Infant Centre

Infant Centre

INFANT is Ireland’s first dedicated perinatal research centre.  Our mission is to develop innovative technologies in perinatal healthcare, improving the treatment and care available to pregnant mothers and newborn babies worldwide. The INFANT Centre was founded in 2013 and is home to world-leading researchers and was built upon the work of the Neonatal Brain Research Group which was established in 2003.

Based between the state of the art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Cork University Maternity Hospital and the INFANT Discovery Platform in Cork University Hospital, the researchers specialise in the analysis of the electroencephalogram (EEG) and other physiological signals.

The overall aim of the group is to improve the long term health outcomes of newborn babies through early and accurate detection of neurological problems.

Principal Investigators

  • Prof. Geraldine Boylan

  • Dr. Deirdre Murray

  • Prof. Eugene Dempsey

Research Staff

  • Dr Sean Matheson

    Sean is the neurophysiologist on the ENRICH study, overseeing the EEG readings of babies at birth and at 4 months of age. Sean has worked in the area of neonatal brain research since 2001, beginning in Great Ormond Street Hospital. Sean worked on the ANSeR algorithm at UCLH before moving to INFANT in 2016.

  • Dr. Denis Dwyer

    Denis is a software research engineer, who has helped integrate software into a live EEG system for use at the bedside in hospital intensive care units.

  • Darina Sheehan

    Darina is the project manager for ENRICH at the INFANT Centre.

  • Leanna Fogarty

    Leanna is the Senior Clinical Paediatric NeuroPsychologist on the ENRICH Team at the INFANT Centre.

  • Claire O'Halloran

    Claire is a research nurse on the ENRICH study at the INFANT Centre.

  • Ita Herlihy

    Ita is a research nurse on the ENRICH study at the INFANT Centre.

  • Anne Marie Cronin

    Anne Marie is the physiotherapist on the ENRICH study at Cork University Maternity Hospital.

  • Mariead Murray

    Mairead is the clinical research manager at the INFANT Centre.

  • Jean Conway

    Jean Conway is a project manager at the INFANT Centre.