DrMichael Daly

Dr. Michael Daly has made significant contributions to the medical field, particularly in cardiology, medical education, and healthcare innovation. ​ His work has advanced multimodality cardiovascular imaging, electrocardiography, and biomechanical modelling of structural heart disease. ​ He has pioneered educational innovations, such as hybrid simulations and gamification of ECG learning, which enhance clinical acumen and empathy in medical students. As an elected Fellow of prestigious cardiology societies and an editor for JACC Case Reports, Dr. Daly has influenced academic discourse. ​ His leadership in medical humanities and narrative medicine further bridges the gap between science and humanistic care, fostering empathy and understanding in healthcare professionals.

Post-doctoral prospective research/innovations:

 DON ::: the vest

This unique innovation in medical education simulates a whole doctor-patient diagnostic interaction for the first time. Created by clinical experts in cardiology, our hybrid simulation tool is a nexus of composite narrative and wearable technology, creating a singular space for safe practice, failure, and improvement toward clinical competence. When trainee doctors cannot access real-world experiences, our innovation enables formative learning in a high-fidelity space beyond the hospital bedside; as such, it empowers students to transfer their learning accurately and confidently to real patients in the workplace.

Enterprise Ireland’s ‘Proof of Concept' Fund – funded (2026-7)
Enterprise Ireland’s ‘Commercial Case Feasibility Fund’ – completed, May 2024
QS Reimagine Education Awards (2023):
‘Breakthrough Technology Innovation in Education’ Award (Silver Medal)

ASSIMILATE EXCELLENCE (MD Research study)
Times Higher Education Awards (2022):
‘Most Innovative Teacher of the Year’ Award (Winner)
HSE Spark Innovation Fund (2021) – winner


 Serious Gamification of ECG Learning

This innovation in medical education encourages students to learn the first principles and diagnostic waveform patterns of clinical ECGs through engagement with a novel game-playing application.

In collaboration with Grendel Games (Netherlands): www.grendelgames.com
Equal equity partner and expert advisor on game development
Prospective studies on the educational utility/impact of the game are planned at RCSI


 iOccupeye

Understanding why we care about characters in any story is rooted in psychological and narrative theories. Characters serve as vessels for audience identification, allowing us to engage emotionally by simulating their thoughts and feelings as our own. Undoubtedly, the impact of virtual reality (VR) on storytelling can be profound, as it allows us to inhabit and occupy the perspectives of others, enhancing empathy and understanding. Recently, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has enriched our comprehension of how empathy manifests in the brain, revealing a nuanced landscape where both affective and cognitive empathy engage distinct yet overlapping neural circuits; however, significant gaps in our understanding remain, particularly concerning the effects of immersive perspective-taking in high-fidelity healthcare stories. Thus, investigating the effect(s) of first-person, multi-perspective VR narratives using fMRI to develop an effective empathy-training programme for medical students would represent a significant advancement at the nexus of narratology, empathy, and pedagogy in healthcare. Within the mixed methods, multilevel triangulation design of IOCCUPEYE, we will co-create high-fidelity, multi-perspective, first-person VR films with patients, caregivers, and advocacy groups for the investigation and comparison of engagement and empathy in multi-stage medical students, qualified doctors, and non-medical students. Using the learnings from fMRI and qualitative data, we will develop and validate a novel empathy-training tool that prospectively employs immersive perspective-taking, narrative medicine practices, and causal layered analysis to prevent the empathy attrition often observed during traditional medical training. Ultimately, the central aim of IOCCUPEYE is to develop integrated middle-range theories linking narratology, empathy, and pedagogy in healthcare that can also be applied to other contexts and disciplines, including the humanities.

 Cardiac Prehabilitation: A new era in preventive cardiology.

In Ireland, cardiovascular disease (CVD) claims over 9,000 lives per year, despite being preventable in 80% of cases. In part, this is because traditional risk-reduction strategies are only initiated after an event, e.g., myocardial infarction (MI). As such, the current healthcare system focuses on managing CVD after an adverse event rather than true primary prevention. In contemporary practice, we can now identify patients with mild/moderate coronary artery disease (CAD), without ischaemia or infarction, using CT coronary angiography (CTCA), and so, we have a unique opportunity to intervene at an earlier time point in an important population to prevent their first ‘heart attack’.

The Cardiac Prehabilitation Programme (CPP) represents a paradigm shift in preventive cardiology by identifying patients with mild/moderate CAD on CTCA and intervening before their first major cardiovascular event. Our multidisciplinary team, with a strong track record in secondary-prevention cardiac rehabilitation, will deliver a 12-week hybrid prehabilitation programme combining education, exercise, behaviour change strategies, wearable technology, and psychological support to transform preventive cardiovascular care, leading to better patient outcomes and a more sustainable healthcare model.

HSE Spark Impact Fund – funding for pilot study (April 2025)