Owen Patrick Smith (born 1958/1959) is an Irish

haematologist Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

. He was the Regius Professor of Physic at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

between 2014 and 2020. He has also been Professor of Haematology at Trinity since 2002 and Professor of Paediatric and Adolescent Haematology at

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 ...

since 2015.

Early life and education

Smith was born and raised on the

Northside Northside or North Side may refer to: Music * Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, England * NorthSide, an American record label * NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark * "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vinc ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, before beginning his education at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. As a child, Smith lost his cousin due to childhood leukaemia, which he says has inspired him to find a cure. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 1980 and conducted his postgraduate training at the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known simply as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barn ...

Career

While working at the Royal Free Hospital, Smith joined a six-month joint effort with the

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital ...

in stem cell transplantation. Upon its conclusion, he was offered a consultancy position but decline and accepted a job offer from the Harcourt Street Children's Hospital. In 1998, he received the Junior Chamber Ireland's National Outstanding Young Person of the Year Award in the area of Scientific Development. In 2002, Smith was appointed Professor of Haematology at the Faculty of Medical and Dental Sciences at

. He eventually became the Regius Professor of Physic at Trinity College, Dublin. In 2015, Smith received an honorary

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for his major contributions to Irish medicine.

Research

Smith is a

principal investigator In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often us ...

at the National Children's Research Centre (NCRC), Crumlin, and Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin; his research focuses on the

protein C Protein C, also known as autoprothrombin IIA and blood coagulation factor XIX, is a zymogen, that is, an inactive enzyme. The activated form plays an important role in regulating anticoagulation, inflammation, and apoptosis, cell death and ...

activation pathway and the

systemic inflammatory response syndrome Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is an inflammatory state affecting the whole body. It is the body's response to an infectious or noninfectious insult. Although the definition of SIRS refers to it as an "inflammatory" response, i ...

. In 2016, Smith was appointed the Ireland East Hospital Group (IEHG) Clinical Director of their Clinical Academic Directorate in Cancer (CADC). In this role, he oversaw the launch of a partnership between University College Dublin and IEHG to form the CADC, touted as the "largest cancer treatment centre in the country." Two years later, Smith was appointed the national clinical lead for Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Cancers by the

National Cancer Control Programme With the emergence of cancer as a growing threat to public health, the Indian Government, through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, initiated the National Cancer Control Program (NCCP) in 1975. History Initially, the focus of the program ...

. He also co-published a study on Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia which showed that the cancer cells could be broken into three subgroups through analysis of DNA methylation.

Personal life

Smith and his wife Jude have three children together.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Owen Living people Fellows of Trinity College Dublin 1959 births Irish pediatricians Academics of Trinity College Dublin 21st-century Irish medical doctors Cancer researchers Medical doctors from County Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin