Rate My Professor Dermot Kelleher

Dr. Dermot Kelleher is a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and chair of the CIEBH Oversight Committee. He served as dean of the Faculty of Medicine at UBC from 2015 to 2025 and as UBC's inaugural vice-president, Health from 2018. Prior to joining UBC, Dr. Kelleher was vice-president health and dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, where he also served as dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore until 2014. He previously held the positions of head of the School of Medicine and vice provost for Medical Affairs at Trinity College Dublin. Dr. Kelleher earned his degrees from Trinity College Dublin, including a thesis on T-cell immunoregulation in Crohn's disease completed in 1995. His research focuses on the biology of the gastrointestinal immune system, lymphocyte signalling, gastroenterology, and immunology, with particular emphasis on inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract such as coeliac disease and Helicobacter pylori infection, as well as vaccine development and immunogenetics. He is the author of approximately 300 publications and holds 14 patents. Dr. Kelleher co-founded Opsona Therapeutics in 2004. He has served as a non-executive director of Icon plc, a member of the Wellcome Clinical Panel, and a member of the International Advisory Panel of the UK Research Excellence Framework. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and holds fellowships from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, the Royal College of Physicians London, and the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. He maintains professional affiliations with organizations including the Irish Society of Gastroenterology, the American Gastroenterological Association, and the Society for Mucosal Immunology.