Prof. Derek O’Keeffe, Consultant Physician (Endocrinology), UHG/
Professor of Medical Device Technology, NUI, Galway

This 1 hour webinar is chaired by RCSI Hospital Group Chief Operating Officer, Sheila McGuinness. Speaker Prof Derek O’Keeffe shares his insights about the increasing importance of data in medicine and the contribution digital health innovation can make to practice. He discusses how the current centralised, hospital-based structure and processes can be transformed by leveraging technology to create an effective digital practice model. The webinar include examples such as a first-in-the-world digital health innovation in the Aran Islands where diabetes medicine was delivered to a patient using a drone, a technological solution that monitors astronauts’ sleep quality in outer space as well as examples of how digital health innovations can facilitate diagnosis and treatment.

About the speaker
Prof Derek O’Keeffe holds dual first class honours degrees in Engineering (Gold Letter) and Medicine (Gold Medal). In addition he holds a Medical Doctorate and a Masters & PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Limerick and National University of Ireland Galway. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard, a Green Templeton Scholar at Oxford and is a graduate of the Endocrinology Clinical Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, USA. As well as multiple academic publications, he holds biomedical patents and several international research prizes. He has previously worked with NASA placing a sleep experiment onboard the International Space Station. In addition he has acted as Flight Surgeon for a NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operation (NEEMO) where they used digital health data to monitor crew health and make mission decisions. He recently completed the world’s first bi-directional care of a patient living in a remote community with drone technology. He currently works as a Consultant Physician (Endocrinologist) at University Hospital Galway (UHG) and is the Professor of Medical Device Technology at the National University of Ireland Galway.