Patricia has an extensive background spanning over 25 years in biomedical science. Her primary research focus lies at the intersection of platelet biology and artificial intelligence (AI).
Her research centres on the diagnosis and understanding of various inflammatory diseases, including preeclampsia, multiple sclerosis, venous thromboembolism, and COVID-19. Notably, she has successfully merged her expertise in biomedical science with cutting-edge AI methodologies to develop a ground-breaking prototype risk stratification tool, AI PREMie, specifically designed for preeclampsia. AI PREMie is currently undergoing a pilot phase in the 3 principal maternity hospitals in Ireland, collectively responsible for 50% of all Irish births—the National Maternity Hospital, Rotunda Hospital, and Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital, and it has won multiple accolades including the AI Innovation of the Year Award at the Public Sector Digital Transformation Awards 2023.
In addition to her groundbreaking research, Patricia leads the UCD AI Healthcare Hub, an innovative accelerator for data projects established in collaboration with SAS Institute and Microsoft. The hub’s mission is to democratise artificial intelligence and augmented intelligence technologies, making them accessible to non-coding researchers. This initiative accelerates data-driven decision-making across diverse research projects. With her dual roles as Director of UCD Institute for Discovery and leader in platelet biology and AI research, Patricia is driving transformative advancements at the forefront of biomedical science and artificial intelligence in healthcare.