Dawn Russell, CEO of Ana Liffey, has been confirmed as a member of the judging panel for the Private Healthcare Awards 2026, bringing frontline social care leadership, academic expertise in addiction recovery, and a career dedicated to delivering accessible, person-centred services to some of Ireland's most vulnerable populations.

Russell began her career on the frontline as a caseworker at Ana Liffey after graduating from the BA Hons in Social Care at TU Dublin in 2007, and has since risen to lead the organisation as CEO.

In that role, she oversees multidisciplinary teams of social care workers, occupational therapists, psychologists, counsellors, and nurses, delivering individually tailored care to people experiencing addiction, homelessness, and domestic violence across Dublin, Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, and Louth.

That operational scope, spanning multiple counties and care disciplines within a complex, high-need service environment, gives her a command of healthcare leadership and management that is both practically grounded and human-centred in its orientation.

Her academic formation reflects a sustained commitment to deepening her understanding of the field she leads. Russell completed a Masters in Addiction Recovery at Trinity College Dublin and is currently pursuing a PhD in the field of Recovery Capital, research that sits at the intersection of social inclusion, healthcare innovation, and the evidence base for recovery-oriented service design.

That combination of executive leadership and active academic inquiry positions her to assess entries with a perspective attentive to both the quality of care delivered and the systemic thinking behind it.

Russell joins a panel that includes Karen Charnley of the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care, Claudia McGloin of The Regenerative Expert Nurse, Caroline Moran of Hibernian Healthcare at Home, Richard Morton of MatchMedics, Declan O'Callaghan, retired Medical Director, Vishnu Renjith of RCSI, Brid Seoighe of Johnson and Johnson, and John Sweeney of HCI.

The Private Healthcare Awards 2026 gala will take place on 2 October 2026 at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport.

Visit the official Private Healthcare Awards website to explore categories, review past winners, and meet the judges. Subscribe to the newsletter for updates on the awards and the wider healthcare sector in Ireland.