Dr. Walter McNicholas profile photo

Prof. Dr. Walter McNicholas

ESRS IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

Newman Clinical Research Professor
Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine
University College Dublin
Ireland
 
Consultant in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine
St. Vincent’s Hospital Group
Ireland
Walter McNicholas is Newman Clinical Research Professor at University College Dublin (UCD) and Consultant in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital Group, Dublin. He is the immediate Past President of the European Sleep Research Society (ESRS) and a former President of the European Respiratory Society (ERS). He is a medical graduate of UCD and undertook his postgraduate training in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at the University of Toronto. Walter is a Research Fellow at the UCD Conway Research Institute and is part of a multidisciplinary research group based in St. Vincent’s and the Conway Institute, which collaborates with other groups within UCD and throughout Europe. His research interests range from human clinical to basic cell and molecular biology, and include the pathophysiology, treatment and outcomes of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSA), the cardiovascular and metabolic consequences of the disorder, basic cell and molecular mechanisms and consequences of intermittent hypoxia, in addition to sleep disturbances in COPD and other chronic respiratory disorders. He is also closely involved in the evaluation of novel ambulatory monitoring devices for sleep disorders and is active in public health policy around driving risk in patients with OSA and sleepiness. He has supervised many PhD and other Doctoral research students over the past 30 years in his research laboratory at UCD and St. Vincent’s.
 
Walter is an Associate Editor of the European Respiratory Review and a past Associate Editor of the European Respiratory Journal and has published over 260 full papers in International Peer-reviewed Journals (h-index: 57 in Web of Science; 75 in Google Scholar). Walter has held many Leadership positions in National and International organisations. In addition to his Presidential roles in the ESRS and ERS, he was President of the European Board of Accreditation in Pneumology from 2010-2014. He chaired an EU-sponsored COST Action (B26) on Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (2005-2010), and chaired a Working Group established by the Transport and Mobility Directorate of the European Commission on Sleep Apnoea and Driving (2012-2013), which led to an official EU Directive on this topic, issued in June 2014, that is now mandatory throughout all EU member states.