The Authority
The Authority of the HPRA is appointed by the Minister for Health in accordance with the powers conferred by subsection 2 of section 7 of the Irish Medicines Board Act, 1995.
Mr Paul Quinn - Chairman
Paul was appointed Chairperson of the HPRA Authority in March 2026. He brings extensive experience in public policy, regulation, and organisational leadership across both the public and private sectors.
Paul is a Chartered Director and former senior civil servant, having served as the founding Chief Executive of the Office of Government Procurement, an Office of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, where he led national procurement policy and reform, and established the State’s first central procurement function. Over a career spanning more than forty years, he has held senior leadership roles in government and industry, with particular expertise in governance, strategy delivery, and large-scale organisational transformation.
He currently chairs a number of public and not-for-profit bodies, including the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) and Clann Mór Residential and Respite Services CLG., and also chairs the Audit and Risk Committee of the Office of Public Works. He is a board member of BoardMatch Ireland and a member of the Audit Committee of the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment.
Paul holds an MBA from DCU, a Professional Diploma in Executive Coaching from Henley Business School, a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors, a Diploma in Accounting and Finance from the ACCA, a BSc(Eng) from TCD, and an Hons. Diploma in Engineering from TUD.
Dr John Byrne
John was appointed to the Authority of the HPRA in April 2026.
Born in Dublin, John graduated in medicine from University College Dublin in 1994. He completed a master’s degree in quality improvement at Ashridge Business School in 2014 and is a Health Foundation GenQ leadership fellow.
He completed his GP training in the U.K and in 2002 he became a partner at a GP surgery in Hampshire. In 2008 he was appointed as locality Medical Director for Hampshire Community Healthcare.
John later became Clinical Director for Integrated Care at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and then Clinical Director and Accountable Officer for the Southampton and West Hampshire Division in 2012. In 2014, he became General Practice Regional Adviser for the Care Quality Commission’s primary medical services team, while also working part-time with NHS Elect on clinical strategy.
In 2017, he was appointed as Executive Medical Director at Humber NHS Foundation Trust, where he was the responsible officer and executive lead for quality improvement. John also led on COVID-19 testing and vaccinations delivery.
In 2019, he became the Senior Responsible Officer for the Yorkshire and Humber Care Record. From 2022 to 2025, he served as the Chief Medical Officer for NHS Southwest London Integrated Care Board leading on digital, research and innovation, and primary care and population health improvement, and also sharing responsibility for quality governance and clinical leadership.
Professor Deirdre Campion
Deirdre was appointed to the HPRA Authority in April 2026.
A veterinarian by training, Deirdre initially worked in farming practice, followed by several years in companion animal practice. She subsequently returned to University College Dublin to complete a PhD in veterinary sciences. Deirdre is currently a Professor of Veterinary Biosciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine, UCD. Through her career evolution, Deirdre has established herself as an internationally recognised specialist in veterinary pharmacology and drug safety.
At UCD, she has held several senior strategic roles, including Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning and Subject Head for Veterinary Biosciences.
Her professional background includes significant experience in quality assurance and accreditation standards within the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE), where she serves as an expert in Veterinary Basic Sciences. Deirdre has an extensive record of leadership and committee service within the veterinary profession, both in Ireland and internationally. She served on the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI) for several terms and has represented her profession at European level.
Dr Joe Collins
Joe was appointed to the Authority of the HPRA in September 2020.
Joe graduated from the School of Veterinary Medicine, UCD in 1987. He has since worked in Ireland and the UK in private veterinary practice, in the pharmaceutical industry, in the university and in the NGO sector. Joe is currently Chief Veterinary Advisor at The Donkey Sanctuary, a UK headquartered global NGO, and teaches on animal remedies and scientific animal protection (SAP) training courses in Ireland.
Joe has previously been President of Veterinary Ireland and and is currently President of FEEVA (the Federation of European Equine Veterinary Associations). He has served on the National Committee for the Protection of Animals used for Scientific Purposes and the Veterinary Council of Ireland. Joe holds a PhD in equine welfare and is a Chartered Scientist, Chartered Biologist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Biologists. His main interests are in animal welfare and protection, veterinary medicines and professional standards.
Professor Peter Doran
Peter was appointed to the Authority of the HPRA in March 2026
Peter graduated with a BSc in Analytical Science from Dublin City University and completed a PhD in Medicine at University College Dublin in 2001. He subsequently completed executive leadership programmes at the Kellogg School of Management and the Wharton School.
Peter is Full Professor of Clinical Trials at University College Dublin and Director of the UCD Clinical Research Centre, where he leads one of Ireland’s foremost academic clinical research infrastructures and provides strategic leadership for multisite clinical research across university and healthcare settings. He is widely recognised for combining scientific excellence with institutional leadership and has contributed significantly to the development of Ireland’s clinical research capacity.
He has held several senior leadership appointments including Vice-Principal for Research, Innovation and Impact in UCD’s College of Health and Agricultural Sciences, Associate Dean for Research in the UCD School of Medicine, and founding Director of the Institute for Clinical Trials at University of Galway.
Peter’s research interests centre on the optimisation of clinical trial design and delivery, and he has an extensive international publication record.
He currently serves as a Board Member of the Health Research Board contributing to national health research strategy and governance.
Dr Fiona Kiernan
Fiona, who was appointed to the Authority of the HPRA in September 2022, is both a clinician and economist. Along with her medical degree from University College Dublin, she also holds a Masters in Health Economics, Policy & Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a PhD in Economics from University College Dublin.
She practised medicine for sixteen years, including seven years as a consultant in Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine in Beaumont Hospital. As an economist she has worked with the Healthcare Pricing Office of the HSE, and is currently CEO / Founder of Zeumed, a health economic advisory which specialises in advising governments and payers.
She was previously a Board Member of the State Board of the Health Insurance Authority from 2015 to 2021.
Dr Paula Kilbane
Paula Kilbane trained in London in public health medicine and subsequently held consultant posts there prior to returning to Northern Ireland in 1986. Following a post of Director of Public Health, she became a CEO in two of the Health Boards in Northern Ireland from 1993 to 2009.
Following relocation to Dublin in 2012, she served on a number of Boards in the public, not-for-profit, and private sectors. She served on the Board of HIQA from 2015 until 2025 where she had chaired the Regulatory Committee, and also been a board member of CES - The Centre for Effective Services.
She has served on a number of all-island bodies and in other sectors, including European funding and higher education.
Her professional interests include regulation, risk assessment, quality and patient safety, health information systems and health technology and strategic redesign of services.
A graduate of QUB, she is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians UK and a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (UK and Ireland).
She was awarded the CBE in 2003 for services to health in Northern Ireland.
Professor Richard Reilly
Richard was appointed to the Authority of the HPRA in January 2020.
Richard holds a BE degree in Electronic Engineering, an MEngSc, a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from University College Dublin (UCD) and a ScD in Clinical Medicine from Trinity College, The University of Dublin.
Richard is Professor of Neural Engineering at Trinity College Dublin. This post is a joint position between the School of Medicine and School of Engineering. He is a Principal Investigator of the Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering (TCBE) and a Principal Investigator at the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN).
He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and Fellow of the European Alliance for Medical and Biological Engineering & Science and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. He was awarded the Haughton Medal from the Royal Academy of Medicine of Ireland in 2013. In 2004 he was awarded a US Fulbright Award for research collaboration into multisensory integration with the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, New York.
Richard’s research interests are in clinical neural engineering based on signal processing of electrophysiological, neuroimaging and bioacoustic data for the development of quantitative methods to understand neural function and the underlying pathophysiology of sensory and cognitive processing.
Mr JJ Tohill
JJ Tohill was appointed to the Authority in March 2026.
JJ graduated from the University of Ulster in 1989 with an honours degree in Accounting and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting at Queen’s University Belfast in 1990. He trained with KPMG and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1993. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.
After qualifying, JJ worked in the Health Service in Northern Ireland before moving to local government in 1998. He held senior finance and corporate services roles in local government until retiring from full-time employment in August 2025. During this time, he served on finance committees of CIPFA (the UK public sector accountancy body), covering the UK local authority financial reporting code and supporting local authorities on VAT principles and practice.
JJ was appointed to the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee (NILGOSC) by the Minister for Communities in April 2021 and was reappointed for a further four-year term in April 2025. Since September 2023, he has been a member of the NILGOSC Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.
JJ’s areas of professional interest include risk management, governance, public sector litigation and data analytics.