33
WORLD GASTROENTEROLOGY NEWS JULY 2019
Editorial | Expert Point of View | WCOG 2019 | WDHD News | WGO & WGOF News | WGO Global Guidelines | Calendar of Events
Prof. Eamonn Quigley, WGO Past President,
awarded St. Patrick’s Day Medal
Ireland’s Minister for Communications,
Climate Action and Environment,
Richard Bruton, presented on
12 March 2019 Science Foundation
Ireland’s (SFI) prestigious St. Patrick’s
Day Science Medal to Prof. Eamonn
Quigley, Chief of Gastroenterology
and Hepatology, at Houston Methodist
Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical
College; and to Michael Mahoney,
CEO and Chairman of the Board of
Directors of Boston Scientific, for
their significant contributions to academia,
research and industry. Prof.
Quigley is a Past President of the
World Gastroenterology Organisation
from 2005-2009.
Now in its sixth year, the SFI St.
Patrick’s Day Science Medal also
recognizes Prof. Quigley and Mr. Mahoney’s
significant roles in supporting
and engaging with the research
ecosystem in Ireland. The medal
is awarded annually to US-based
scientists, engineers or technology
leaders with strong Irish connections.
This is the fourth consecutive year
that the medal will be awarded to two
recipients, with an eminent recipient
chosen by an independent selection
committee, from academia and
another from industry.
Congratulating the recipients at
a presentation event at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in
Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Minister
Bruton said: “I am very pleased to
present the SFI St. Patrick’s Day Science
Medal on behalf of the Government
of Ireland and Science Foundation
Ireland, to both Prof. Quigley and Mr
Mahoney. Both have demonstrated outstanding
leadership in their respective
fields and have made extremely positive
societal impacts in the United States and
Ireland. The recognition of US-based
scientists, engineers and technology
leaders with an Irish connection further
highlights the continued strength and
durability of US-Ireland relations that
exist across a broad range of sectors. The
SFI St. Patrick’s Day Science Medal is
an opportunity to celebrate the fantastic
research and collaboration that our two
countries are achieving together.”
Prof. Quigley, a native of West
Cork, Ireland, is a leading international
expert in the field of gastroenterology.
His career has spanned over
thirty years, working on both sides of
the Atlantic. A graduate of University
College Cork (UCC), and following
clinical training in Glasgow, he spent
two years as a Research Fellow at the
Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. In 1986,
he joined the University of Nebraska
Medical Center in Omaha, where he
was Chief of Gastroenterology and
Hepatology. Prof Quigley returned
to Cork in 1998, where he served as
Dean of the Medical School at UCC
for seven years and was a Principal
Investigator at the APC Microbiome
SFI Research Centre from its inception.
He took up his current post in
Houston, Texas in 2013 where he
holds the David M Underwood Chair
of Medicine in Digestive Disorders.
In addition to President of WGO,
over the course of his career, Prof.
Quigley has held influential positions
of leadership and influence including
with the American College of
Gastroenterology as President and
Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal
of Gastroenterology. His research
relationships with global companies
have directly benefited Irish research
through their partnership in the establishment
of the SFI Research Centre
APC Microbiome Ireland.
Upon receiving the award, Prof.
Quigley said: “I am greatly honored
to receive the SFI St. Patrick’s Day
Science Medal, which recognises my
work in gastroenterology. Working
between Ireland and the United States
has given me a valuable international
perspective that I have brought to my
research, clinical practice and teaching.
It is important that we recognise, and
continue to nurture, the innovative and
transformational research taking place
between both countries, benefiting our
collective societies. I hope this important
link between our scientific communities
continues to grow in the coming years.”
The SFI St. Patrick’s
Day Science Medal is an
opportunity to celebrate
the fantastic research
and collaboration that
our two countries are
Prof. Eamonn Quigley awarded St. Patrick’s achieving together.
Day Medal