RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences has announced the appointment of Professor Helena Kelly as Head of its School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences.

Professor Kelly succeeds Professor Tracy Robson, who was recently appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the university. She will lead the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences in its ambition to be recognised internationally as a leading centre for pharmacy education, research and innovation.  

A registered pharmacist, Professor Kelly undertook her PhD in the area of stimuli-responsive hydrogels and sustained drug delivery. She spent eight years in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry before returning to academia in 2008.  

In March 2022 she was appointed as Deputy Head (Programmes Innovation) in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences with responsibility for the implementation of two new programmes, an MSc in Technologies and Analytics in Precision Medicine and a BSc in Advanced Therapeutic Technologies.  

Professor Kelly’s research focuses on the use of delivery platforms in translational research applications. She has been a principal investigator and deputy co-ordinator in two EU consortia, whereby she led on the formulation of hydrogel delivery platforms for minimally invasive delivery clinical applications. She is the inventor of ChemoGel, a novel patented thermoresponsive hydrogel platform for intratumoral drug delivery, the development of which has been funded through the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund. In 2023, this technology was spun out into a company, OncoLize, of which Professor Kelly is a co-founder and which is seeking to translate this technology platform to the clinic. 

She has been closely involved in RCSI's growing collaboration with Soochow University in China and has been involved in Erasmus+ exchange programmes and Government of Ireland mobility programmes with Soochow University. 

Unique insight

Professor Cathal Kelly, Vice-Chancellor, RCSI congratulated Professor Kelly on her appointment as Head of School: “I am delighted to welcome Professor Kelly as Head of our School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences. Professor Kelly’s track record as a pharmacist, an educator, a scientist and an innovator gives her a unique insight into the opportunities and challenges faced by the school. I look forward to working with her as she leads her team in building on the school’s considerable achievements and further cementing its position as a leading global centre for excellence in education and research.”  

Accepting her role as Head of School, Professor Helena Kelly said: “My vision for the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences is for it to evolve into a larger, more successful and more international school while maintaining the outstanding student experience and high quality of programme delivery for which we are known. In a very competitive environment, I will lead the school in identifying and attracting new student cohorts and in recruiting and retaining the highest calibre of staff”.  

“I look forward working with my colleagues in the school to further enhance the impact of our research which spans across the translational spectrum from drug discovery and delivery, through to population health and healthcare education research, reflecting RCSI’s strategic goal of innovating for a healthier future, along with our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

World-class teaching and research

The RCSI School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences is focused on delivering world-class, patient-centred and fully integrated teaching and research. In recent years, the sSchool secured €11.3 million in educational funding, including a significant award (€7.8 million) from the Higher Education Authority under the Human Capital Initiative, Pillar 3. The school has also significantly grown student numbers on RCSI’s flagship MPharm programme (from a Year 1 intake of 66 students in 2019 to a Year 1 intake of 92 students in 2023; growing to 125 in September 2024). 

The school is highly research-active. Between 2018 and 2022, 73% of its papers were published in Q1 journals. Research income across the school has been supported by competitively won grants from many national and international competitive funding agencies, totalling €29.2 million in the period 2019-2023. The school has spun out three companies – Inthelia, ProBMet and Oncolize – with three more in the pipeline (StarMat, Renovate and Haemonexus), supported by a number of new Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation grants awarded to the school.