Joly Cancer Leadership Programme gives third award to TSJCI surgeon
Posted on: 05 February 2026
Mr Fitzgerald said: “Through the award, I hope to investigate the immune and metabolic behaviours of head and neck cancers. It is hoped that discoveries from these studies will translate to meaningful clinical insights to guide future clinical decision making and care for head and neck cancer patients."
Mr Conall Fitzgerald, head and neck surgeon at Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute (TSJCI), has become the third awardee to benefit from the philanthropically supported Joly Cancer Leadership Programme.
The competitive Joly programme is designed to enable exceptional academic cancer clinicians to dedicate protected time to focus on advanced research and clinical trials. Its first two awardees were Dr Nina Orfali, Consultant Haematologist and Mr Michael Kelly, Consultant Colorectal Surgeon.
Mr Conall Fitzgerald, MB BCh BAO MCh MSc FRCS (pictured above), is a Consultant Otolaryngologist (ENT) whose primary clinical interests are oral cavity, oropharyngeal, laryngeal, thyroid, skin, and salivary gland cancers.
Head and neck cancer incidence in Ireland continues to rise and represents 750–800 new cases annually. St James's Hospital is the largest centre in Ireland for these cancers and treats over 400 new patients each year. Growth in incidence reflects both demographic ageing and the increasing prevalence of HPV-associated oropharyngeal carcinoma.
Mr Fitzgerald said: “Through the award, I hope to investigate the immune and metabolic behaviours of head and neck cancers. It is hoped that discoveries from these studies will translate to meaningful clinical insights to guide future clinical decision making and care for head and neck cancer patients."
Mr Fitzgerald graduated from Trinity College Dublin and completed higher specialist surgical training in ENT through the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. During this time, he completed a Masters in Surgery and separate Masters in Medical Education.
Mr Fitzgerald undertook a two-year fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), New York, USA. He completed a one-year clinical fellowship in Advanced Head & Neck Surgical Oncology and a separate one-year research fellowship in cancer genomics via the Morris Lab of the MSKCC Immunogenomics and Precision Oncology Platform. Mr Fitzgerald was awarded the MSKCC Chairman’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Research.
Professor John Kennedy, co-director of TSJCI, said: "As Ireland's first accredited Comprehensive Cancer Centre, and the country’s largest centre of excellence for managing head and neck cancers, the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute is ideally placed to nurture and develop the best young talent to serve this important patient population. The Joly Cancer Leadership Programme affords recently appointed cancer specialists at TSJCI the time they need to develop critical research programmes. We very much appreciate the wonderful support that enables us to do this."
Professor Maeve Lowery, academic director of TSJCI, said: "This award will support the development of a comprehensive translational research programme focused on head and neck cancer at the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute. With almost 800 people diagnosed with head and neck cancer each year in Ireland, this research can accelerate the discovery of new strategies for cancer prevention, screening, and treatment for the benefit of our patients."
The Joly Cancer Leadership Programme is named in honour of John Joly, a Trinity graduate who pioneered the earliest effective radiation treatment for cancer. He earned international acclaim for developing a method for extracting radium and, in collaboration with another Trinity graduate, Walter Clegg Stevenson, pioneered its use in cancer treatment. This became known as the ‘Dublin Method’ and has formed the basis for modern radium needle treatment.
TSJCI is an initiative to transform cancer care in Ireland by combining excellent research, patient care and education to pioneer new ways to prevent, detect and treat cancer. It is led by Ireland’s leading university, Trinity College Dublin, and Ireland’s largest public teaching hospital, St James’s Hospital.
In 2025, TSJCI was the first cancer centre in Ireland to be accredited and designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Centre by the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes.
ENDS
Media Contact:
Catherine O’Mahony | Media Relations | catherine.omahony@tcd.ie