Prof Kenneth O’Byrne is a Consultant Medical Oncologist with a particular interest in the management of thoracic malignancies. He is clinical director of the HOPE directorate at St James’s Hospital and clinical professor at Trinity College, Dublin. Prof O’Byrne qualified from University College, Dublin (UCD) in 1984, completed his higher professional training in oncology at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford in 1997 and subsequently worked as a consultant and senior lecturer in medical oncology at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and University of Leicester until October ’03 before returning to Dublin in November ’03.
He has a Doctorate Degree in Medicine from UCD obtained in 1998 and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland. Prof O’Byrne is a founder member and president of the British Thoracic Oncology Group (BTOG) and British Mesothelioma Interest Group (BMIG) and sits on the UK National Cancer Research Institute Lung Clinical Studies Group committee. He is also a co-founder and board member of the European Thoracic Oncology Platform (ETOP). He chairs the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) fellowship committee.
Prof O’Byrne is an active member of the Irish Society of Medical Oncology (ISMO), Irish Clinical Oncology Research Group (ICORG), All Ireland Lung Cancer Forum (AILCF), European organisation for the research and treatment of cancer (EORTC) Lung Cancer Group, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Since returning to Dublin Prof O'Byrne has set up the Thoracic Oncology Research Group based within the Clinical Trials Unit and the Institute of Molecular Medicine on the St James's Hospital Campus. The group has an interest in carcinogenesis, identification of novel biomarkers and novel targeted therapy in lung cancer and mesothelioma. He has edited 2 text books in thoracic oncology and published over 160 manuscripts in peer-reviewed books and journals.