The Team

Karen Charnley, Director

As Director, Karen provides strategic leadership for All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) Institute including brokering relationships between the Institute’s 26 partners (universities, hospices, health and social care organisations and charities), funders and key stakeholders. Karen leads the Institute Team and oversees the delivery of the Institute’s Business Plan across education, research, policy and practice, service user and carer engagement and raising awareness. Karen also represents the Institute on key regional and national fora and contributes to palliative care policy and strategic discussions.

Karen has significant leadership and management experience in a range of sectors including housing, economic development and offender management. She was previously a Programme Manager within the Institute where she led on the development of the Palliative Hub.

Dr Cathy Payne, Programme Manager

Cathy joined AIIHPC as Programme Manager in May 2016 and is based in Northern Ireland. Along with the other programme managers she supports the Institute partners in the development and delivery of best palliative care to those facing incurable and life-threatening illness; building and nurturing close working relationships between clinicians, researchers and educationalists across the island of Ireland and beyond. In particular, Cathy is supporting the ongoing development of the Palliative Hub, Online learning programmes and modules and the AIIHPC Partners Education Network.

Cathy was the first AIIHPC Doctoral Fellow, supported by the Health & Social Care Research & Development Division of the Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland). Her PhD, entitled “Rehabilitation in Palliative Care: A Novel Exploratory Study” focused on people with advanced inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the potential role of palliative rehabilitation in the symptom management of this condition. She was worked within specialist palliative care since 2004, as a clinical dietitian, a lecturer and a researcher. Before taking up her current post, Cathy chaired the PCRN Early Career Researcher Forum and worked as a Palliative Care Educator in Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services, Dublin.

Dr Mary Rabbitte, Programme Manager

Mary joined AIIHPC as a Programme Manager in April 2017 where she leads on the Institute’s research programme and supports the continued strategic development of the Institute’s Palliative Care Research Network (PCRN). As well as working collaboratively as part of the AIIHPC team on the strategic and operational implementation of the Institute’s programmes.

Mary is an experienced and creative researcher and educator who has managed, developed and delivered research, education and consultancy programmes in the academic, health care and business sectors. As a clinician she has also worked psychotherapeutically with people with life limiting illnesses with special focus on people with Motor Neurone Disease (MND). Her research master’s focussed on identifying psychological and psychotherapeutic approaches for people with MND and her doctoral thesis is in Chemistry. She has a particular interest in identifying people’s needs in relation to palliative care and empowering people to feel competent in providing best practice care.

Paula Pinto , Programme Manager

Paula is a Chilean lawyer with a Diploma in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Social Entrepreneurship. She has worked in the private sector particularly in insurance and shipping; She has worked in the charity sector where she gained extensive experience in NGO grants management, developed policies, and ensured compliance to funders and charity regulations.

Marie McKeon, Project Manager

Marie joined AIIHPC as a Project Manager in April of 2017. Marie is responsible for knowledge dissemination, knowledge transfer and exchange activities and initiatives associated with the Palliative Care Research Network, the Early Career Research Forum, and The Palliative Hub. Supporting the Programme Manager, Dr Mary Rabbitte, Marie is directly involved in the development and delivery of educational and skills training around knowledge transfer and exchange, and planning and coordinating AIIHPC’s communication activities and research-related events.

Marie has a strong commercial background and extensive marketing, project management and consumer educational experience from working in the private sector acting as a Brand– and New Product Development- project manager for the past decade. She has worked with highly innovative and recognisable health food brand leaders. Marie holds a degree in Business Management complemented by a Professional Diploma in Education and Digital Marketing. Also, Marie completed a course focused on dissemination and implementation science hosted by University College Cork – developed in collaboration with the Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health.

Clodagh O’Donovan Project Manager

Clodagh O’Donovan, Project Manager

Clodagh O’Donovan joined AIIHPC in 2020 as the Palliative Care Research Network Project Manager. Clodagh brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role and supports PCRN development, Voices4Care engagement in research, building capacity, and showcasing research from our members through PCRN webinar series, symposia and other events and activities. She also supports AIIHPC’s Early Career Researcher Forum. Clodagh previously worked for medical research charities including Health Research Charities Ireland (HRCI), where she managed their Patient and Public Involvement Shared Learning Group (PPI SLG) and helped to develop a series of PPI training workshops for HRCI’s members. She has a background in community development in the charity sector and has also worked extensively in film, television and digital media as a project manager, producer and post-production manager. She has an MSc in Interactive Digital Systems from Trinity College Dublin.

Mary Kearns, Office Manager

Mary manages the day to day running of the office and provides operational support to the Head of Institute, ensuring that effective communication is in place at all times. She also supports the Council of Partners and the Finance and HR Sub-Committee. In addition, she works with the Director on the Institute’s funding and granting activities. Mary previously worked in the Ombudsman for Children’s Office.

Martina McHugh , Business Support

Martina McHugh – Business Support

Martina joined AIIHPC in November 2021 as a Business Support Officer. Martina’s background is mainly in Accountancy and supporting Managing Directors in the running of their business.

As Business Support, Martina plays a key role in providing business support to the Office Manager, Director and Programme Managers. Martina assists all staff in the planning and implementation of a wide variety of projects.

Martina also provides key support to the Director with the financial management of the Institute and is the main contact person for invoicing and payments.

Yvonne McCahill, Communications Manager

Yvonne McCahill, Communications Project Manager

As Communications Project Manager, Yvonne works across a range of AIIHPC communications activities, including the annual public awareness campaign Palliative Care Week. Yvonne has extensive experience in healthcare communications, advocacy and stakeholder engagement. During her time at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, she worked on major public health policy campaigns, such as obesity, tobacco, immunisation and the Public Health Alcohol Act. Yvonne has also worked within the HSE, supporting the Press and Media team in responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Miriam Ahern, Project Manager

Miriam joined AIIHPC in March 2022 as Project Manager for Nursing Home Education. She is leading the Institute’s components of a new national programme for palliative, end of life and bereavement care in the nursing home sector.

The National Nursing Home Programme (Supporting Palliative, End of Life & Bereavement Care) is an initiative of the Irish Hospice Foundation in partnership with All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) and the HSE. Miriam manages the delivery of Project ECHO* AIIHPC networks, webinars and a dedicated zone on the Palliative Hub Learning Platform to support nursing home staff working in the Republic of Ireland.

From 2012-2021, Miriam worked as Director of Strategy and Development with the Irish Gerontological Society. She is a Certified Management Consultant and a Fellow of the Irish Institute of Management Consultants and Advisers.