Prize Winners
PRIZE WINNERS FOR SPRING 2026
Clinical Case Oral Presentations
First Prize – Bernard Connor Medal
Dr Connor McManus – 26S123
“Fibromyalgia- Think Again”
Second Prize
Dr Evanne O’Halloran – 26S125
“Progressive Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis in Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Without Prior Macrophage Activation Syndrome: Diagnostic Challenges and HSCT Consideration”.
PRIZE WINNERS FOR AUTUMN 2025
TOP 6 ORAL PRESENTATIONS
First Prize
Dr Andrea Woodcock – 25A113
Title: “Obesity disrupts Dendritic Cell Homeostasis, Contributing to Immune Dysfunction and Autoimmunity”
Second Prize
Dr Carlos Rafael-Vidal – 25A135
Title: “Revealing the Role of PDL1 in Rheumatoid Arthritis: From Synovial Fibroblasts to Therapeutic Targeting.”
TOP 15 PREMIER E-POSTERS
First Prize
Dr Kevin Sheridan – 25A152
Title: “Reduced Peptide Amidation in Rheumatoid Arthritis Synovial Fibroblasts Shifts Macrophages Towards a Pro-Inflammatory Phenotype”
Second Prize
Ms Niamh O’Dowd – 25A140
Title: “The Synovial Microenvironment shapes Specific Routes of Monocyte Differentiation in Rheumatoid and Psoriatic Arthritis”
POSTER PRESENTATION
First Prize
Dr Danielle Keane – 25A137
Title: “The Prevalence and Patterns of Polypharmacy in Biologic treated Rheumatology patients”
Second Prize
Dr Michelle Colfer – 25A154
Title: “Safety of immunosuppression in patients over the age of 75, with a focus on hospitalisation and infection rates”
BERNARD CONNOR MEDAL
Dr Aoife Gaffney
Title: “From Flare to Fair: Rapid Skin Clearance in Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus using Anifrolumab”
PRIZE WINNERS FOR SPRING 2025
Clinical Case Oral Presentations
First Prize
Dr Danielle Keane – 25S107
“Everything went dark”: The Devastating Onset and Remarkable Recovery of Neurosarcoidosis-Induced Optic Perineuritis.
Second Prize
Dr Jamie Fitzpatrick – 25S102
“Not all muscle disease is inflammatory, don’t forget your vitamins!” A case study on a patient with rr MADD.
PRIZE WINNERS FOR AUTUMN 2024
Bernard Connor Medal
Dr David Cromie
Title: “Beyond the Butterfly Rash: Exploring the Hidden Culprit”.
First Scientific Oral – Young Investigator Award
Dr Niamh O’Dowd – 24A146
Title: “The Joint Microenvironment Promotes Distinct Monocyte Development in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis”.
First Clinical Oral
Dr Brona Dinneen – 24A110
Title: “Indicators for Identifying Candidates for Carotid Doppler Ultrasound Screening for Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Axial Spondyloarthritis Patients Without Conventional Cardiovascular Risk Factors”.
Second Prize Oral
Ms Hannah Costello – 24A112
Title: “PD-1 Pathway in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Applying the brakes on Synovial Inflammation”.
First e-Poster Award
Dr Megan Hanlon – 24A132
Title: “Differential enrichment of pathogenic, tissue resident and protective synovial macrophages between Rheumatoid Arthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis”.
Second e-Poster Award
Dr Imran Khan – 24A171
Title: “Hydroxychloroquine toxicity profile, cost-effectiveness, and reasons for withdrawal in autoimmune diseases”.
Third e-Poster Award
Dr Anouckha Lewis – 24A105
Title: “Rapid Access Microscopy and Real Time Case Discussion via a Secure Messaging App Improves Diagnostic Accuracy and Management of Acute Hot Swollen Joints”.
Commendations e-Posters
Ms Hannah Costello – 24A111
Title: “Inflammatory CD1c+ CD163+ Dendritic Cells (DC3) are enriched in the inflamed”. joint and contribute to Rheumatoid Arthritis pathology”.
Dr Patricia Harkins – 24A124
Title: “The value of Patient Reported Outcomes in predicting disease relapse at one year in those with Polymyalgia Rheumatica”.
Dr Kevin Sheridan – 24A153
Title: “Genetically Determined Levels of Protein Amidation Regulates Tissue Damage in the Rheumatoid Synovium”.
Ordinary Poster Prize
Dr Gareth May – 24A106
Title: “JAK inhibitor prescription for inflammatory arthropathy after the MHRA 2023 drug safety update: a single centre evaluation”.
PRIZE WINNERS FOR SPRING 2024
Dr Anitha Sokay – 24S124
Title: “Not so “SAVI” after all! A diagnostic and therapeutic conundrum”.
Commendations
Dr Samreen Tariq – 24S110
Title: “Paraneoplastic Linear IGA bullous disease as a Behcet’s mimic”.
Dr Musab Suliman – 24S116
Title: “Cerebral Malakoplakia: A Rare Complication in an Immunosuppressed Patient”.
Dr Michelle Colfer – 24S122
Title: “VEXing but not VEXAS”.
PRIZE WINNERS – AUTUMN 2023 MEETING
Bernard Connor Medal
Dr Lenin Ekpotu
Title: IL–17 and Scleroderma Pathogenesis: What do we really know? – A case report
Young Investigator Award
Ms Serena Foo – 23A114
Title: The aggressive synovial fibroblast phenotype in Down Syndrome Associated Arthritis is driven by increased T cell polyfunctionality and cytokine synergy.
Best Clinical Oral
Dr Sonia Sundanum – 23A160
Title: Progression of Psoriatic Arthritis: A real-world 10-year prospective follow-up study.
Best Scientific Oral
Dr Ben Mulhearn – 23A103
Title: Does baseline monocyte count accurately predict giant cell arteritis? Using routinely collected data to find new biomarkers of disease diagnosis.
First Premier Poster
Dr Sharon Cowley – 23A148
Title: Baseline Vascular Ultrasound Of PMR Patients At Time Of Diagnosis Predict Clinical Outcomes at 3 Months.
Second Premier Poster
Ms Orla Tynan – 23A120
Title: RA and PsA synovial tissue single-cell analysis demonstrates differential fibroblast populations with distinct phenotype and functional capacity.
First Regular Poster
Dr Mohammed Al-Habsi – 23A110
Title: In patients with inflammatory arthritis, Android/Gynoid ratio is more helpful in identifying cardiovascular co-morbidities than the other total body composition measurements.
Second Regular Poster
Prabhsimar Tuli – 23A105
Title: A Clinical Audit of Adolescent Patients in the Rheumatology Department in St. James Hospital, Dublin in Relation to the Transition Clinic.
Third Regular Poster
Dr Malaz Ahmed – 23A104
Title: Auditing our gout treat to target clinic to check our compliance with the international recommendations.
PRIZE WINNER – THE SPRING 2023 CLINICAL CASE
Dr Robert Harrington – 23S115
Title: “Go With the Flow or No?!” – When Digital Ulceration is Not Strictly Vascular: An Unusual Case of Acrodermatitis Continua of Hallopeau?
ISR AUTUMN MEETING 2022
YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD
Dr Ashley Elliott – “Protein biomarkers associated with enthesitis in psoriatic arthritis”.
BERNARD CONNOR MEDAL
Dr Samantha Banford – “Vasculopathy vs vasculitis: A case report of a patient with systemic sclerosis developing an AKI and pyrexia post covid-19 infection”.
Best Clinical Oral
Dr Natalie McKee (22A101)
Best Scientific Oral
Dr Mary Canavan (22A140)
PREMIER POSTERS
First Premier Poster (Oral)
Dr Achilleas Floudas (22A151)
Second Premier Poster (Oral)
Ms Emma Ison (22A147)
REGULAR POSTERS
First Regular Poster
Dr Katarzyna Nowak (22A105)
Second Regular Poster
Dr Evelyn McManus (22A228)
ISR SPRING MEETING 2022 – PRIZE WINNER
CLINICAL CASE – ORAL
Dr Sharon Cowley (22S105) – An insidious case of an Igg4 related disease mimic
ISR AUTUMN MEETING 2021 – PRIZE WINNERS
YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD
Dr Rachael Flood (21A123) – Urate-lowering therapy reduces non-episodic foot pain in patients who fail to meet ACR/EULAR 2015 gout classification criteria: An effect predicted by ultrasound.
ORALS Clinical
Dr Colm Kirby (21A148) – Point of Care Ultrasound in a Rapid-Access GCA/PMR Clinic
Scientific
Dr Achilleas Floudas (21A119) – Loss of balance between protective and pro-inflammatory synovial tissue T-cell polyfunctionality predates clinical onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis
PREMIER POSTERS
First Prize – Dr Daire O’Leary (21A142) – Rare inflammatory variants identified on whole exome sequencing of an Irish cohort with chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis.
Second Prize – Dr Sinead Maguire (21A103) – High Prevalence of Complications in Pregnancies of Women with Axial Spondyloarthropathy: Emerging data from the Ankylosing Spondylitis Registry of Ireland
REGULAR POSTERS
First Prize – Brianne E Barker (21A120) – Examining the inhibitory effects of Rapamycin on the inflammatory, invasive, and metabolic capabilities of IL-1B stimulated synovial fibroblasts in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Second Prize – Serena Foo (21A111) – Cytokine synergy and glycolytic activity used to promote aggressive phenotype in FLS of children with Down’s syndrome-associated arthritis.
Third Prize – Diarmuid O’Brien (21A121)- Telephone Clinic Appointments are associated with Excessive DMARD dosing for Stable Inflammatory Arthritis Patients during the COVID-19 era; a cause for concern.
ISR SPRING VIRTUAL MEETING 2021 – PRIZE WINNERS
CLINICAL CASE – WINNERS
First Prize – Dr Sarah Quidwai (21SP105) – “Visceral Leishmaniasis, mimicking SLE in a 79 year old Irish male with limited foreign travel”.
Second Prize – Dr Claire Masih (20S114) – “Parechovirus in a Pathologist”.
ISR AUTUMN MEETING 2020 – PRIZE WINNERS
YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD
Dr Rachael Flood (20A146) – COVID-19 Infection and Hospitalisation Rates in Rheumatic Diseases; Results of the Trinity Rheumatology and Covid-19 Registry – TRACR.
ORALS Clinical
Prof John Carey (20A169) – The Burden of Musculoskeletal Diseases in Ireland: The CIMPACO Study Group.
Scientific
Dr Clare Cunningham (20A114) – Characterisation of Rheumatoid and Psoriatic Arthritis Synovial Fibroblasts
POSTERS
First Prize – Dr Sinead Maguire (20A103) – Pregnancy in Axial Spondyloarthropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Second Prize – Dr Sarah Stewart (20A105) – A Guide to: Saving £43,713.54 (€48,356.65) per year. A quality improvement project changing the frequency of blood monitoring of patients on Biologic therapy, according to best practise guidelines.
Third Prize – Dr Imran Ali (20A147) – Does time to remission differ depending on route of administration of Methotrexate in an Early Arthritis Treat to Target (T2T) cohort?
Past Winners
ISR AUTUMN MEETING 2019 – PRIZE WINNERS
Bernard Connor Medal
Tereza Florica – “Clinical Dilemmas of Cardiac Involvement in Myositis”.
Young Investigator Award
Dr Mary Canavan (19A167) – “The synovial microenvironment in Rheumatoid Arthritis induces metabolic and functional adaptations in Dendritic cells”
Clinical Oral Presentations
1st Dr Charlene Foley (19A181)
2nd Dr Siobhan Clifford (19A142)
Scientific Oral Presentations
1st Dr Achilleas Floudes (19A110)
2nd Dr Megan Hanlon (19A138)
Posters – Premier
1st Dr Catherine Hughes (19A106)
2nd Dr Eva McCabe (19A102)
Posters – Regular
1st Dr Robert Harrington (19A143)
2nd Dr Tahir Aziz (19A174)
Posters – Cases
1st Dr Asif Munir (19A136)
2nd Dr Aine Connerton (19A161)
Best Clinical Case Oral
Dr Wan Lin Ng (19A146) (As judged by the Audience)
Past Winners
ISR AUTUMN MEETING – 19-21 SEPTEMBER 2018 AWARD WINNERS
Bernard Connor Medal -Dylan McGagh
Could patient-reported outcomes help to inform a holistic treat-to-target approach in rheumatology?
Young Investigator Award – Dr Sarah Wade
Dysregulated miR-125a promotes joint angiogenesis through altered bioenergetics – 18A127
1st Place Scientific Award – Dr Charlene Foley – 18A130
1st Place Clinical Award – Dr Yousef Alammari – 18A201
1st Place Poster Award – Dr Candice Low – 18A149
2nd Place Poster Award – Dr Leah Rooney – 18A163
3rd Place Poster Award – Dr Sinead Maguire – 18A145
Joint 4th Place Award – Dr Áine Gorman – 18A176 and Dr Stephen McDonald -18A119
Oral Case Award – Dr Leah Rooney – 18A184
The following three abstracts selected for presentation as Oral Cases and were Commended:
18A152 – Deniz Demirdal; 18A199 – Rajneet Singh; 18A155 – Alwin Sebastian
Here you can view the winners of some of our recent previous meetings.
