The Most Influential Scientists in the Development of Medical Informatics (31): Rory O'Moore (- 2022).

Rory O’Moore (- 2022), PhD, was professor of Healtcare Informatics in Dublin, Ireland, and former President of the Irish Computer Society, which was the representative voice of Ireland’s IT professionals (1-5). Professor Rory O’Moore was for long time chairman of the Section of Healthcare Informatics in the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland and past chairman of HISI Health Care Informatics Society of Ireland (6-9). Also, he was President of the European Federation for Medical Informatics (1987-1990) (6-9).

In the early 1970s Rory founded the Medical Specialist group of ihe Irish Computer Society and was its first chair. Chris Nolan had being its Secretary and they worked together for many years where Rory represented HISI in Europe and Internationally putting Ireland in the forefront of this new discipline. A great mentor and working in healthcare computing. Rory was the founder of the Biochemistry Department, St James’s Hospital and ensured throughout his tenure that this laboratory reflected an ethos of quality and diagnostic excellence, which continues to this day. Moreover, he left an indelible legacy, including the Porphyrin Laboratory, which he established and which remains the only diagnostic service of its kind in Ireland. He had great foresight and vision in terms of future developments in laboratory medicine, including the application of computational approaches to diagnostic support and outpatient services. In many respects he was ahead of his time on such matters. Rory played in providing the opportunity to pursue Chemical Pathology as a career. As great mentor in this discipline with excellent acknowledge Rory was named as the “Father of Chemical Pathology” in the Republic of Ireland. In the early 1980s Rory O'Moore was very active in Openlabs, which developed novel solutions to improving efficiency and effectiveness in clinical laboratories, while Synapses developed a simple and secure method of sharing electronic health records. The results of Synapses and its follow-on project Synes, were a major influence on the evolving CEN standards for health records. The concept of the Synapses Federated Healthcare Records Server was extended to support the integration of records and clinical protocols/guidelines in a major national initiative, MediLink. This developed the concept of the active electronic health record which monitors the record, automatically generating alarms and alerts to manage the patients workflow.

The Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland (HISI) has awarded the O' Moore Medal to individuals or organizations who have made a major contribution to Healthcare Informatics in Ireland (Figure 2). The award is named after Professor Rory O’Moore, who received the award in 2003 when it was inaugurated by then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, as a Chairman of the Section of Healthcare Informatics in the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland and past chairman of HISI. The award was presented to Professor O’Moore for his pioneering work in the Irish healthcare informatics field. After Rory O'Moore as recipient of Medal in 2003, other important and influential health informatics experts in Ireland received it: in 2005 - Georges De Moor; in 2007 - Jane Grimson; in 2008 - Glyn Hayes; in 2009 - H. Stephen Lieber; in 2011 - Kieran Hickey; in 2018 - Richard Corbridge (FBCS). In addition to conducting research the Centre also runs a highly successful interdisciplinary postgraduate diploma and masters programmes in health informatics.

Figure 2.

The O'Moore Medal awarded by HISI for contribution to Healthcare Informatics in Ireland (10)

Professor Rory O'Moore actively participated in organization of EFMI and IMIA Conferences from 1982 until 1990 charing of scientific sessions and as Editor-in-Chief of the Proceedings: "Medical Informatics Europe 82", by Editors: Rory R. O'Moore, Barry Barber, P.L. Reichertz, published on March 1st 1982 by Springer, UK); "Medical Informatics Europe '84", Brussels, Belgium, September 10–13, 1984. Editors: F. H. Roger, J. L. Willems, R. R. O’Moore, B. Barber, "Medical Informatics Europe `88", Oslo, Norway, August 17 20, 1988, by Editors: Rolf Hansen, Bjarte G. Solheim, Rory R. O'Moore. "Medical Informatics Europe ’90: Glasgow. Editors: Rory O'Moore, Stellan Bengtsson, John R. Bryant, John S. Bryden, Glasgow, Scotland, August 20–23, 1990.

IMIA and EFMI associations lost good man, friend and their very active member. I met Rory in Glasgow in 1990 at MIE '90 and Lisbon in 1994 at MIE '94 Conference when I came from Sarajevo during very terible wartime (1992-1995), to be accepted as official member of EFMI Council. In that time Rory O'Moore was Vice President of EFMI Council and he cordialy offered to me his help to the BHSMI to continue participation in EFMI events, because of the very difficult wartime in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Figure 3). I heartly remember it.

Figure 3.

Rory O’Moore (EFMI Vice President), Izet Masic and John Bryant (EFMI President) (from the left to the right), Lisbon, Portugal, 1994

His colleagues and friends recognized him as unique with a remarkable intelligence that always raced ahead of whatever else was happening around him (10). Noel White became involved in IT in the health area and they worked together on many European Community projects over the years that followed, and Noel found him very welcoming and friendly. He said: "Rory recognised the need and importance of education and training in Health informatics and was involved in setting up many courses and conferences over the years. Rory was such a gentleman with an encyclopedic knowledge of chemical pathology and generous to a fault with his time and that knowledge. His lovely sense of humour brightened many a lecture". Niamh Buckley from (Oxford, UK, had the pleasure of working with Rory in the healthcare group of the Irish computer society, where he was the inspiration for putting Ireland firmly on the Medical informatics map and bringing many of his international colleagues in the field to Dublin. "We will all remember him at the EFMI as a kind and dynamic pioneer in the field of Medical Informatics" (John Mantas). "He was always courteous, driven to improve things and such a pleasure to encounter" (Jim Malone). "We had played football together many times in College Park and elsewhere in he 1960's. He always played with great commitment and sportsmanship to set an example to his peers who tended to be younger due to his extended academic career" (Tom Mears).