If you want to know whose career to follow in the dynamic and ever-evolving future health space, then look no further than these 12 exceptional women.
The month of May is when SiliconRepublic.com pays particular attention to all things related to health-tech and future health. From skills and innovations to job opportunities and expert interviews, we cover a wide array of topics, including spotlighting some of the movers and shakers building, transforming and driving the sector.
With that in mind, if you are a student, professional or industry expert that is curious about the people powering the health-tech industry, then you are in luck, as we have compiled a list of some of the sector’s most exciting and influential women.
Anna Michalina Sawicka
The CEO and co-founder of Kiwee Health, a former software development engineer at Microsoft and a current PhD student in biomedical engineering at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Anna Michalina Sawicka’s current research covers AI-based brain-age assessment using non-invasive, portable neurotechnology.
Sawicka develops health-tech and medtech software for founders and research-driven teams who require “more than technical expertise”, and recently gave a masterclass entitled ‘Window into the Ageing 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. Currently, she is leading an independent research team investigating the links between diet, obesity and cardiovascular disease. More specifically, her group is interested in understanding the impact of obesity on the function of high-density lipoprotein, which is also known as ‘good cholesterol’.
In 2012, she was awarded the Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellowship to conduct her research, the first in Ireland to receive such funding under the scheme. She is also involved with MetHealth, a UCD spin-out supported through NovaUCD, which was recently presented with the Spin-out Showcase Runner-up Award at Enterprise Ireland’s Start-Up Day 2026.
Heidi Davis
Heidi Davis is the CEO and co-founder of Peri, an Irish company that makes a wearable perimenopausal health tracker, which in 2025 and 2026 was named one of the year’s CES Innovation Awards honourees and the Best in Wellness respectively. Her goal is to close the gender health data gap, starting with perimenopause, and she is passionate about using data and innovation to transform how women understand and manage their health.
Katrin Hoffmann
Dr Katrin Hoffmann is a visceral surgeon, the chief medical officer at the Luzerner Kantonsspital – one of Switzerland’s largest integrated university hospital systems – and the CEO and founder of Hoffmann Global Health Advisory, which aims to set “the standard for modern healthcare”. She regularly contributes her insights on a range of crucial topics at key industry events, covering healthcare transformation and digital strategy.
Kimberly Noel
Dr Kimberly Noel is an associate editor at NPJ Digital Medicine, an open access, international, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing research relevant to all aspects of digital medicine and health. She is also the global lead of artificial intelligence advocacy and digital health at pharmaceutical company Roche, where her focus is on building an understanding of the current and future direction of AI and digital health in pharma medical affairs and healthcare ecosystems.
Liz McGloughlin
Dr Liz McGloughlin is the co-founder of Tympany Medical and its vice-president for strategy, clinical and business development. The company aims to revolutionise ENT surgery via innovative endoscope technology. Previously, she was a BioInnovate fellow for the Mayo Clinic team and held various positions in the healthcare sector.
Michelle Tierney
Michelle Tierney is the co-founder and CSO of SymPhysis Medical, a medical organisation that develops innovative treatments for cancer patients undergoing palliative care. The company aims to reduce periods of hospitalisation and increase patient independence for those experiencing fluid build-up as a result of cancer.
Late last year, SymPhysis Medical received a $1.25m grant from the Rhode Island Life Science Hub to support US regulatory clearance for its Releaze Drainage System.
Ríona Ní Ghriallais
Dr Ríona Ní Ghriallais is a biomedical engineer and the co-founder and CTO of ProVerum, which develops minimally invasive technologies to treat symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. She was also previously a research and design engineer at Veryan Medical. Ní Ghriallais specialises in medical device innovation, design development, and preclinical and clinical analysis.
Rosanne Longmore
Rosanne Longmore is the CEO and co-founder of femtech Coroflo. She is a member of the board of directors at Endo Ireland and the AMBER Centre, and also a steering group member at Scale Ireland, which is an independent, not-for-profit, representative organisation for Irish tech start-up and scaling companies. Coroflo made history at the CES 2026 awards, scooping four prizes from a single show – a first, according to event organisers.
Sinéad Walsh
Dr Sinéad Walsh is the programme director for the BioInnovate Innovators’ Initiative at the University of Galway. A leader in health technology innovation, her particular area of expertise is in delivering research excellence and supporting the commercialisation of discoveries that benefit patients and wider society.
She was previously a project manager at Relevium Medical, overseeing the ‘Hydrobloc’ project aiming to bring novel, patent-protected hydrogel technology through to phase-one clinical trials as 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 space. She brokered and signed the first HSE and industry memorandum of understanding with sector leaders that led to the National Health Collaboration Council, and has delivered collaborative initiatives between the HSE, hospitals and industry in the areas of sustainability, digital health, procurement and innovation.
She regularly authors articles for publications such as the Business Post, Irish Independent, Irish Times, SMART Health and Pulse+IT, and has shared her expertise as a speaker at national conferences on leadership, transformation, AI, sustainability, partnerships and innovation. She is also the recipient of a number of accolades and awards – most recently, the 2025 CEO of the Year at the Irish Times Association & Institute Awards, and the 2025 Women in STEM award for health technology.
Tanya Mulcahy
Dr Tanya Mulcahy is a director at Health Innovation Hub Ireland, which is a national initiative supporting Irish-based start-ups and healthcare innovators as they fast-track the development of products that address healthcare system and patient needs.
She is also a technical advisor for the World Health Organization and a member of the HPRA Medical Device Advisory Board. Mulcahy is a driver of healthcare innovation across multiple sectors, with a particular focus on women’s health, femtech and supporting female founders. She regularly speaks at conferences, workshops and industry events.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
