Health Protection Conference 2025

Conference details and registration:

Registration now open! We are delighted to announce that registration is now open for the All-Island health protection and health inequalities conference 2025 focusing on the theme of: ‘A problem shared…’ taking place on: Thursday 7 October, 2025, in Titanic Belfast Conference Centre. 

The conference will be attended by delegates from all over the island of Ireland who work in public health. The focus of the conference is ‘a problem shared…’ and reflects how we face common threats and challenges in health protection on both sides of the Irish border; how such challenges are not equally distributed across our populations with some communities, settings or geographies being disproportionately affected by disease and/or lack of access or uptake of services (including vaccination, therapeutic and diagnostic services). 

The first ever all-island health protection and health inequalities conference is an excellent opportunity to connect with colleagues as we discuss the challenges in health protection on both sides of the Irish border to enhance our health security.

• Date: Tuesday 7 October 2025
• Time: The reception desk for the event at the Titanic Centre opens at 09:00 hrs for delegates to sign in
• Location: Titanic Belfast Conference Centre, 1 Olympic Way, Queen’s Road, Titanic Quarter, Belfast BT3 9EP Google maps directions
  • Registration: 5th floor foyer
  • The conference: 5th floor, Titanic Suite
  • Poster display from the Scientific Programme: 5th floor, Britannic Suite
  • Coffee/tea breaks, lunch: 5th floor, Olympic Suite
• Format: This in-person conference will feature keynote speakers, engaging panel discussions and a scientific programme. 
   

How to register: 

To register for your place at the first all-island health protection and health equity conference please go to the Eventbrite page at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-problem-shared-health-protection-and-health-inequalitiesconference-tickets-1414638825809?aff=oddtdtcreator  

Please feel free to share this registration link with professional colleagues who may be interested in attending. 

Do register early as there are a limited number of spaces available for this in-person event. We look forward to welcoming you to the first all-island health protection and health inequalities conference. 

Key contacts:

• If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the events team - HealthProtectionConference@hscni.net
• Abstract queries - healthprotectionconference@hpsc.ie 

Click here to download All-Island health protection and health inequalities conference agenda with guest speaker bios

...or scroll down for conference agenda and guest speaker biographies:

Guest speaker biographies

Prof. Sir Michael McBride	Prof Sir Michael McBride was appointed to the post of Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health, in September 2006. Prior to joining the department, he had been Medical Director at the Royal Group of Hospitals from August 2002. Prof Sir Michael McBride graduated with Distinction from Queen’s University Belfast in 1986 and completed his undergraduate and postgraduate training in Northern Ireland.  In 1991 he attained a Research Fellowship at St Mary’s Medical School and Imperial College London, where he carried out research into new drug treatments for HIV. Prof Sir Michael McBride has been a Consultant in the Health Service since 1994 when he was appointed Consultant Physician in HIV medicine at the Royal Group of Hospitals and has more than 10 years health service management experience. He has a longstanding interest in continuing medical education and was Postgraduate Clinical Tutor in the Royal Group of Hospitals between 1996 and 2000 and Director of Education in the Royal Hospitals from 2000. As Medical Director at the Royal Hospitals, he contributed to strategic change at trust, regional and national level.  As the Trust lead for clinical and social care governance, he had responsibilities for all aspects of clinical quality and patient safety. Prof Sir Michael McBride took up the post of Chief Medical Officer during a time of significant change for Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland with responsibilities for Policy and Strategy in relation to Public Health, Quality and Safety and Research and Development.  He also provides strategic advice to Minister and other Government departments on health-related matters.  He has been closely involved in the development of the new Health and Social Care structures, post Review of Public Administration, including the establishment of the Public Health Agency.  Prof Sir Michael McBride currently leads in the work to transform health and social services in Northern Ireland in line with Health and Wellbeing 2026 – Delivering Together. At the request of the Health Minister Prof Sir Michael McBride took up the post of Chief Executive of Belfast Health and Social Care Trust from December 2014 to February 2017.  He combined this role with Chief Medical Officer.  As Chief Executive Prof Sir Michael McBride was head of an integrated health and social care Trust which provided hospital-based and social care services to the population of Belfast, as well as most of Northern Ireland’s regional specialist services.  He had responsibility for key Ministerial priorities, corporate responsibility for the Trust’s 20,000 employees, and overseen the Trust’s annual budget of almost £1.3bn. Prof Sir Michael McBride was knighted in Her Majesty's 2021 Birthday Honours for services to public health in Northern Ireland.  He was awarded a Professorship in Public Health Practice from Queens University Belfast in 2021 for services to Public Health.
Dr. Joanne McClean	Dr Joanne McClean took up post as Director of Public Health on 1 September 2022. Joanne graduated from Queen’s University in Medicine with Honours in 1999. After graduation Joanne worked in junior doctor hospital training posts before completing specialist training in public health medicine. Joanne has a Masters in Population Health and is a member of the Faculty of Public Health and of the Royal College of Physicians. Joanne was appointed as a Consultant in Public Health in the Public Health Agency in January 2012. In her consultant post Joanne had a particular interest in health service public health and in child health. Between June 2021 and August 2022 Joanne was seconded to the Department of Health as Associate Deputy Chief Medical Officer to work on the COVID response. Joanne was made an Honorary Professor of Public Health Practice by Queen’s University in February 2023.
Dr. Jillian Johnston	Consultant in health protection in Northern Ireland for 11 years with experience nationally and locally, from policy development to investigation and management of incidents, outbreaks and other hazards. Currently regional lead for TB prevention and control, strategic oversight of acute response function in Northern Ireland and the public health act.
Prof. Mary Horgan MD  FRCPI FRCP	Interim Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health and Professor of Infectious Diseases, UCD. Professor Mary Horgan is interim Chief Medical Officer and Professor of Infectious Diseases at UCD and Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. She is the immediate past President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and is the first woman to hold this position since the College’s foundation in 1654. She is the former Dean of the School of Medicine at UCC and was the first woman to be appointed to this position. She is a graduate of UCD School of Medicine in 1986 and was awarded the UCD Alumni award for health in 2019. She is a Director of Education of the European Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (ESCMID). She also served on the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) and led the expert advisory group on rapid testing and chaired Ireland’s first National Research Ethics Committee.
Dr. Éamonn O’Moore	Dr Éamonn O’Moore is Director of National Health Protection. A UCD graduate (1991), he has worked extensively in the UK and internationally with WHO and ECDC in health protection. He trained in Public Health in Oxford and at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. His UK roles have included Director of Thames Valley Health Protection Unit, National Lead for Health & Justice (PHE), and Deputy Director for Vulnerable People (UKHSA). During COVID-19, he was SRO for the PHE public health response in adult social care and secure settings. He was National Incident Director the UK response to the 2014/15 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Dr O’Moore has a strong focus on health equity, prison health, and infectious diseases such as TB, blood-borne viruses and migrant health. He led the development of surveillance and epidemiological resources nationally and internationally to inform health needs and health impact assessments. He has advised national and international governments, published widely in peer-reviewed journals, contributed to international guidelines with ECDC & WHO, presented internationally, and is editor and senior contributor to the Oxford University Press textbook on Prison Medicine & Health.
Dr John Cuddihy	Dr. John Cuddihy is HSE National Director of Public Health. John has been involved in Public Health reform in Ireland from the Crowe Horwath review and report implementation to more recently leading the implementation of the Public Health reform programme. He has previously held positions as Director of Public Health, Director of HPSC and National Clinical Director of Health Protection.
Dr. Mike Ryan	Dr Mike Ryan has been at the forefront of managing acute risks to global health for nearly 25 years. He served as Assistant Director-General for Emergency Preparedness and Response in WHO's Health Emergencies Programme from 2017 to 2019. Dr Ryan first joined WHO in 1996, with the newly established unit to respond to emerging and epidemic disease threats. He has worked in conflict affected countries and led many responses to high impact epidemics. He is a founding member of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), which has aided the response to hundreds of disease outbreaks around the world. He served as Coordinator of Epidemic Response (2003-2000), Operational Coordinator of WHO’s response to the SARS outbreak (2003), and as WHO’s Director of Global Alert and Response (2011-2005), He was a Senior Advisor on Polio Eradication for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative from 2013 to 2017, deploying to countries in the Middle East. He completed medical training at the National University of Ireland, Galway, a Master’s in Public Health at University College Dublin, and specialist training in communicable disease control at the Health Protection Agency in London and the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training.

Access directions, location details, parking, taxi, catering menu, Titanic experience here:

On the day of_useful Information_Health Protection Conference 2025

Location

The Titanic staff will be on hand throughout the building to help navigate your way to the conference. Please do not hesitate to ask for assistance if required.
Date: Tuesday 7 October 2025
Time: The reception desk for the event at the Titanic Centre opens at 09:00 hrs for delegates to sign in
Location: Titanic Belfast Conference Centre, 1 Olympic Way, Queen’s Road, Titanic Quarter, Belfast BT3 9EP Google maps directions
Registration: 5th floor foyer
The conference: 5th floor, Titanic Suite
Poster display from the Scientific programme: 5th floor, Britannic Suite
Coffee/tea breaks, lunch: 5th floor, Olympic Suite

Parking onsite

There is onsite parking underneath the Titanic Centre. If parking onsite you must get your parking ticket validated during Registration between 9am-10am for the reduced price of £6.00.

This will not be available at any other time in the day. The desk will be next to registration and a member of staff from the Titanic Centre will do this for you.

• Electric vehicles - there are six electric vehicle car charge points in the Level -1 car park.
• Accessible spaces - Level -1 has four accessible spaces and Level -2 has six accessible spaces.

Menu and dietary requirements

NUT ALLERGIES - Please note, the menu we have chosen does not consist nuts however the Titanic Conference Centre has advised unfortunately they cannot cater to airborne nut allergies as they are not a nut free kitchen.

Morning

• Catering will be self service in the Olympic suite
• Arrival refreshments of tea and coffee served with Chef’s selection of baked morning goods.
• Mid-morning break of tea and coffee served with a selection of fruit, oatmeal biscuits, Irish butter shortbread and chocolate chip cookies.

Lunch choices

• Herb and breaded escalope of North Antrim chicken breast with chorizo and mixed bean cassoulet
• Slow cooked northern Irish beef ragout with comber potato mash (GF)
• Keralan vegetable curry Pak choi, green beans and fennel seed flat bread (VG)
• Chef's selection of fruit and miniature desserts. Tea and coffee available.

Mid afternoon

• Mid afternoon tea, coffee and fruit infused waters.

Taxis

Value Cabs can drop-off and collect guests at the dedicated taxi point located on Level -1 of the car park. This entrance, guests can proceed to Titanic Belfast’s Grand Atrium on the ground level and will be directed to the appropriate event space.

All other taxi companies can drop-off and collect guests from the taxi rank outside the main entrance to Titanic Belfast.

Value Cabs app:

• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.autocab.taxibooker.value.cabs&hl=en_GB
• https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/value-cabs/id561690118

Cloakroom facilities

There will be ticketed coat rails at the top of escalators outside the Olympic Suite. This will be manned by the Titanic staff. You will receive a ticket when you book your coat in and will be required to produce the ticket at the end of the conference to receive your coat back.

The Titanic Experience

We are please to offer a conference delegates discount code to all attendees who wish to do the Titanic experience tour in their own time. This code reduces tickets from £24.95 to £23.50. Please use the discount code below and link to book direct. Titanic Belfast is home to ‘the Titanic experience’, a world leading visitor attraction telling the story of Titanic, from her conception in Belfast in the 1900s, through her construction and launch, to her maiden voyage and subsequent place in history. In 2023, Titanic was awarded the THEA award for ‘outstanding achievement – visitor experience re-envisioned: limited budget’ in Hollywood.

The THEA awards, organised by the themed entertainment association (TEA), recognise achievement, talent and personal excellence from those who bring incredible experiences to life for people around the world. Click here for the tickets - Titanic Belfast Discount code - CONFDELS2025 

Instructions of the submission of abstracts can be found here.