Breda Smyth is an Irish public health specialist who has served as Chief Medical Officer of Ireland since October 2022, having previously held the position on an interim basis. She is the first woman to hold the post. She previously was professor for public health medicine in NUI Galway and a

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

in HSE West.

Medical career

Smyth completed her primary degree in medicine ( MB, BCh, BAO) in

University College Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

. She then continued her training in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), undertook a Masters in Public Health in

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, a

Medical Doctorate Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

in NUI Galway and a post-doctoral fellowship in the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. Smyth was conferred as a member of the

Faculty of Public Health Medicine The Faculty of Public Health (FPH) is a public health association in the United Kingdom established as a registered charity. It is the standard setting body for public health specialists within the United Kingdom, setting standards for trainin ...

of Ireland in 2005, and, in 2013, was made a fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine in Ireland. Smyth has extensive experience leading national programmes across

. She was a

senior responsible owner Executive sponsor (sometimes called project sponsor or senior responsible owner) is a role in project management, usually the senior member of the project board and often the chair. The project sponsor will be a senior executive in a corporation ( ...

on the HSE Public Health Reform programme in 2019. She was the national lead on the Health and Positive Ageing Project and she developed and published the ''"Healthy and Positive Ageing for All; Research Strategy 2015 – 2019"'' in collaboration with the Department of Health in 2019. She was also the national

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

prevention lead in the Stroke Clinical Programme 2010 to 2014 leading the pilot opportunistic screening for atrial fibrillation. Throughout the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Smyth contributed significantly as a member of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), the Rapid Testing Expert Advisory Group and as a founding member of the COVID-19 Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group. On 15 June 2022, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly appointed Smyth as Chief Medical Officer of Ireland on an interim basis from 4 July until a permanent successor was appointed, following the retirement of Dr Tony Holohan. On 5 October 2022, it was announced that Professor Smyth would take over as full time Chief Medical Officer, becoming the first woman to hold the post.

Musical career

Surrounded by a strong family tradition of

Irish music Irish music is music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland. The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th and into the 21st century, despite globalis ...

, Smyth plays the

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

and tin whistle. She and her sister Cora began playing music from a young age and have collectively won over forty All-Ireland titles. Smyth has toured and performed worldwide as a violinist with Michael Flatley's '' Lord of the Dance'' and ''

Feet of Flames ''Feet of Flames'' is an Irish dance show directed by Michael Flatley and scored by Ronan Hardiman. Flatley was known for the shows ''Riverdance'' and ''Lord of the Dance (musical), Lord of the Dance''. History Hyde Park 1998 The Hyde Park sho ...

'' which included performances at the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

and the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

for the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. She released her debut album ''Basil and Thyme'' in 2002 and was subsequently nominated as female traditional musician of the year by the ''Irish Music Magazine'' in 2003. She hosted the Irish Music Magazine Awards in the National Concert Hall, Dublin in October 2003.

Personal life

Smyth is from

Straide Straide (), or Strade, is a village in County Mayo, Ireland. It is located on the N58 national secondary road between Foxford and Castlebar. The name Strade is an anglicisation of the Irish words ''an tsráid'', meaning ''the street''. Straid ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

. She has three siblings, Cora, Maria and Sean. Smyth is married to Jimmy Higgins, a

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, and together they have two children, Blathnaid and Donal.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Breda Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Department of Health (Ireland) Health in the Republic of Ireland Members of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland 21st-century women physicians People from Strade People from County Mayo in health professions