The RCSI School of Postgraduate Studies today marks the 10 year anniversary of its establishment with a special one-day conference entitled ‘Celebrating Research - Past, Present and Future' which will celebrate the research carried out by graduates of the School over the past decade.

The event features some the School's most outstanding graduates, supervisors and current students who will speak on a range themes across four sessions including molecules, cells, tissues and populations with topics including drug design, diabetes and health and evidence.

The event culminates in an evening celebration which will include a Guest Lecture by Professor Koon Teo, Professor at the Departments of Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, McMaster University, Canada on the topic: ‘Asking important questions in clinical research'. An Alumnus of RCSI (Medicine, Class of 1978), Professor Teo is of the world's foremost researchers on cardiovascular disease and has been named by Thomson Reuters in 2014 and 2015 as one of the top 1% of researchers for most cited publications in clinical medicine.

Commenting on this milestone event, Professor Cathal Kelly, Chief Executive, RCSI said: “Over the past decade the postgraduate researchers that have come through the RCSI School of Postgraduate Studies programmes have made an outstanding contribution to research that will make a real difference to the patient experience, which will ultimately benefit both society and the economy. I am delighted to welcome back our Alumni who, along with our next generation of graduates, will continue to create new knowledge and innovations and inform new policies that will make a real difference to human health.”

The number of postgraduate research students enrolled at the RCSI School of Postgraduate Studies has almost doubled in the last decade, with an increase from 125 in 2005/2006 to 235 presently enrolled. Since 2006, the School has facilitated 520 graduates to achieve MSc, MCh, MD or PhD degrees.

The keynote speakers at today's event are Professor Celine Marmion, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, RCSI; Dr Caroline Bonner (RCSI PhD 2009), European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, Lille, France; Professor Niamh Nic Daeid, (RCSI PhD 1993), Professor of Forensic Science, Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK; and Professor Bernadette Hannigan (RCSI PhD 1984), Director of Research, Translation & Innovation in Public Health England, UK.