Our Team

Brenda Dooley
Chief Executive Officer

Brenda Dooley is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of AXIS Healthcare Consulting Ltd. She established AXIS in early 2012 to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies achieve success in reimbursement applications for novel and innovative medicines in Ireland. With 15+ years in Market Access, Brenda is an expert strategist and combines her natural flair for solving complex problems with a genuine interest in helping clients navigate a successful path to reimbursement.

Having developed over 50 Health Technology Assessments, Brenda knows that a personal, customised approach is fundamentally important for successful submissions to agencies such as Irelands NCPE, Scotland’s SMC and BeNeLuxA.

A former Registered General and Paediatric Nurse, Brenda holds a BA (Hons) in Business, a Diploma (Hons) in Financial Management and a MSc (Hons) in Health Economics from the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway).

Brenda is a member of NUI Galway’s Audit Committee and has a strong interest in corporate governance.

Marian Hernon
Associate Director

Marian Hernon is the Associate Director at AXIS Consulting. Marian leads the technical team at AXIS, ensuring high-quality, efficient and timely project delivery for each and every client. Marian has worked in the area of population health and health services research for over 8 years, conducting systematic reviews, developing micro-costing studies and completing cost-effectiveness analysis across the academic and pharmaceutical sectors.

Since joining AXIS in 2018, Marian has led on multiple Health Technology Assessments across a range of disease areas including cardiovascular disease, chronic conditions, rare diseases and a range of cancers. Marian has a broad range of technical skills and in-depth knowledge of reimbursement pathways in Ireland and across Europe. With this extensive experience in the market access and reimbursement space, Marian, in collaboration with the team at AXIS, provides a tailored, evidence-driven approach to help our clients successfully navigate the path to reimbursement.

Marian holds a BA (Hons) in Sociology and Political Science and an MA (Hons) in Population Health and Health Promotion from NUI Galway. She has also completed a number of short courses in health economics and economic modelling with the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York, UK and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Cillian Copeland
HTA Manager

Cillian is an HTA Manager who joined AXIS in 2019. In this role, Cillian supports clients with economic and budget impact model recalibrations and the development of HTA dossiers. Coming from a research background in mathematics and statistics, Cillian is particularly interested in economic modelling and the important quantitative requirements associated with HTAs.

Cillian believes that a focus on teamwork and providing a bespoke service to each client allows for a flexible and multi-disciplinary approach to each reimbursement application, drawing on the unique skill sets of each member of the AXIS team.

Cillian holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics and Finance from University College Dublin (UCD), an MSc in Mathematics and Statistics from UCD as well as an MSc in Health Economics from Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.

Niamh Russell
Biostatistician

Niamh Russell is our in-house Biostatistician who joined AXIS Consulting in 2020. Niamh provides expert statistical guidance and analysis on a wide range of projects including Health Technology Assessments and economic modelling. She holds a high level of proficiency in a multitude of statistical approaches and analytics including survival analysis, regression analysis, Bayesian analysis and multivariate statistics.

Niamh has extensive experience in the academic sector having held a number of lectureships and teaching positions in the field of mathematics and statistics, as well as research roles in the area of cancer diagnostics. Bringing this in-depth knowledge and expansive statistical skillset, Niamh guides our clients through the technical aspects of reimbursement submissions in a collaborative and comprehensible manner.

Niamh holds a PhD in Statistics from University College Dublin and a BSc in Mathematics and Statistics from the Open University.

Andrew Lenny
Senior HTA Analyst

Andrew is a Senior HTA analyst at AXIS Consulting. Having worked for over 2 years in reimbursement and market access consultancy in the UK, Andrew utilises his experience of efficient project management combined with his technical expertise to provide our clients with rigorous, high-quality output. Andrew’s primary role is to provide technical support relating to the development and adaptation of economic models, the generation of key data points, and the incorporation and analysis of outcomes-based research.

Andrew has a keen interest in patient-reported outcomes and the generation of utility data to support reimbursement submissions. Over the past numbers of years, Andrew has led on and contributed to a range of research projects in this space, having secured funding from the EuroQol Research Foundation. Andrew’s research to date has spanned across a number of disease areas including oncology, musculoskeletal disease, and rare metabolic disorders.  Andrew’s in-depth theoretical knowledge of health economics and his practical application of outcomes-based research methodologies in this space ensures that he provides tailored and bespoke technical support which strengthens opportunities for success.

Andrew holds a BA (Hons) in Economics from University College Dublin and an MSc in Health Economics from the University of York, UK.

David McLoughlin
Junior HTA Analyst

David is an HTA analyst at AXIS Consulting, having joined the company in 2021. David provides tailored technical support to our team on a range of projects including rapid reviews, health technology assessments, micro-costing studies and other reimbursement specific research projects. He is driven by the goal of providing patients with access to new and innovative treatment options, which in turn can have a significant impact on the health outcomes experienced by patients across a variety of healthcare settings.

David combines his unique expertise in the pharmacy setting in Ireland with his theoretical knowledge of health economics to ensure that each and every output is delivered to the highest technical standard and captures the nuances of the Irish market. He has over 8 years of experience working in community pharmacy, gaining key insights into the medicines access and pharmaceutical distributions processes in Ireland.  David also has a keen interest in academic research, having in more recent years conducted research on the role of economic evaluations in the reimbursement of cancer medications in Ireland.

David holds both a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Geography, Sociology, and Political Science, and a Higher Diploma (H.Dip) in Economic Science from the National University of Ireland, Galway. He has also recently completed an MSc. in Health Economics at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Laura Rouncivell
Medical Writer

Laura Roucivell is one of our in-house medical writers. Laura combines her unique knowledge of epidemiology and health systems with her extensive experience in scientific writing to generate high-quality output for our clients. Laura contributes to a wide range of projects across the reimbursement pathway including systematic literature reviews, development of rapid review dossiers, contribution to the clinical sections within Health Technology Assessments, generation and collation of clinician insights and development of research study reports.

Laura has a breadth of experience across academia, health systems, and the private sector.  She is particularly passionate about the role that HTAs play in bridging research and evidence-based decision making and is committed to ensuring value-based arguments are communicated in a concise, rigorous and scientific way in order to strengthen opportunities for success at every stage of the reimbursement process.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Public Health (Hons) from Monash University and an MSc in Epidemiology from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She has completed several short courses in health economics, clinical trials research and monitoring and evaluation.

Joana Carvalho
Medical Writer

Joana Carvalho is a medical writer at AXIS, having joined the company in 2021. Joana has extensive experience in the field of medical writing having worked for over 5 years in medical communications, focusing particularly in the area of cancer research and clinical trials. With an educational background in microbiology and medical diagnostics, Joana’s unique knowledge and experience allows her to understand and interpret complex clinical data across a range of disease areas and transform that information into a clear concise value story.

Joana is passionate about combining scientific rigour with real-world creative solutions. This is evidenced through her previous roles working in both the Irish health system as a medical scientist in the Microbiology Department at St. James’s Hospital and as a research and development scientist in the medical device industry. Combining this previous experience across sectors with her unique writing skillset, Joana works with our clients across a range of projects to generate scientific and compelling output which strengthens and supports each individual reimbursement application.

Joana holds a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences, an MSc in Molecular Genetics from the University of Minho in Portugal and a PhD in Molecular Microbiology from Trinity College Dublin. Joana has also completed a number of short courses in the field of medical writing.

Denise King
Lead Systematic Literature Reviewer

Denise is our lead systematic literature reviewer at AXIS consulting. Denise has an in-depth knowledge of the methodologies underpinning comprehensive and rigorous systematic reviews. With over ten years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector, across both industry and consulting, Denise has a unique skillset which she utilises to address the key requirements stipulated by reimbursement agencies in Ireland and across Europe in relation to the development of systematic literature reviews.

Denise brings a wealth of experience to AXIS, having worked across a number of functions relating to pricing and reimbursement in the pharmaceutical sector, including development and contribution to global value dossiers, health technology assessments, and academic research and publications. Combining this experience with her methodological skills, Denise develops for our clients high-quality comprehensive systematic reviews which are utilised to support submissions along the reimbursement pathway.

She has an educational background in both economics and health economics, having completed an MSc in Health Economics at the National University of Ireland, Galway and a BA in Economics also at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Kavi Burke
Operations Manager

Kavi Burke is the Operations Manager at AXIS Healthcare Consulting Ltd. Over the past 20 years, Kavi has gained experience in similar roles in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry having worked with companies such as Abbott Laboratories and Chanelle Pharma. With extensive knowledge of the systems and processes required to successfully operate scalable operations, Kavi is helping AXIS to achieve its business expansion plans.

Kavi is primarily responsible for the effective day to day running of the business, including project management, contracts, invoicing and customer experience. She is particularly passionate about delivering excellence in customer service ensuring that each one of our clients has a positive experience with AXIS.

Kavi holds a B. Comm (Hons) from The Open University of Sri Lanka. She has also completed a Diploma in Customer Care & Customer Service Management and QQI Level 6 in Supervisory Management.

Rachel Bourgault
Business Administrator

Rachel is our Business Administrator who has worked with AXIS since 2016. Rachel is responsible for assisting with a variety of business development initiatives including marketing, event management and procurement.

Hailing from Canada, Rachel has had the opportunity over the past 15 years, to gain extensive experience working for large multinational firms from a variety of sectors including Finance, Commercial Real Estate, Oil & Gas and Construction.

Rachel has had a variety of corporate training over the years and is bilingual in both French and English. She believes that the success of any company truly lies within its people, and she enjoys connecting personally with the team, suppliers and external stakeholders.

Claire Nolan
Finance Manager

Claire Nolan is the Finance Manager at AXIS Healthcare Consulting Ltd.  Claire has worked in Finance for the past 25 years.  Prior to joining AXIS, Claire worked in a variety of different sectors along with running her own business. The knowledge and experience she brings to AXIS help ensure efficient and effective management of the Financial Department.

As head of the Finance team, Claire is responsible for supporting proposal development, cashflow management, payroll and financial Reporting.  She enjoys analysing data to guide future decisions to ensure the efficient running of AXIS.

Claire holds a Diploma in Tax along with Professional Qualifications in Accountancy.

Robert Rosenberg
Strategic Affairs Director

Robert (Bob) Rosenberg is Strategic Affairs Director at AXIS Consulting. He brings three decades of experience and leadership in academic, corporate, and government collaborations. Bob has worked to advance entrepreneurship and the knowledge economy in Chicago, Illinois – as an educator, entrepreneur, investor, mentor, and researcher. He has been a leader in the development of Chicago’s angel community, the creation of the Chicago Innovation Exchange, IIT Innovation Center and the Skokie Tech Center and the city’s strategy for technology development.

Bob served in a variety of senior administrative roles at the University of Chicago, most recently associate vice president for marketing strategy and associate vice president for research.

Bob has been instrumental in the creation and growth of many Pharmaceutical , Biotech and MedTech companies including Cardiogene, Chromatin, Congressional Pharmaceuticals, Maroon Pharmaceuticals, SonarMed, Tolerance Therapeutics, and Xcyte Therapies.

In his role at AXIS Bob provides strategic advice and guidance to the company’s ongoing growth and development.

Bob earned a Bachelor’s degree (magna,) in English from Harvard University, a Master’s degree in English literature from Tufts University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Joy McAleer
Process Improvement Manager

Joy McAleer is the Process Improvement Manager at AXIS Consulting. Joy brings in excess of 30 years’ experience in management consulting, with a specific focus on the dynamic of organisational improvement through adoption of strong programme and project management.

Working originally in IT, Joy was responsible for the implementation of IT systems of scale, supporting end users in changing operating practices. After moving into consultancy Joy deepened her experience in programme and project management, strategy development and performance management, engaging with teams both in process and skills development through facilitation and training.

As Process Improvement Manager, Joy is responsible for supporting continuous improvement in how AXIS delivers on client’s requirements through end-to-end lifecycle with project management, client engagement and core consulting skills.

Joy holds a BSc, MSc, PGCE, along with Professional Qualifications in Risk, Programme, Project Management from the Association for Project Management (APM) which is the chartered body for the project profession. Joy is member of the British Psychological Society.

Ciaran Burke
Business Development Director

Ciaran Burke is Business Development Director at AXIS Consulting. Ciaran brings 20+ years of broad professional experience in the global Pharmaceutical Industry to AXIS. Starting his career in customer service and planning roles, Ciaran progressed quickly into senior management positions in Business Development and Operations in both PLC and privately owned businesses.

Ciaran has developed new business and managed suppliers and customers in regions as diverse as Russia/CIS, Asia, South & North America, MENA, and of course EU & UK. Ciaran has experience of working in partnership with generic developers, distributors, CRO’s, CDMO’s, and innovators within the pharmaceutical industry.

In his role at AXIS Ciaran supports our expansion within the Irish market and internationally. Ciaran has a particular interest in the maintenance of a high standard of service to customers and believes this to be the key to attracting new business.

Ciaran holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Limerick, an MBA from the University of Liverpool, and the C.P.I.M. professional qualification from APICS.