US-Ireland R&D Partnership

Biographies of Steering Group members

United States

Mr. Jonathan Margolis

Term of Appointment: 013/02/2011 to present

Jonathan Margolis, a career member of the Senior Executive Service, serves as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Space, and Health in the Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. In this position, he is responsible for policies and programs in the areas of International Science & Technology Cooperation, Space, & Advanced Technologies, and International Health and Biodefense.

From 2007-2011, Mr. Margolis served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Communications in the Bureau of International Information Programs. Mr. Margolis oversaw the Bureau’s Internet, video, and print products, including social media. His team’s programs reached and engaged hundreds of millions of people both directly and through decentralized operations on 250+ sites in virtually every country in the world.

From 2006-2007, Mr. Margolis served as the Senior Coordinator for Global and Functional Issues in the Office of the Director of Foreign Assistance, where he oversaw reform efforts to ensure effective use of foreign assistance resources, through strategic planning and transparent performance measures. His team was responsible for programs with an annual budget of $6.5 billion, dispersed through 14 bureaus and over 100+ U.S. missions.

From 1997-2006, Mr. Margolis served as the Department's Special Representative for Sustainable Development and as the Director of the Office of Policy Coordination and Initiatives in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. As Special Representative, he headed the U.S. Delegation to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. He also served as a member of international science and technology boards and sustainability partnerships.

Mr. Margolis joined the Department in 1991 as a American Association for Advancement of Science Diplomacy Fellow and was integrally involved in environment, water, and economic issues and programs, as part of the multilateral track of the Middle East peace process through 1996. During that time he also served as the Division Chief for the Middle East and Asia in the Office of Science and Technology Cooperation.

Mr. Margolis has a Ph.D. from Harvard University in psychology, focusing on negotiation and conflict resolution. He holds a master's degree from the Fletcher School of International Law and Diplomacy, and his undergraduate degree is in fine arts from Harvard College. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at American University, and the Foreign Service Institute, where he has conducted courses on environmental policy, negotiations, and international organizations.


Prof. Pramod P. Khargonekar

Professor Khargonekar serves as the Assistant Director for the Directorate of Engineering (ENG).  Most recently Dr. Khargonekar was the Deputy Director for technology at the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). He is the Eckis Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida, a position he has held since 2001, and one he will retain while at NSF. He served as the dean of the University of Florida's College of Engineering from 2001 to 2009.

Dr. Khargonekar's engineering research encompasses control systems theory and applications, smart grid and renewable energy, semiconductor manufacturing, and modeling and control of neural systems, among other areas. He has received many awards and honors, including the IEEE Baker Prize, American Automatic Control Council's Donald Eckman Award, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher. He is a Fellow of IEEE.

Most recently, Khargonekar has been a member of NSF's Engineering Advisory Committee, where he provided guidance to ENG on strategic directions.


Prof. Nicholas Farrell

Professor Nicholas P. Farrell is a graduate of University College Dublin. He obtained his Ph. D. from Sussex University and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Simon Fraser University and The University of British Columbia. He is currently professor of Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). His research interests are in the broad area of bioinorganic chemistry. Specifically his interest is in the medicinal uses of inorganic compounds and his work has included development of anticancer, antiviral and antiparasitic drugs. The first genuinely structurally novel platinum drug to enter clinical trials in thirty years (BBR3464) arose from his laboratory research. With this advance the paradigm of cisplatin-based anticancer agents was altered. In his laboratory the fundamental molecular concepts of chemistry and DNA structure are integrated with pharmacological and cell biology parameters (mechanisms of cellular toxicity and resistance, gene expression, signaling pathways) in rational design of new medically useful compounds. He has received continuous funding for over 25 years from the American Cancer Society, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health for his research. His laboratory has active collaborative research projects with many international scientists including Australia, Brazil, Israel and The Czech Republic.

Professor Farrell has written or co-edited three books in the area of platinum anticancer agents and medicinal inorganic chemistry. He is the author of over 200 refereed papers and review chapters. He and his collaborators have received over sixty patents world wide from his inventions. He was Distinguished Research Scholar of Virginia Commonwealth University for 2003-2004. Professor Farrell’s activities are both highly interdisciplinary and international in scope. He was the Chair of the first Gordon Research Conference on Metals in Medicine and in October 2003 chaired the Ninth International Symposium on Platinum Compounds in Cancer Chemotherapy, a meeting which unites chemists, biochemists, pharmacologists and cancer clinicians.

Professor Farrell is a 2010 Jefferson Science Fellow (JSF). The JSF program is administered by the National Academies and supported through a partnership between the U.S. academic community, professional scientific societies, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) – see http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/Jefferson/index.htm. In this capacity Prof. Farrell has worked on international Science Cooperation agreements and assisted in creating the office of Science & Technology at USAID. At Virginia Commonwealth University, Prof. Farrell’s international outreach activities include forging strategic partnerships with universities world-wide. He is Director for the VCU-University of São Paulo strategic partnership and has organized research scholar exchange at undergraduate, graduate and faculty levels. Through his efforts, VCU participates in a model international Research Experience for Undergraduates (iREU) run jointly by NSF and FAPESP (Brazil). He is also developing a joint master’s program in Chemistry with Fudan University, Shanghai China. He is co-founder and President of The Wild Geese Network of Irish Scientists, an All-Ireland Professional Network enabling connection, communication and collaboration of the Irish scientific, technological and engineering Diaspora. Professor Farrell is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish.

Ireland

Mr. Feargal Ó Móráin

Feargal Ó Móráin, MA (Economics) NUI Dublin, MSc (Business Strategy) Trinity College Dublin, Member of Chartered of Institute of Personnel and Development.

Feargal retired from his position as an Executive Director of Enterprise Ireland (National Industrial Development Agency reporting to the Dept of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation) in 2012 following a career in the industrial development agencies in Ireland. In the years prior to his retirement Feargal was responsible for implementing the Agency’s national mandate in relation to Technology Transfer and R&D (annual budget of €150m) as well as having overall responsibilities for the management and development of the Agency’s extensive investments in Private sector equity funds and in start-up and established Enterprise Ireland client companies (value of portfolio in excess of €250m). He was also responsible for a number of corporate functions including Finance, HR and Corporate Planning. He served as chairman of the Committee responsible for allocating R&D grants to client companies for over 15 years and was also chairman of the Industrial Research Committee responsible for allocating funding to research projects with a clear commercial objective in the third level sector and investing in the technology transfer infrastructure in the State.

In previous roles Feargal managed the property portfolio and company development divisions of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and was also Personnel Manager of the organisation.

Feargal has served a term as a member of the Governing Board of the National University of Ireland (Galway) and was also a member of the Boards of Nova UCD and Invent (the technology transfer arms of the National University of Ireland, Dublin and Dublin City University respectively). He also represented the Irish research funding agencies for a number of years at meetings of EUROHORCS (an association of the heads of European research funding and research performing organisations which has since evolved into Science Europe). He is currently a member of the Governance Committee of the Biomedical Diagnostic Institute (BDI) which is an academic-industry-clinical partnership involving 5 academic institutions and 4 companies headquartered in Dublin City University.


Prof. Mark Ferguson

Mark Ferguson was appointed Professor of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester in 1984, aged 28, when he was the youngest Professor in Britain. He has held a number of administrative posts including Head of Department and Dean. He played a key role in the internationally acclaimed restructuring of Life Sciences at The University of Manchester. Mark has wide ranging research interests which focus on cellular and molecular mechanisms in scarring and wound healing, developmental mechanisms in normal and cleft palate formation, alligator and crocodile biology. He is the discoverer of scar free embryonic wound healing and temperature dependent sex determination in alligators and crocodiles. He is the recipient of numerous international awards, prizes, medals and honours for his research work, including the 2002 European Science Prize, and is the author of 325 research papers and book chapters, 8 books and 60 patent families. Mark has supervised over 70 PhD students and been awarded more than £70M in International peer reviewed research grants from major Research Councils and Charities. He has delivered hundreds of plenary lectures at International Scientific Conferences and contributed to numerous TV and Radio programmes on Scientific Research and its utilisation.

Mark has a deep interest in translating scientific research findings into successful commercial entities. He founded and funded (including a £13.5M state of the art building) the Manchester Biosciences Incubator, which has successfully mentored and housed a number of start up companies. Based on inventions and patents from his University research, Mark co –founded (with Dr Sharon O’Kane) Renovo, a biotechnology company developing novel pharmaceutical therapies to prevent scarring and accelerate wound healing. As CEO, since foundation, Mark built and led Renovo from 2 people to a peak staff of approx 200, and from being a small private start up to a listed public company. He was personally involved at every step of this evolution: hiring key staff and Directors, raising £32M of private International Venture Capital, pursuing commercial research and development including clinical trials of potential products , interacting with International Regulatory Authorities, licensing ( including negotiating a US $830M plus royalties deal for the lead drug ), liaising with major banks , analysts and investment funds including an IPO on the London Stock Exchange raising £67.5M, and restructuring Renovo in response to advanced clinical trial data and commercial opportunities.

Mark is currently Honorary Professor of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester. He has been President of a number of Learned Societies eg European Tissue Repair Society, chaired the first UK Government’s Health and Life Sciences Foresight Panel, and served on many committees eg the UKTI Life Sciences Marketing Board, the Committee of Safety of Medicines Biological Subcommittee and the European Space Agency. He has also served on the Board or Scientific Advisory Board of a number of International Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies.

Mark Ferguson, was born in Northern Ireland, attended school in Ballykelly and Coleraine and graduated from the Queens University of Belfast with degrees in Dentistry (BDS 1st class honours), Anatomy and Embryology (BSc 1st class honours, PhD) and Medical Sciences (DMedSc), holds Fellowships from the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in Ireland (FFD), and Edinburgh (FDS) and is a Founding Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci). He is a member or Fellow of a number of learned Societies, and was made a “Commander of the British Empire” (CBE) by the Queen in 1999 for services to Health and Life Sciences.

Dr. Graham Love

Graham Love (PhD) is the Chief Executive of the HRB. His appointment commenced on 21 March 2014. He brings 15 years leadership and senior management experience to the HRB, with his most recent role being Chief Executive of Molecular Medicine Ireland.  Previous positions include a variety of senior posts at Science Foundation Ireland including Interim Director General, Director of Policy and Communications and Director of Discover Science and Engineering. During his time at SFI he was responsible for the development of SFI’s 2009-2013 strategy, Powering the Smart Economy, a €1.1 billion plan to drive delivery of the Government’s enterprise science agenda and its’ successor, Agenda 2020. He also led SFIs involvement in the Government Research Prioritisation programme and the Innovation Task Force.

Graham was Chief Executive of The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland between 2005 and 2006. Before this he spent almost a decade with management consulting firm, Accenture, where he worked with clients in the communications and high-tech sector, including Microsoft and Vodafone.

He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology in 1993, followed by a PhD in vascular cell biology in 1997 from University College Dublin.

Northern Ireland

Dr Rosemary Hamilton CBE

Rosemary is the former Director of the Open University in Ireland (1992 – 2010).

Rosemary graduated from Queen's University with a first class honours degree in Chemistry in 1967 and a PhD in Agricultural Chemistry in 1972. She undertook a year on voluntary service in Kenya, employed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

She worked for The Open University from 1971, working as a member of the tutorial and counselling staff, followed by a period as Staff Tutor in Science and Technology and, from 1990-92, was a visiting Lecturer at the University of Ulster.

As Director, she was responsible for delivering the Open University's courses and qualifications throughout Ireland and for the provision of learning support to its students. She was a member of the Council, the Senate, the Curriculum, Awards and Validation Committee and, formerly, of its Academic Board.

Rosemary also served on the Governing Body of the North Down and Ards Institute of Further and Higher Education from 1994 until 2007. Her involvement in higher education in Northern Ireland has included the NI Credit Accumulation and Transfer System Implementation Board, the Tertiary Sector Standing Conference, the HE Constituency Panel for Lifelong Learning UK and the Northern Ireland Higher Education Council, the CBI Council in Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Employment & Skills Advisory Group. She was awarded the CBE for her services to higher education.


Ms. Nuala Kerr

Nuala Kerr has recently taken up the post as Director of Higher Education in the Department for Employment and Learning.

She is a Chartered Management Accountant with an MBA from the University of Ulster and an MSc in European Public Policy from Queen’s University. Nuala has more than 30 years experience working in the public sector including in health, housing and industrial development. Most recently she was Director of Skills and Industry in the Department.


Ms. Carol Keery

Carol has been working in the economic developement arena for over 20 years, across the key areas of enterprise and innovation. She was appointed to the post of Director of Innovation, Research and Technology in April 2008 at a time when Invest NI was reviewing the ways in which it supported businesses to carry out R&D. SInce that time she has overseen a programme of comprehensive change to how Invest NI works with businesses to support their R&D activities. Prior to taking up this post Carol was involved in Trade and Policy Development and has a strong background in EU funded programmes.