinical staff there and discovered a need within the biopsy space.

From this experience, Damien is now CTO of EndoCore Ltd, a BioInnovate spinout which has solved the challenge of taking a core tissue biopsy through tortuous anatomy. EndoCore’s technology is initially targeting the endoscopic ultrasound market and has wider platform potential including applications in the lung and liver. EndoCore has developed its technology with grant assistance and equity investment from Enterprise Ireland and is currently seeking additional funding in order to obtain 510k approval in 2019.

David Townley

BEng MSc PDip IM PG Dip SS

David, having discovered an unmet clinical Otolaryngology need with teammate Brian Shields during the 2014/15 BioInnovate fellowship program, decided to progress towards an ambitious innovative solution. Following the program, he and Brian cofounded Neurent Medical, a company developing a novel office-based treatment for Rhinitis, a condition affecting millions of people globally. As CTO, David continued to derisk the project during a 2-year period, utilising the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund and the duo recently closed a Series A round of investment of €9.3 million to progress the project towards CE and FDA approval and commercialisation.

Fergal Horgan

BSc DIS PhD

Following his time in BioInnovate, Fergal became Principal Research & Development Engineer in Boston Scientific in the Structural Heart R&D; Group, analysing Next Generation Aortic Valves. He is also manager for a large scale research project, based in CURAM (an innovation centre based in University of Galway), where he and his team continue to create non-surgical approaches for Mitral Valves. Fergal encompasses the industry collaborations which have been developed by BioInnovate over the last decade.

Garrett Ryan

BEng PhD

Since completing BioInnovate in 2015, Garrett teamed up with Bioinnovate fellow Colm McGarvey to cofound Selio Medical, a company dedicated to developing a novel medical device to prevent pneumothorax during transthoracic needle biopsy. Following seed funding from Enterprise Ireland, in 2017 Selio Medical was subsequently accepted to the prestigious National Science Foundation I-corps Accelerator Program in Georgia Tech, Atlanta. The company was also selected to take part in the industry leading Medtech Innovator Accelerator in 2017 in San Francisco where they placed third out of 600 entries. Garrett (CTO) and Colm (CEO) wish to 'spin-out' Selio Medical from Trinity College Dublin in late-2018 and are currently seeking a Series A investment of €2.5million to bring the technology to First in Human clinical trials in 2019.

Jimmy Eaton-Evans

BEng PhD

Jimmy, one of the members of the inaugural Mayo Clinic BioInnovate Team, discovered numerous unmet clinical needs with his teammates when immersed in the hospital system over in Rochester, Minnesota. Following the conclusion of the 10-month program, he has become Project Manager and Mechanical Design Lead at Endowave, a company developing a new, and highly innovative microwave ablation system for gastroenterology and oncology indications. The company is currently seeking Series A investment, after utilising seed funding from the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund. Jimmy is an active member of the BioInnovate alumni community and continues to work closely with his peers to help de-risk and innovate within their respective projects.

Jonathan Bouchier Hayes

BSc MBA

Jonathon is working on a number of exciting high potential innovation projects and continues to use his commercial acumen to create potentially lucrative businesses within the Medtech sector.

Maura Kinahan

BSc BSc Pharm PhD MPSI

Maura was an integral member of the Mayo Clinic BioInnovate team, the first of its kind since the program’s inception. Following the fellowship, Maura decided to follow her passion, entering in to the field of renewable energy. She currently works for ART Generation, an independent windfarm development company where she is Director and Company Secretary. Maura continues to transfer the expertise she gained from BioInnovate to innovate in this exciting area.

Michelle (Qi) Zhan

BS

Since Bioinnovate, Michelle is now a Principal Scientist with Chrono Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company based in Hayward, California which focuses on improving clinical outcomes for patients battling addictions and living with neurological disorders.

Dr. Peter Dawson

MB BS BE PGDip MIEI MRCS

Upon completion of the 2014/15 BioInnovate fellowship, Peter opted to return to clinical medicine. He is currently successfully navigating a Specialist Registrar Scheme in Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery. Peter continues to analyse the clinical environment in search of unmet needs.