RCSI is delighted to announce the election of Professor Gerald O’Sullivan, Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery at National University of Ireland Cork (NUIC) as its new President.

Professor O’ Sullivan was elected today following the College’s biennial Council elections and replaces outgoing President Professor Niall O’Higgins.

An NUIC graduate Professor O’Sullivan was appointed consultant surgeon at the Mercy University Hospital Cork in 1985 following surgical residencies in Ireland and the US. He has been a Fellow of the RCSI since 1980 and was elected member of Council in 1998. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) Glasgow.

A renowned surgeon and researcher the new RCSI President was appointed Chair of the Department of Surgery at NUIC in 1999 and is currently the Chairman of the Molecular Immunology Research Group and Director in Chief of the Cork Cancer Research Centre (CCRC). He is also involved in extensive collaborative studies with colleagues in NUIC, Yale University, University of California, Queens University Belfast, RCSI and RCS Glasgow.

A distinguished academic and clinician the Cork-born professor has authored and co-authored over 120 papers, particularly in the areas of the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. His current research interests include the biological behaviour of upper gastrointestinal cancers and the development of novel delivery systems and targets of anti-cancer therapies and the optimization of anti-cancer chemotherapeutics.

This year’s Council Election saw the inauguration of online voting, an innovation which allowed all RCSI Members and Fellows worldwide to submit their vote via the Internet. Two new Council members were also elected this year. These are Professor David Bouchier Hayes, former Professor of Surgery at the RCSI and Professor Michael Kerin, consultant general surgeon at University Hospital Galway and Professor of Surgery at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG).

Professor Frank Keane, consultant general surgeon at the Adelaide and Meath Hospital Dublin, incorporating the National Children’s Hospital (AMNCH) Tallaght is the new RCSI Vice-President.