Dr Susan O’Reilly has been appointed as the new Director of the HSE National Cancer Control Programme.
She succeeds Professor Tom Keane whose contract with the National Cancer Control Programme ended earlier this year.
Dr O’Reilly is currently the Vice President of Cancer Care at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA), based in Vancouver, Canada. She was appointed to this role in 2005 and is responsible for strategy, financial planning and delivery of both medical and operational components of all clinical programmes for cancer patients in the five Cancer Agency centres.
She is the clinical Professor of Medical Oncology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and, for 13 years, until 2008, was Professor and Head of the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of British Columbia, Head of Medical Oncology at the BC Cancer Agency and Vancouver General Hospital and Provincial Systemic Programme Leader at the British Columbia Cancer Agency.
Dr O’Reilly grew up in South Wales and graduated with an honours degree (BSc) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wales, Swansea. She subsequently completed her medical education at Trinity College, Dublin (MB, BCh, BAO, BA (Hons). After post graduate training in Internal Medicine in both Trinity College and University College Dublin teaching hospitals, she moved to Vancouver to specialise in Medical Oncology.
Her clinical interests as a medical oncologist in Vancouver have been in care and research in lymphoma, breast cancer and gynaecological cancers. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and her current interests are in provision of timely, high quality cancer control services and innovative programs in complex health care systems.
Dr O’Reilly will take up her new appointment in early September 2010.
