Professor Mary Ryan graduated from Trinity College with an MB BCH BAO the Peter Shepherd Memorial Prize, Adelaide Travel Scholarship Award and Honours in the Foundation Scholarship where she specialised in female infertility. She later graduated with a MA and MD from Trinity College which she did on Diabetes, Obesity and Insulin Resistance.
Dr Mary Ryan lectured in Pharmacology in the RCSI under the stewardship of the President of University of Limerick Professor Des Fitzgerald and has a special interest in Diabetes, insulin pumps, obesity, infertility, osteoporosis, hypertension, Hyperlipidaemia thyroid disease and chronic fatigue. She was appointed Consultant Physician and Endocrinology to Barringtons Hospital in 2001 and also to Aut Even Hospital in Kilkenny where she runs four clinics per month. She lectures to GP’s nationwide and also to the public on the prevention of Heart Disease and Type 2 Diabetes and its complications. She is on the Women’s Heart Advisory Group for the Irish Heart Foundation and lectured to the public in the Royal College of Physicians Dublin on prevention of Type 2 Diabetes.m Trinity College, Dublin which she did on Diabetes, Obesity and Insulin Resistance.
She is Senior Lecturer with the Post Graduate School of Medicine since its commencement in 2007 and is actively involved with clinical research and supervises and publishes research with the medical students on Endocrinology and Diabetes.
She participated in a very popular public health education programme called “How long will you live” for four years on RTE and has made regular contributions to radio and television shows over the course of her career giving her expert views on Diabetes Heart Disease and Endocrinology.
She has lectured and tutored over the last 11 years in the Post Graduate Medical Degree programme in University of Limerick. Her Hobbies include Soprano Singing and she trained with Dr Veronica Dunne. She produced a CD entitled “Carpe Diem”. More recently the produced a CD called “The Next Chapter”, where she raised well needed funds for the Irish Heart Foundation.
She has a long interest in women’s health and is involved in a nationwide lecture series for the last two years on educating women on menopause.
She organised a highly successful conference in the University of Limerick Concert Hall in May 2018 on how the Empowerment of women improves physical mental and social health, which was opened by Professor Des Fitzgerald, President of the University of Limerick and included contributions from the medical community which included Professor Lisa Coates, Dr Deirdre Fanning, Dr Blathnaid Murtagh, Dr Julie O Brien, Dr Maire Finn, Professor Helen Phelan of the Music Academy UL, Professor Lee Monaghan and Mary O’Donoghue from Sociology and a wide range of public representations from the business and political community. There were also contributions from Loretta Brennan Glucksman and Trish Long from the UL foundation. She firmly believes that we need more education on the Empowerment of women to achieve equality of the sexes and is convinced it is related to better health and social outcomes.
She continues to be involved in cardiovascular disease prevention and is on the National Lipid Steering Committee as well giving public lectures on behalf of the Irish Heart Foundation on heart disease prevention. She is also actively fundraising for the Irish Heart Foundation and chairperson of their New Years Eve Ball committee.
Dr Ryan is also a member of the working group looking to establish a National Lipid Screening programme and furthermore implement a formalised consensus for lipid and familial hypercholesterolemia protocols. Dr Ryan was on the Obesity Taskforce in 2004 which initiated the National Obesity Taskforce report 2005. This made 93 recommendations to the Minister of Health regarding the growing obesity problem.