August 2017 Leading Physician to Deliver Sir Peter Freyer Memorial Lecture at NUI Galway

NUI Galway will host the 42nd Sir Peter Freyer Memorial Lecture and Surgical Symposium, the largest Surgical Conference in Ireland, from 1-2 September.

The annual event provides a platform for healthcare professionals to present their research and clinical work, and allows for the merging of both scientific and clinical information. It is named in memory of the Galway-born surgeon, Sir Peter Freyer, who performed the first successful surgical operation to remove an enlarged prostate in 1900. It comprises multiple research and education sessions across the various surgical subspecialties, two keynote addresses and discussion around the future of Irish Surgery.

Michael F. Collins, MD is Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Medical School & Senior Vice President for Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts will deliver the Memorial Lecture entitled ‘In Search of the Tossed Cap: Following Medicine’s Privilege’ on Friday, 1 September.  Dr Collins currently oversees the University of Massachusetts system-wide health and life sciences portfolio, charged with leading strategic initiatives to strengthen the university’s efforts in the area and to engage more fully with the Commonwealth’s dynamic health and life sciences sector. Dr Collins is actively engaged in service to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has amassed vast experience in governance of not for profit and educational entities. Currently, he serves on the boards of UMass Memorial Health Care, Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, The American University of Beirut, Commerce Bancshares Corp., Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, Greater Worcester Community Foundation and the Higher Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts. He is a Board Certified Physician in Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Professor Calvin Coffey is the Foundation Chair of Surgery in University of Limerick and University Hospitals Limerick Group. Professor Coffey will deliver the State of the Art Lecture entitled ‘Da Vinci and Colorectal Surgery’ on Saturday, 2 September.  Professor Coffey in 2016 pioneered robotic intestinal surgery in Ireland and led the team that set up the first multidisciplinary robotic program in Ireland. He is the chief author of the book Mesenteric Principles of Gastrointestinal Surgery: Basic and Applied Science. This book is the first reference test on the human mesentery, related diseases and surgical treatment strategies. He is editor in Chief of the journal, Mesentery and Peritoneum.

The Programme also features a Session on the Role of Research in Surgical Training discussing the optimisation of the potential and opportunities for all Surgeons and trainees to take part in research, acquiring necessary skills and methodology throughout their careers.

Professor of Surgery at NUI Galway, Michael Kerin, who is hosting the event along with his colleague Professor Oliver McAnena, said: “We are delighted to welcome Dr Collins and Professor Coffey to our University. Dr Collins is a sought-after motivational speaker, who draws from his decades-long experiences in academic medicine to frame the enduring role of physicians in a profession that continues to evolve from and be shaped by external forces.”  

Professor Coffey has published ground-breaking research which has identified an emerging area of science having reclassified a part of the digestive system as an organ. Professor Coffey’s research proposes that the mesentery, which connects the intestine and the abdomen, is an organ. For hundreds of years it had been seen as a fragmented structure made up separate parts. Their lectures are the focal points of a large programme containing some of the best surgical research from this country”.

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