Classmates in Conversation: Episode 3 - Dr Frank Kelly and Dr Tracy Cunningham (Class of 1988)

In this episode, Dr Frank Kelly sits down with Dr Tracy Cunningham to catch up on where life has taken them since they graduated from RCSI in 1988.
Dr Frank Kelly:
Frank is a 1988 graduate of RCSI in Dublin. He completed his basic specialist training at Beaumont hospital from 1988-1991 completing his MRCPI at that time.
He relocated to the United States and completed his Residency in Internal Medicine at UVM (Burlington Vermont) followed by Fellowship at the Department of Nephrology, Transplant and Clinical Pharmacology at Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, Oregon. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and Nephrology.
Frank then moved into practice for a number of years in the Pacific Northwest prior to being appointed Consultant Renal physician at Altnagelvin hospital in Derry.
He subsequently worked in Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore before a final move in 2014 to his current post as consultant in University Hospital Waterford.
Frank’s clinical interests are in medical management of end-stage kidney failure and in bioethics, particularly pertaining to end-stage kidney disease and decisions on dialysis applicability. He completed an MSc (hons) in Healthcare Ethics and Medical Law in RCSI in 2010.
Dr Tracy Cunningham:
A native of Rathfarnham, Dublin and a graduate of the Class of 1988, Dr Tracy Cunningham spent five years in clinical practice during which she obtained her membership of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland and later her fellowship. Tracy specialised in Pharmaceutical Medicine with a focus on clinical development and medical affairs.
Over the course of the last 25 years, she has worked at a senior level in Ireland, at a European level and for the last 15 years at global level in multinational pharmaceutical companies including Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis.
More recently, Tracy held the role of Clinical Head, Oncology R&D in AstraZeneca leading the clinical development of several new medicines, including the successful approval of Koselugo (selumetinib) for the treatment of paediatric patients with NF1 plexiform neurofibromas.
Until the end of 2023, Tracy held the role of Chief Medical Officer at Amryt Pharma, a biopharmaceutical rare and orphan diseases company, which she joined in 2020. She was on the executive leadership team with responsibility for regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, quality, and clinical/preclinical development functions. The approval of Filsuvez (birch triterpenes) for patients with epidermolysis bullosa in Europe and the US has been the most important achievement of her tenure, representing the first medicine for this rare condition.
In 2019, Tracy was appointed by the Minister of Health to the Board of the Health Research Board (HRB), Ireland and from 2024 will focus on non-executive director roles as well as continuing participation on the higher specialist training committee for pharmaceutical medicine.