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Dr. Deirdre Murray Ireland Cancer Registry |
Motivation for standing for election
There is a phrase in Irish – níl neart go cur le chéile – loosely translated as “there is no strength until things work together”. I am a strong supporter of collaboration to provide data driven insights into the status of cancer control for the benefit of the whole population of Europe. Ireland has benefitted hugely from being able to benchmark ourselves against similar countries in Europe and seen where we can learn and improve. I am also a life long fan of cancer registries. Their population
base gives a robustness to their findings that cannot be replicated with other methodologies and although there may be calls for faster “real-time” data, the reality is that registries have the final say when it comes to cancer outcomes, though we should always be working to improve timeliness.
I have been watching the work of the ENCR for some time, improving the quality of data collection, including data standardisation and training. I am keen to assist this work, which, like all quality improvement projects, is always ongoing. Staging is a particular issue and I am keen to assist the ENCR with implementing tools such as Canstaging, to improve the standardization of staging across the continent. I am also keen to continue my work with the Haematological Working Group that is
looking at updating current guidance to cancer registries when registering blood cancers.
Short CV
I am the Director of the National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI) and a Professor of Cancer Epidemiology in the School of Public Health at University College Cork (UCC). A medical graduate of UCC, I have a Masters in Public Health from University College Dublin. I undertook my clinical training in Ireland and the UK and have almost
two decades of experience as a Specialist in Public Health Medicine.
I worked in the HSE’s National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) since its inception in 2008 and am a founding member of its Executive Management team and I set up and led the NCCP’s Cancer Intelligence function. I played a leading role in designing and developing the NCCP’s monitoring system to oversee the implementation
of key strategic decisions, supporting quality assurance of cancer services and service improvement across the eight cancer centres and their satellite treatment units.
I have a passion for cancer data and am keen to ensure that cancer registries are recognised as the conduits to monitor cancer control. I worked closely with the NCRI for many years, including as a Board member, before taking over as its Director in 2021 and have a particular interest in cancer prevention, health information and
health services research. Member of IARC’s Scientific Council 2012 – 2016. I have published nationally and internationally on cancer information and health services research, delivering research presentations to students at UCC, and to national and international conferences.