Ms Olwen Foley and Professor Conor Egleston have been named as the winners of the 2014 Dean's Award.

The announcement was made at the annual Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Dinner, which took place on Friday, 17 October. Professor Conor Egleston, Associate Professor in Emergency Medicine, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, received the Academic Award while Olwen Foley, Coordinator, Teaching & Laboratory Services, in the Department of Molecular & Cellular Therapeutics (MCT), was the recipient of the Support Award.

The Dean's Award scheme was created as a way of acknowledging the diverse and essential contributions of all staff members at RCSI. Both winners were presented with a commemorative award and a cash prize of €1,000 by Professor Hannah McGee, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, RCSI.

Professor McGee said: “The principle behind this award scheme is to acknowledge the diverse and essential contributions of staff members who perform a vast array of critical duties that support the College's commitment to Growth and Excellence using the RCSI's core values of Respect, Collegiality, Scholarship and Innovation. The Dean's Award is the College's opportunity to honour these exceptional accomplishments. Both Conor and Olwen are remarkably able people, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to present them with these awards.”

The evening's events commenced with the Inaugural Lecture delivered by Professor Donal O'Shea, entitled, ‘Real-Time Near Infrared Fluorescence Imaging; research tools with the potential for clinical use'.