Rate My Professor Declan Devane

Professor Declan Devane (PhD, MSc, PgDip(Stats), BSc, DipHE, RGN, RM, RNT) serves as Established Professor of Health Research Methodology in the School of Nursing and Midwifery and Deputy Dean of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at the University of Galway. With more than twenty years of experience in clinical trials and evidence synthesis, he is the founder and director of Evidence Synthesis Ireland, Cochrane Ireland, and the Health Research Board-Trials Methodology Research Network. His research focuses on clinical trials, randomised trials methodology, evidence synthesis, systematic reviews, and patient-centred research approaches spanning clinical areas such as diabetes, maternal health, critical care, and infectious diseases. Devane has authored over 330 peer-reviewed papers, including more than 30 influential Cochrane systematic reviews, with an h-index of 59 on Scopus and 71 on Google Scholar. Key recent publications include "Comparison of AI-assisted and human-generated plain language summaries for Cochrane reviews: a randomised non-inferiority trial (HIET-1) [Registered Report - stage II]" (2026, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology), "Estimands: what they are and why we should use them" (2026, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology), and "Factors influencing use and choice of Core Outcome Sets and Outcome Measurement Instruments in trials of interventions to prevent childhood obesity: a mixed-methods survey" (2026, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology).

He has secured over €20 million in research funding as principal investigator and more than €100 million as co-applicant or collaborator, leading numerous clinical trials with participant numbers from 100 to over 3,000. His research has informed global healthcare guidelines, including those issued by the World Health Organization. Devane has served on various national and international Trial Steering Committees and Data Monitoring Boards, and he actively trains and mentors researchers in health research methodology.