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 Mary Rabbitte, Programme Manager for Research

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 for Policy and Engagement

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.

Joanne Morgan, Programme Manager for Education and Practice

Joanne Morgan , Programme Manager for Education and Practice

A qualified Town Planner, Joanne has worked within the community, voluntary and statutory sectors for the over 25 years. She has managed Peace funds for local government and a range of Early Years services including Sure Start projects across Northern Ireland. She was Director of a social justice and community development organisation for 12 years and spent 18 months as Community engagement Manager for a global Disability charity. Joanne is co-chair of the Northern Ireland Social Prescribing Board and has a keen interest in tackling injustice, inequality and the role of the role of community development in societal change.

Clodagh O’Donovan, PCRN 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 and Finance Executive

Martina McHugh – Business Support and Finance Executive

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 for Nursing Home Education

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.