Researcher profile

Claire Collins

I am a people focussed member of senior management who is expert at activating the talent that surrounds me. I am an effective communicator and strategic thinker with high emotional intelligence. Key attributes are commitment, sincerity, empathy, positivity, curiosity and motivation. Skills include, but are not limited to, project management, financial/budgetary control, conflict management and team-building. I have over 30 years experience conducting and teaching qualitative and quantitative research in the academic, statutory and private sectors and was the ICGP Director of Research from 2004 to 2022. In this role, I had responsibility for the promotion, development and implementation of research in general practice and represented the ICGP on various national and international committees. I held previous research posts in private research consultancy, the Rotunda Hospital, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), University College Dublin (UCD) and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). I have lectured in UCD, St Patrick's College Maynooth, RCSI and Dublin City University (DCU). My background is in medical sociology, statistics, public health and epidemiology. I was a member of the Executive Board of the European General Practice Research Network (EGPRN) for 6 years and Chair of its Research Strategy Committee. I have been a reviewer for BMC Family Practice, the Irish Medical Journal, BMJ Open and the Lancet and an associate editor for BMC Family Practice. I have participated as a member of the Research Ethics Committees of the Rotunda Hospital and the ICGP; and was the Chair of the ICGP Committee for six years and subsequently its vice-chair. I am a member of the Data Protection and Ethics Advisory Board of the unCoVer (Unravelling data for rapid evidence-based response to COVID-19’), a new project funded by the European Commission under the call “SC1-PHE-CORONAVIRUS-2020-2E”. Further evidence of my experience in this field is being a member for 4 years of the Health Research Consent Declaration Committee (HRCDC) in Ireland – the members of which are appointed by and report to the Minister for Health. I was also involved in the national working group considering the national reform of the research ethics committee framework across the Health Service Executive to ensure compliance with international standards. I am the current chair of the steering group for the Partnership for Health Equity (PHE). The PHE brings together researchers, educators, health planners and practitioners to contribute to making health equity a reality through research and education which will influence health care policy and practice. I am a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland (the first non-medic appointed as such).