Ian Jones, CEO

Dr. Ian Jones is the Founder and CEO of the Innopharma Group. He has worked for the past 20 years within the (bio) pharmaceutical and food manufacturing sectors where he has become a global leader in particle science, process robustness and advanced process control.

He has a PhD in Process Analytical Technologies from Technological University Dublin and has studied Strategy, Leadership and Innovation within the Pharmaceutical Industry at the Harvard Business School, Boston and Accelerated Growth Strategies at Judge Business School, Cambridge, UK.

Finbarr Sheehy, Director for Programme Development (Pharma and MedTech)

Finbarr has over 25 years of experience at senior levels within the Semiconductor and Pharmaceutical industries. He was Director of Continuous Improvement & Training with Wyeth, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Ireland. Prior to Wyeth, he was Skills Training Manager, with Intel Ireland, Co. Kildare. He also held the position of Test Development Engineer with Analog Devices Incorporated, Limerick. In 2008 he established BusinessExcellence.ie and currently works with businesses across several sectors (including Pharma) in Ireland to drive business improvements.

Finbarr holds a BEng in Electronic Engineering and a Masters in Education from the University of Sheffield. His expertise is in the following areas; Strategy Development, Process Improvement, Creativity & Innovation, Lean Thinking, Six Sigma, Process Measurement, Training Design & Delivery, Competency Assessment, Change Management and Neuro Linguistic Programming.

Sean Costello, Director of Postgraduate Research

Dr Costello leads the Technical Group of Innopharma in the development of real-time non-contact imaging technologies for monitoring and control of processes in pharmaceutical, food and chemical industries. Prior to joining Innopharma, Dr Costello was Site Manager for Leica Biosystems Ireland, a leading pathology diagnostics company and part of Danaher Corp.

Dr Costello was a founder of SlidePath Ltd, a Digital Pathology company acquired by Genetix Plc in 2009 and subsequently part of Leica Biosystems. During his tenure with Leica Biosystems Dr Costello held several roles within the Digital Pathology division including Global Head of Product management and Director of Life Science Marketing. Dr Costello brings more than 15 years of entrepreneurial experience and strategic leadership for start-up and early-stage technology.

Paula Kearney

Paula has over 24 year’s experience within the pharmaceutical industry having previously worked in MSD Swords, Ipsen Beaufour and Gerard Laboratories. Throughout her career, Paula has gained extensive experience in both drug substance and drug product manufacturing. Paula held senior laboratory roles in both the microbiology and analytical services fields prior to progressing her career into Learning and Development. Paula now designs and delivers bespoke training programmes for industry.

Paula also lectures for the Institute of Technology Tallaght, Griffith College Dublin and Innopharma College of Applied Science Dublin delivering modules in GMP, Aseptic Practices and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Technology. Paula holds a BSc (Hons) in Pharmaceutical Business Operations from Griffith College Dublin.

Kevin Delaney, VP for Strategic Business Development

Kevin has over 25 years of experience in Pharmaceutical, Consumer / FMCG and OEM sectors at Warner-Lambert, Pfizer and Wyeth, in Europe and North America where he held Plant Management, Director and VP of Operation roles.

Kevin, a Chartered Engineer (IEI), holds a BAI in Engineering from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland and an MSc in Management from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Philip Byrne B.Sc. M.Sc.

Philip graduated BSc specialising in Environmental Pollution control followed by a Masters in Occupational Safety and Health. He has many years’ experience as a Manager/Trainer QEHS specialist and Auditor (Regulatory, GMP, ISO9001, ISO 14001, ISO 18001) in the Lifescience Industry. Philip worked at Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals for 9 years supporting the drug substance manufacturing facility from practically a greenfield site to full production, playing a key role in training and GMP compliance.

Philip is a certified Human Factors Specialist and is involved in Human Factors EU funded research (with Trinity College Dublin and other EU partners) which aims to help the Life Science industry in their efforts to continuously improve Quality, Safety and Process Reliability. Philip regularly delivers training on Human Factors and Error Prevention to Pharma, Biopharma and Medical Device companies.

Philip currently lectures part-time for the Institute of Technology Tallaght, Griffith College and Innopharma on Regulatory Affairs and GMP, Technology Transfer and GMP Auditing. Philip is also an Auditor and Consultant at Rephine where he conducts third party GMP audits worldwide

Audrey Meehan

Audrey has over 15 years of experience within the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, having previously worked with Elan, Wyeth and Pfizer. Audrey has held various management roles, in Technical Services, Validation and Process Development.

Her experience includes: Validation Master Planning, the validation of large capital expansion projects, Technology transfers, the revision of systems in response to new regulations and employing Lean tools. Audrey holds a BSc in Chemistry from the University College Cork.

Peadar Mac Gabhann

Peadar Mac Gabhann graduated from UCD with an M.Sc. in Industrial Microbiology. He carried out postgraduate research at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) Amsterdam, Biogen at ETH Zurich and the Faculty of Medicine at Kyoto University Japan. He joined Schering Plough Corporation (Merck Sharpe & Dohme) and was a key member of staff in the start-up of the first world-wide Biopharma facility in Cork for the production of Interferon in 1983.

Peadar has more than 30 years’ experience at the forefront of the international pharmaceutical industry. In the past 10 years, he co-founded and directed two Life Science start-ups and participated in several international EU Framework projects.