Professor Keelin O’Donoghue is an honours medical graduate of University College Dublin (1995) and PhD Scholar of Imperial College, University of London (2005). She is an RCOG-trained Subspecialist in Maternal and Fetal Medicine from Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital London.  She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists (2012) and was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 2019.  Keelin holds an Advanced Diploma in Medical Law (Kings Inns; 2021)

Keelin took up a post as Consultant Obstetrician/Senior Lecturer at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) and University College Cork (UCC) in 2007.  She was awarded promotion to Professor (Scale 2) in UCC in 2020.  

At University College Cork, Keelin is Clinical Lead for Obstetric Research in the INFANT centre.  She heads up the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, combining supervising a large group of postgraduate and Doctoral students with collaborative clinical research in this area.  She is chair of the Graduate Studies Committee in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 

Research interests include pregnancy loss and perinatal mortality, multiple pregnancy, prenatal screening and diagnosis, and fetal anomaly. Funding includes philanthropy as well as awards from Science Foundation Ireland, the Irish Research Council, Research Ireland, the Medical Protection Society, Enterprise Ireland and the Health Research Board. 

Keelin’s work has resulted in >250 peer-reviewed original papers and >380 published conference proceedings (h-index; 61).  

Keelin chaired the Specialty Training Committee of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (IOG) and was a national specialty-training director for the RCPI’s higher specialist training scheme in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from 2020-2025.   Keelin was appointed to RCPI Council in late 2025 and sits on the Board of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

In 2017, Keelin took up the role of Implementation Lead for the National Standards for Bereavement Care following Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Death, working within the HSE’s National Women and Infants’ Health Programme (NWIHP). She continues an oversight role with the Bereavement Standards from 2021 and has taken up a new role of Guideline Lead for Obstetrics and Gynaecology within NWIHP from March 2021. 

Keelin was appointed as a member of the Life and Health Sciences Multidisciplinary Committee of the Royal Irish Academy in 2022, and as a member of the RCOG's Scientific Advisory Committee in 2025.

Keelin's research interests include prenatal diagnosis and screening, fetal anomalies, early pregnancy loss, miscarriage, stillbirth, TFMR, perinatal palliative care, multiple pregnancy, and qualitative research in Clinical Obstetrics. 

Keelin leads the only research group in Ireland (Pregnancy Loss Research Group) dedicated to pregnancy loss and perinatal death. This multi-disciplinary group is internationally recognised and harnesses the strengths of a large collaborative group of scientists, researchers, advocates and clinicians (~40 members) to focus on an often neglected yet common pregnancy complication. The PLRG conducts research for impact, actionable in practice and that meets the needs of people with lived experience, healthcare practitioners and decision makers.

Senior Lecturer, University College Cork

Undergraduate and Graduate Entry Medicine

• Clinical instruction and tutorials to 4th and 5th year medical students
• Preparation, supervision and marking of Student Examinations
• College Examiner
• Supervision of final year medical projects (2-3 per year)

MSc in Obstetrics and Gynaecology CKX12 2009-2021

Course developer and Curriculum Designer, Programme Director, Module and Research Co-ordinator. The MSc (Master of Science) in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Obstetrics and Gynaecology is a two-year part-time course with annual entry, which provides postgraduate education in obstetrics and gynaecology for trainees during their clinical posts.  The MSC comprises taught modules, clinical attachments and a dissertation and has three essential components - an obstetric year with 3 taught modules (30 credits), a gynaecology year, also with 3 modules (30 credits), and the research module (30 credits) which spans both years.  It is assessed through continuous assessment, a course logbook and an end of year OSCE examination.  

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology’s annual Academic (CPD) Programme

Organiser from 2008-2017, facilitating external workshops from providers such as the Medical Professional Society and Irish Hospice Foundation, as well as organising local study days for trainees, consultants or general practitioners.

Obstetric Ultrasound in the Third Trimester 

Course developer and Curriculum Designer, Programme Director. New programme aimed at Midwives working in CUMH Emergency Room and Outreach Antenatal clinics. 

Workshops (for students, clinicians, healthcare professionals, researchers)

• Ethics, Law and Pregnancy in Ireland Network (ELPIN) workshops
  2020-2022
• Teaching, Excellent, pArent, peRinatal, Deaths-related, inteRactions, tO, Professionals (TEARDROP) workshops
  An initiative of the National Implementation Group for the National Standards for Bereavement Care Following Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Death  
  2019-
• Bereavement in the Maternity Services: ‘An Approach to Caring and Coping for Clinicians - using Applied Drama Techniques’. 
  RCPI-based workshops for trainees in Obstetrics & Gynaecology
  2017-

Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, RCPI

• Trainer, Basic Speciality Training
• Trainer, Higher Speciality Training
• Provider / Trainer, HST Obstetrics and Gynaecology Speciality Module, Maternal Medicine
• Provider / Trainer, HST Obstetrics and Gynaecology Speciality Module, Labour Ward
• Member, Speciality Training Committee, 2014-2019
• Chair, Speciality Training Committee, 2020-2025
• Member, IOG Board, 2026-

Appointments 

• Appointed as National Specialty Training Director for the Higher Specialist Training Programme in Obstetrics and Gynaecology by the RCP in May 2020. Completed Term September 2025. 
• Member, Representative of School of Medicine, CoMH Graduate Studies Committee, UCC, 2022-5
• Member, School of Medicine Graduate Studies Committee, UCC, 2024-
• Member, School of Medicine Research and Innovation Committee, UCC, 2024-
• External Examiner, University College Dublin (UCD) School of Medicine, December 2025-