Dr. Aisling Barry
Professor Aisling Barry is Professor and Chair of Radiation Oncology at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland, and a Consultant Radiation Oncologist at Cork University Hospital (CUH). She returned to Ireland in 2022 following five years at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the University of Toronto, where she served as Clinical Lead of the Palliative Radiotherapy and Oligometastatic Disease Programme and was an active member of the breast and gastro-intestinal disease site groups.
Professor Barry graduated in Medicine from Trinity College Dublin and completed specialist training in Radiation Oncology in Ireland, becoming a Fellow of the Faculty of Radiologists and Radiation Oncologists, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (FFR RCSI) in 2013. She subsequently undertook fellowship training at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (2014-2016), with subspecialty expertise in breast cancer and the use of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for hepatopancreatobiliary, lung and spine malignancies. She was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCPC) in 2019 and completed a Master's degree in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at the University of Toronto in 2021. Her thesis focused on health-related quality of life outcomes in patients with oligometastatic cancer.
An internationally recognised academic radiation oncologist, Professor Barry's research focuses on the development and evaluation of advanced radiotherapy techniques for patients with challenging and poor-prognosis malignancies, including primary and secondary liver cancers, pancreatic cancer and biliary tract cancers. She also has a longstanding interest in understanding and improving quality of life outcomes for patients living with and beyond cancer. Her work spans clinical trials, outcomes research and translational studies aimed at improving both survival and patient experience.
Professor Barry has served on international guideline and expert committees, including the ASTRO Primary Liver Cancer Guideline Panel, and is currently an Associate Section Editor for the Gastrointestinal Oncology section of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.
At UCC and CUH, Professor Barry leads the Radiation Oncology Clinical Trials Group, is local lead for the Irish Research Radiation Oncology Group (IRROG), and is committed to expanding clinical research opportunities and access to innovative cancer treatments for patients in Ireland. She is co-chair of Cancer Trials Ireland Gastrointestinal Disease Specific Site Group. She is co-lead of the UCC/CUH Cancer Centre Educational Committee and of the Cancer Research@UCC Research Talent Development Program, she is also the lead of the Irish Society of Radiation Oncology Advocacy group. Professor Barry is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education, supervising MD and PhD researchers and contributing to the Master of Radiation Therapy programme at UCC. Through her clinical, research and educational leadership, she is dedicated to advancing radiation oncology practice to better patient care and developing the next generation of clinician-scientists.