Meet the Experts

Meet The Panel

Dr Geraldine Connolly

Consultant in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Rotunda Hospital

Dr Connolly is mainly based in the Rotunda Hospital where she provides an adolescent gynaecological service. Geraldine also provides a paediatric gynaecology service in the Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street. Follow up of these girls after 15 years of age is continued in the adolescent gynae clinic in the Rotunda Hospital where appropriate.

She established a teenage pregnancy clinic in the Rotunda which caters for teenagers up to 17 years of age. This provides a dedicated obstetrician, midwife and social worker at the clinic. Specific antenatal classes for this age-group concentrate on general health measures including nutrition and sexual health education. Postnatal follow up is also provided with an emphasis on providing contraception.

Dr Nóirín Russell

Consultant in Obstetrics & Gynaecology,
Clinical Director, Cervical Check

Dr Nóirín Russell is a medical graduate of University College Cork, a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and member of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists. Since 2013 she has worked as a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Cork University Maternity Hospital. In 2020, she was appointed Clinical Director of CervicalCheck.

Dr. Russell’s clinical and research interests include cervical cancer screening, patient safety and staff engagement. She is passionate about communicating healthcare information in an accessible way.

Loretta Dignam

Founder, Menopause Hub

Loretta Dignam is the founder of the Menopause Hub. She established this centre to give Irish women the opportunity to manage their menopause their way… a resource to understand the changes you are going through…and an option to keep living the life you love!

She has a lengthy and highly successful career working in Marketing and Communications with many multinational, global businesses, Mars Inc, Diageo plc, Kerry Group plc and Jacob Fruitfield. She was awarded Marketer of the Year in 2011. She is a graduate of UCD and DCU and has lectured in the UCD Smurfit Business School on their executive MBA and MSc Programme. She is also a member of the board of the Abbey Theatre.

Rhona Gaynor

Women's Health Lead, Women's Health Taskforce

Rhona Gaynor is the Womens Health Lead and Head of the Policy, Strategy and Innovation Unit in the Department of Health. She leads the Women's Health Taskforce to improve women's health outcomes and experiences of healthcare. Follow their work at #womenshealthIRL

Alana Ryan

Women's Health Coordinator,
National Women's Council

Alana leads NWCI's health policy and advocacy work, which includes sitting on the Department of Health's Women's Health Taskforce and convening the civil society Abortion Working Group. She has a strong interest in the social determinants of health inequalities and the impact that early adversity can have on health across the life course. Alana’s background is in child protection and mental health policy, and she has worked in a range of organisations in Ireland and the UK, including University College London, the NSPCC and the Children’s Rights Alliance. Alana holds a MSc in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford.