Damien is the Director of the NI Cancer Registry (since 2022) and a Consultant in public health medicine.
Before these roles, he worked as the Public Health Lead for both the breast and cervical screening programs with the Public Health Agency, NI. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he also took on the role of Public Health Consultant Lead for COVID-19 contact tracing data and surveillance.
His research experience includes examining patient reported outcomes measures (PROMs) in cancer patients, evaluating cancer screening programs, and studying public health and orthopaedic biomechanics.
He is currently leading work seeking to identify and audit metastatic breast cancer patients in NI and is also working with NCRI to develop an All-Island Cancer Atlas. He is a key investigator in a study examining inequalities in breast cancer patients.
Damien has a medical degree and a masters in Public Health (MPH) from Queens University Belfast, along with a PhD in Bioengineering from the same university. He also has degrees in engineering and mathematics from Trinity College Dublin.
He previously worked as Manager of the Gait Analysis Service at Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast, as Lead Clinical Bioengineer at the Central Remedial Clinic in Dublin and as a Research and Development Engineer at Medtronic in Galway, a global medical device company.