Prof Billy O'Connor, professor and head of teaching and research in physiology at the new graduate school of medicine in University of Limerick.
Personal/family:Engaged to be married to Marie in early 2008.
What figure from the world of medicine or health do you most admire?
Jonas Salk (1914-1995) who developed the first vaccine. He injected himself with a polio vaccine to prove that it actually worked. After the vaccine became available, polio cases in the US dropped by 85-90 per cent in only two years.
What other career might you have chosen?
Astronaut, motivational speaker or tour guide.
If you could grant three wishes for the health service, what would they be?
Faith, hope and charity.
What is your greatest fear?
Running out of time.
Have you ever been a patient and were you a good one?
Yes to both.
When or where are you happiest?
Working in the lab with my postgraduate research students trying to understand how the brain works. Seeing my students do well in their chosen careers.
How do you cope with stress?
Relaxation tapes, books and music. The odd winter sun holiday also helps.
What is the trait you most admire in yourself?
The ability to keep going and not to give up.
What is the trait you most dislike in yourself?
The ability to keep going and not to give up.
Do you use alternative or complementary medicine or therapies?
Yes, acupressure and Echinacea.
Who or what makes you laugh?
My future wife Marie.
What is your motto?
Onwards and upwards.
What is your favourite TV or radio programme?
On TV it is the Accent of Man series written and presented by Jacob Bonowsky and on radio it is Una Power on 98FM.
What books would you bring to a desert island?
For day-time reading a guidebook of ocean fish species of the world, a book on cooking without a kitchen and Ralph W Ritchie's How To Cook in an Improvised Situation. For night-time reading it would be The Road Less Travelled by M Scott Peck.
In conversation with Fiona Tyrrell