Dr Suzanne Crowe appointed as new National Screening Advisory Committee Chair

It has been announced that Dr Suzanne Crowe will be the new Chair of the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC) following an open competition.

The NSAC is an independent committee which advises the Minister for Health and the Department of Health on all new proposals for population-based screening programmes and on changes to existing programmes.

Dr Crowe is a Consultant at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin and Senior Clinical Lecturer in Paediatrics at Trinity College Dublin and is an Associate Professor in the division of Women and Children’s Health, School of Medicine, University College Dublin. She is also the current President of the Medical Council.

Minister Stephen Donnelly said: “Dr Crowe brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this important role. Her leadership, no doubt, will lead us to further advance enhancements to population-based screening in Ireland. Safe expansion of population-based screening in Ireland is the priority for the National Screening Advisory Committee, done in line with best international practice. Significant progress has been made in this regard in the last few years. I continue to support this committee’s work and look forward to working with Dr Crowe.”

Dr Crowe said: “I am delighted to join NSAC to continue its important work on population screening in Ireland. I am grateful to the previous Chair, Prof Niall O’Higgins, for laying the right foundations and for the significant progress already achieved, and I am determined to continue the work. The importance of population-based health screening cannot be understated, and I look forward to contributing to effective health screening for our population”.

There are currently 19 members of the NSAC, and the membership is drawn from representatives with backgrounds in different disciplines. Several members of the Committee’s terms are due to expire in October. The Department of Health is now requesting expressions of interest for appointment to the NSAC for people with expertise in the following areas: Epidemiology; ethics; public voice; obstetrics; and health economics.

The positions are currently advertised and the closing date for applications is 17 November 2023.