If you want to know what career to pursue in the dynamic and ever-changing healthcare landscape of the future, look no further than these 12 exceptional women.
The month of May is when SiliconRepublic.com pays special attention to all things health related. From skills and innovation, to career opportunities and expert interviews, Silicon covers a wide range of topics, including the movers and shakers who are building, changing and driving the industry.
With that in mind, if you’re a student, professional or industry expert, you want to know about the people who power the modern health industry, you’re in luck, as we’ve compiled a list of some of the industry’s most exciting and influential women.
Anna Michalina Sawicka
CEO and founder of Kiwee Health, former software development engineer at Microsoft and current PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Anna Michalina Sawicka’s current research includes AI-based brain age assessment using non-invasive, portable neurotechnology. Sawicka develops healthtech and medtech software for innovators and research-driven teams who need more than technical expertise and recently gave a masterclass on ‘Window into the Aging Brain’, at the Health Tech Global Summit in Basel, Switzerland.
Fiona McGillicuddy
Dr Fiona McGillicuddy is an assistant professor and researcher at UCD School of Medicine. He currently leads an independent research team investigating the links between diet, obesity and heart disease. In particular, his group is interested in understanding the effect of obesity on high-density lipoprotein, also known as ‘good cholesterol’.
In 2012 he was awarded a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellowship to carry out his research, the first in Ireland to receive such funding under the new scheme. He is also involved MetHealtha UCD spin-out supported by NovaUCD, recently presented with the Spinout Showcase Runner-up Award at Enterprise Ireland’s Start-Up Day 2026.
Heidi Davis
Heidi Davis is the CEO and founder of Peri, a wearable perimenopausal health tracker made in Ireland, 2025 again 2026 was named one of the honorees of the CES Innovation Awards of the year and Best in Wellness respectively. Her mission is to close the gender health data gap, starting with perimenopause and she is passionate about using data and innovation to change the way women understand and manage their health.
Katrin Hoffmann
Dr. Katrin Hoffmann is a visceral surgeon, chief medical officer at Luzerner Kantonsspital, one of Switzerland’s largest integrated hospital systems and CEO and founder of Hoffmann Global Health Advisory where he sets the standard for modern healthcare. He regularly contributes his insights on a wide range of key topics at key industry events, including healthcare transformation and digital strategy.
Kimberly Noel
Dr Kimberly Noel is an associate editor at NPJ Digital Medicine, an international, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing research relevant to all aspects of digital medicine and health. He is also the global leader in the defense of artificial intelligence in digital health at the pharmaceutical company Roche, where he focuses on building understanding of the current and future direction of AI and digital health in the medical issues of pharma and the healthcare ecosystem.
Liz McGloughlin
Dr. Liz McGloughlin is the founder of Tympany Medical and the vice president of strategy, clinical and business development. The platform aims to revolutionize ENT surgery by using new endoscope technology. He was previously a bioinnovate student of the Mayo Clinic group and held various positions in the healthcare sector.
Michelle Tierney
Michelle Tierney is the founder and CSO of SymPhysis Medicala medical organization that develops new ways to treat cancer patients receiving palliative care. His organization aims to reduce hospital stays and increase patient independence for patients on intensive care for cancer. Late last year SymPhysis Medical received a $1.25m grant from the Rhode Island Life Science Hub to support US regulatory approval for its Water Extraction System.
Ríona Ní Ghriallais
Dr Ríona Ní Ghriallais is a medical engineer and co-founder and CTO ProVerumwhich is developing a minimally invasive technology to treat symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. He was previously a research and design engineer at Veryan Medical. Ní Ghriallais specializes in medical device innovation, design development, clinical analysis and clinical trials.
Rosanne Longmore
Rosanne Longmore is the CEO and founder of Femtech Coroflo. He is a member of the Board of Directors at Endo Ireland and the AMBER Center and a member of the Steering Group at Scale Ireland, an independent not-for-profit organization representing Irish technology start-ups and scale-ups. Coroflo make history at the CES 2026 awards, it received four awards in one show. The first according to the organizers of the event.
Sinéad Walsh
Dr Sinéad Walsh is program director of the BioInnovate Innovators’ Initiative at the University of Galway. A leader in health technology innovation in his area of expertise to deliver research breakthroughs and support the commercialization of discoveries that benefit patients and society at large. He is also a project manager at Relevium Medical, where he oversees the Hydrobloc Project which aims to bring a novel, patent-protected hydrogel technology to Phase I clinical trials. This will bring a new treatment for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee joints.
Susan Treacy
The CEO of HealthTech Ireland, Susan Treacy has 25 years of experience in the domestic and international healthcare environment. He brokered and signed the first HSE and industry Memorandum of Understanding with sector leaders that led to the National Health Partnership Council and has delivered collaborative initiatives between the HSE, hospitals and industry in the areas of sustainability, digital health, procurement and innovation.
He regularly writes articles for publications such as Business Post, Irish Independent, Irish Times, SMART Health and Pulse+IT and shares his expertise as a speaker at national conferences on leadership, transformation, AI, sustainability, collaboration and innovation. He is also the recipient of many awards and honors. Most recently, the 2025 CEO of the Year at the Irish Times Association & Institute Awards and the 2025 Women in STEM for Health Technology award.
Tanya Mulcahy
Dr Tanya Mulcahy is the director of the Health Innovation Hub Ireland, a national program that supports Irish healthcare innovators and innovators, as they accelerate the development of products that address healthcare system and patient needs. He is also a technical advisor to the World Health Organization and a member of HPRA’s Medical Device Advisory Board. Mulcahy is a driver of healthcare innovation in many areas with a focus on women’s health, FemTech and supporting female founders and is a frequent speaker at conferences, seminars and industry events.
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