DR SHEILA WILLIS

UCD Science

Previously Director General of Forensic Science Ireland, Dr Willis’s career has focused on how science can be used to investigate crime and assist the administration of justice. She was director of the laboratory from 2002 to 2016 and took the organisation to the highest international standard. Willis pioneered the introduction of DNA profiling to our legal system and recruited an expert team of molecular biologists to set up the national DNA Database System in 2015. The success of the database has far exceeded expectations: the lab now has a one-in-five chance of matching an unsolved crime to someone on the database. She has played a leading role in the European Forensic Science organisation and has made a major contribution to the Irish State.