GOLD Speakers

Afif EL-Khuffash, MB, BCh, BAO, BA (Sci), FRCPI, MD, DCE, IBCLC

• Speaker Type: 2025 Main Presentations
• Country: Ireland

Biography:

Prof EL-Khuffash is a Consultant Neonatologist & Paediatrician at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, and a Full Professor of Paediatrics at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He is also a board-certified lactation consultant, a digital artist, and the lead host of the acclaimed Baby Tribe Parenting Podcast. He has over 20 years experience in newborn care and has considerable knowledge of breast-feeding medicine and experience in providing antenatal and postnatal feeding advice and support to new mothers. This includes identifying and addressing challenges to breastfeeding in both the mother and the baby. He also specialises in general feeding difficulties and early feeding issues encountered by babies. His primary clinical and research area is the assessment heart function in term and preterm neonates. He is the lead for neonatal echocardiography and heart function assessment in the neonatal intensive care unit in the Rotunda Hospital. He is the recipient of several national and international research awards with a total grant value of over 4 million euro, over 180 international peer reviewed publications and over 30 keynote presentations. He has successfully supervised 9 post graduate PhD candidates since his return to Ireland and continues to mentor post graduate PhD students.

Prof EL-Khuffash completed a one-year fellowship in paediatric cardiology in Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin. Prof EL-Khuffash has assumed a leadership role at a Global level in devising training guidelines for echocardiography by the Neonatologist. Prof EL-Khuffash graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 2002 and enrolled in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland paediatric specialist training scheme in 2005. He completed a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree in University College, Dublin in 2008 and his neonatal specialty training in Toronto, Canada (2009-2011). Following this, he was appointed as a consultant Neonatologist and Assistant Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto in January of 2011. He obtained a diploma in clinical epidemiology during his time in Toronto.