Prof Bryan Hennessy

Professor Bryan Hennessy is a clinician scientist with extensive experience in translational cancer research. His research team has had considerable impact on the field of kinase signalling research in cancers including gynaecological and breast cancers as evidenced by his peer-reviewed publication record (including >130 publications).

In addition, Professor Hennessy was co-PI of two United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grants while at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Since returning to Ireland in 2009, Professor Hennessy has been co-PI on Molecular Therapeutics for Cancer Ireland (MTCI), an SFI Strategic Research Cluster, and BREAST-PREDICT, an Irish Cancer Society collaborative cancer research center, as well as PI on a HRB/SFI Translational Research Award as well as 3 HRB grant Awards.

He is currently clinical lead of Cancer Trials Ireland. Professor Hennessy has established the first Sequenom and reverse phase protein array (RPPA) platforms in Ireland; these are powerful genomic and proteomic platforms with tremendous utility in translational cancer research. Recent preclinical research by Professor Hennessy and his research team in trastuzumab-resistant HER2-positive breast cancer has led to the initiation of 2 Bayer-funded heavily translational academic clinical trials of trastuzumab/T-DM1 and the PI3K inhibitor copanlisib in Irish women with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer.