Dr. Brendan Murphy

Brendan qualified from University College Dublin in 1989, and completed Higher Specialist Paediatric and Subspecialist Neonatology training in Edinburgh UK in 2001 following his Fellowship in Neonatal–Perinatal Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. His MD Thesis awarded from University College Dublin in 2001 based on original work carried out under the mentorship of Prof J.J. Volpe in Harvard explored the use of quantitative MRI imaging techniques to examine post-haemorrhagic hydrocephalus in VLBW infants. Since returning to Cork as Consultant Neonatologist in 2002, he has continued his research interests exploring how processes in the neonatal period affect the immature brain and its subsequent function through tissue injury and disturbances of brain growth and development. He is Co-Principal Investigator of the PINPOINT Study, an SFI grant funded project from INFANT centre. The PINPOINT study aims to implement a novel nutritional management strategy in preterm infants using real time data collection and monitoring to enable individualized tailoring of nutrient delivery to optimize growth and development of bone, body composition and brain for improved functional outcomes and promotion of long term health and quality of life.

As the Clinical Director of Neonatology he played a central role in commissioning the Clinical Department of Neonatology and development of the Cork Neonatal Research Centre now incorporated into the INFANT Centre at Cork University Maternity Hospital. He is Coordinator of the NICORE (Neonatal Intensive Care Outcomes Research & Evaluation) Ireland Quality Improvement Project for auditing and benchmarking neonatal outcomes in Ireland nationally and internationally. He is the National Clinical Lead – Neonatology and National Clinical Risk Manager for the Maternity–Newborn Clinical Management System (MN-CMS) project to implement the introduction of a complete electronic health record for all mothers and their infants throughout all maternity hospitals in Ireland.