Professor John Feely ( 1947-2009)

MB NUI 1971 , BSc 1972 MD NUI 1979, FRCP Ire 1984 , FRCP Edin 1992

The Professor John Feely Medal commemorates the diverse and lasting contributions made by John Feely to the development of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in Ireland and internationally . in the course of a highly distinguished career both as a researcher and clinician.

As Head of Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at Trinity College Dublin, Professor Feely was acknowledged as a leading international expert on hypertension and published over 300 papers which appeared in international journals including the Lancet, The Journal of American Medical Association and The New England Journal of Medicine. He was a very active member of scientific societies including The British Pharmacological Society and British European and American societies for Hypertension. Prof Feely was also involved in several substantial international multi-center trials such as the EU-ROASPIRE and Discovery Studies.

As a consultant physician at St James’s Hospital, Prof Feely developed the first SpR training scheme in Clinical Pharmacology in Ireland. His work was instrumental in the setting up of the Centre for Advanced Clinical Therapies in St James’s Hospital as a center of excellence in clinical care. Prof Feely was also central to other initiatives aimed at improving patient primary and preventative care and safety, and in establishing best practice in safe and rational prescribing. These include the National Medicine Information Centre, and the National Center for Pharmaco-economics.

Prof Feely was also highly respected and liked as a teacher and mentor, unstintingly generous with his time and resources. His initiative in establishing the Irish Association of Pharmacologists is one of many aimed at providing a platform to colleagues and students to showcase research and to encourage collaboration.

To honor Professor Felly’s contributions to pharmacology and therapeutics we have established a medal to be awarded every year. The professor John Feely medal is awarded by the Irish Association of Pharmacologist to an exceptional researcher who has made a highly significant contribution to basic or clinical pharmacology research on the island of Ireland.

We accept nominations for the Professor John Feely Medal throughout the year. The medal will be awarded at our annual meeting.