Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Business award for Kilcullen resident scientist

Kilcullen resident Deirdre Kelly was awarded the Emerging Business Woman of the Year accolade by Network Kildare last weekend, writes Brian Byrne.

Her business, Kelly Scientific, compiles specialist market analysis reports for the pharma and biotechnology industries. Clients include many top global companies in those areas as well as academic institutions and state agencies. Among them are Pfizer, Bayer, Sony, Merck, Abbott, J&J, P&G, Beckman Coulter, Amgen and the World Health Organization.

Deirdre's market analyses cover such subjects as Personalized Medicine, Targeted Therapeutics and Companion Diagnostics; Cancer Biomarkers; Cancer Immunotherapeutics; Cosmetic Surgery Products & Services; and Pharma Industry reports on China and India.

Deirdre has a PhD in Medicine, Genetics, Immunology (RCSI); an MSc in Biotechnology (NUIG); and a BA(Mod) in Biochemistry from Trinity College Dublin. Originally from Castledermot, she has lived in Dublin and Cork, and moved to Kilcullen two years ago with her husband Ger and two small children.

Before she founded Kelly Scientific, she worked as a research scientist and lecturer in Trinity College, UCC and Teagasc. In parallel she was a scientific writer with New York-based TriMark Publications, and established Kelly Scientific after noticing an unmet need for specific market analysis projects within her areas of interest. She had always had a keen interest in industry, which prompted her to explore the healthcare business space further.

Funding support was provided by the Kildare Local Enterprise Office, and through them and Network Kildare, Deirdre was able to access mentors with expertise in marketing and business development. She has used internet and digital marketing very successfully to advance her business.

The awards ceremony was at the Palmerstown House Estate in Naas on Friday 19 May and guests included the Mayor of Kildare, Cllr Ivan Keatley; Mary Mitchell-O’Connor, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation; Jacqui McNabb, Head of Enterprise at County Kildare LEO; TDs Martin Heydon, Bernard Durkan, Fiona O’Loughlin, and James Lawless; and Allan Shine, CEO of Kildare Chamber.

Deirdre is pictured above (right) receiving her award from Minister Mary Mitchell-O'Connor, with Pauline Forde, President of Network Kildare.