PhD student Deirdre McGuone- Kiely - Emerging Business Woman of the Year

Deirdre McGuone- Kiely, an Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) in Emergency Cardiology and a PhD scholarship student in our School, has recently achieved significant recognition.

As a PhD student mentored by Dr. Frances O’Brien and Dr. Sharon O’Donnell, she has demonstrated exceptional leadership and dedication towards improving cardiac prevention screening in Ireland. Her contributions have been recognised with the prestigious Emerging Business Woman of the Year award from Network Ireland Dublin and Allied Irish Bank. Building on this remarkable achievement, Deirdre will now compete as a finalist in the national emerging business award ceremony at Lyrath Estate Hotel, Kilkenny this September.

Deirdre has founded CardiACT, Irelands first mobile ANP-lead cardiac screening clinic. Over the past few months, she and her ANP colleagues have been conducting cardiac screenings across various locations nationally. This initiative ensures that individuals receive timely and accurate cardiac assessments regardless of their location. It also provides direct referrals to cardiology consultants for expedited diagnostics, when necessary, thereby improving patient care and accessibility.

On behalf of the entire School Community, we wish to congratulate Deirdre and her supervisors on their fantastic achievement!

Congratulations to our PhD student Ms Ludan Tang

Our PhD student Ms Ludan Tang was awarded a Government of Ireland International Education Scholarship for her PhD project. 5,800 applications were submitted for this prestigious award, of which 60 were awarded. This  clearly represents a great achievement for Ludan and for our school.

On behalf of the entire School Community, we wish to congratulate Ludan and her supervisors, Dr Margarita Corry & Dr Mary Mooney on their great achievement!

The Safer Initiative - A world free from alcohol related harm

The World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with international partners, launched the SAFER initiative in 2018 alongside the United Nations third high-level meeting on prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The objective of the initiative is to provide support for Member States in reducing the harmful use of alcohol by strengthening the ongoing implementation of the Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. SAFER is an acronym for the 5 most cost-effective interventions to reduce alcohol related harm:

S: Strengthen restrictions on alcohol availability

A: Advance and enforce drink driving counter measures

F: Facilitate access to screening, brief interventions and treatment

E: Enforce bans or comprehensive restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship, and promotion

R: Raise prices on alcohol through excise taxes and pricing policies

Professor Catherine Comiskey and her team with Dr Sonam Banka-Cullen and Dr Debra O'Neill have recently been awarded research grants totaling approximately €500k, which includes the evaluation of the SAFER programme and they  will lead the first international research design and evaluation of the WHO programme’s implementation and outcomes at 12 Irish sites. 

Congratulations on this wonderful achievement!

Professor Imelda Coyne has been appointed as Associate Editor of the Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Nursing, published by Taylor & Francis

Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Nursing is an international peer-reviewed journal that contributes to the knowledge base of children’s nurses and other health care professionals who care for children in all health care settings.

Congratulations Imelda!

TCD nursing students taking part in a volunteer placement with Nurture Africa in Uganda as part of their Global Health Engagement module

The Global Health Engagement elective module is an option for all 2nd and 3rd year nursing and midwifery students in the SNM, TCD. This year 17 student will travel to Uganda to complete a volunteer placement with Nurture Africa, a non-governmental organisation registered in Ireland and Uganda. The vision of Nurture Africa is to help women and children out of poverty and to empower families to be self reliant. 

The Nurture Africa volunteer placement provides nursing and midwifery students with an opportunity to increase their awareness and understanding of international development whilst using their skills to support the health and well-being work of Nurture Africa in Uganda. In June students were visited by the SNM Nurture Africa academic link, Dr Eleanor Hollywood while on their volunteer placement in Nansana, Uganda.

2 x Summer Scholarships have been awarded

New research on neuro diversity and addiction to be undertaken in the School to inform the new national drug strategy

Professor Catherine Comiskey and her group members Dr Sonam Banka-Cullen, Dr Dave McDonagh and Ms Sadie Lavelle Cafferkey with contributions from Ms Jessica Eustice-Cook will conduct a systematic review with a meta analysis and a national general population survey to estimate the prevalence, risk and protective factors for people experiencing neurodiversity and using drugs and alcohol. Stakeholders will also be interviewed in this mixed methods study. This will be the first such meta analysis and estimates of the scale of this challenge in Ireland. It is planned that the results will contribute to this topic being addressed in the new national drug strategy planned for 2025. The research has been funded by CityWide.

FUNDING SECURED to conduct an evaluation of the practice and impact of the Comunity Children's programme at MWRSS

Meath Women’s Refuge and Support Services (MWRSS) is a domestic violence service for women and children established in 1987 by a group of volunteers and since then it has evolved and developed into the comprehensive service that it is today. The overarching objective of MWRSS is to provide emergency crisis accommodation and supports to women and children who must leave their home due to domestic violence and abuse within the family, and to provide outreach support services to women and children in the community who are experiencing domestic violence and abuse.

These services are provided in a caring and non-judgemental environment with the core values of being women and child centred, inclusive, accountable, and trustworthy. In 2022 MWRSS provided refuge accommodation to 57 women and 74 children and worked with 131 children in refuge and in the community, an increase of 42% from the previous year. MWRSS also worked with 131 children in refuge and the community in 2022, an increase of 42% from the previous year. Furthermore, MWRSS increased their counselling services significantly providing 525 sessions to 164 women, 76 sessions of play and music therapy to children, an overall increase of 62% in therapeutic services provided in 2022 compared to 2021 (MWRSS 2023).

Trivalent and quadrivalent seasonal influenza vaccine in adults aged 60 and older: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

New knowledge on the efficacy of influenza vaccines of any valency for adults 60 years and older as reported in a systematic review and network meta-analysis title: Trivalent and quadrivalent seasonal influenza vaccine in adults aged 60 and older: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Click here to read the full review

The EuCan Project begins Recruitment

The EuCan project, funded by the Irish Cancer Society, aims to explore the unmet needs of Irish cancer patients from underserved communities. The aim of the study is to create evidence relating to the barriers to, and enablers of, timely access to cancer diagnosis, treatment and care for members of underserved communities. A greater understanding of the needs of individuals from some specific groups, such as people over the age of 65, people with intellectual disabilities, and people with physical disabilities, will be gained as a result of this work.

If you are interested in participating in the project and would like to find more information, please visit the TCPHI website

Inaugural Seed Funding Initiative 2023

We would like to congratulate our 3 awardees of the new SNM Seed-Funding Initiative, Dr Louise Lynch, Dr Sunita Panda and Dr Thelma Begley. The purpose of this seed funding is to build research capacity within the SNM, by providing some of the start-up budgetary costs for the development and conduct of new unfunded research projects and by enhancing research-related outputs. The School would like to take the opportunity to wish our awardees every success with their research projects.

On behalf of the entire School Community, I wish to congratulate you all on your fantastic achievement!

Dr. Sharon O'Donnell

PRESS RELEASE

New research report highlights stark deterioration in mental health of LGBTQI+ people since 2016

Ireland’s young LGBTQI+ population are experiencing significant mental health challenges, according to a new report conducted by a team of researchers in Trinity College Dublin and published today (25.04.2024) in association with Belong To - LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland. According to the report, 72% of LGBTQI+ young people – aged 14 to 18 –have self-harmed, as have 75% of the transgender and gender non-conforming communities.

In 2016, the first ever comprehensive report on the mental health of Ireland’s LGBTQI+ community as well as attitudes of the general public towards LGBTI+ people was conducted by Trinity College Dublin and published in association with Belong To and GLEN. That report, ‘LGBTIreland’ was based on research conducted by a team at Trinity. Now, eight years on, the new report - ‘Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland’ - involving over 2,800 LGBTQI+ people, builds on the findings from that initial report and includes a comparative analysis.

Key findings from the new study indicate that mental health and wellbeing have declined amongst the LGBTQI+ population since 2016, with significant challenges experienced by younger age groups and the transgender and gender non-conforming communities.

Amongst the 631 14- to18-year-olds who participated in the study:

Compared to adolescents (12-19 years) in the My World Survey 2*, a national study of youth mental health conducted in 2019 by mental health charity Jigsaw and UCD, LGBTQI+ young people aged14 - 18 in this study had:

More details about the study can be found in the report and in the key findings document, on the project website.

1 School of Nursing PhD scholarship (Full-Time) has been awarded

Congratulations to Isabela Girleanu who has been awarded this prestigious Scholarship. The School would like to take the opportunity to wish her and her supervisors Professor Anne-Marie Brady & Assistant Professor Vanessa Boland, every success with the project. 

1 School of Nursing PhD scholarship (Part-Time) has been awarded

Congratulations to Catherine Roets who has been awarded this prestigious Scholarship. The School would like to take the opportunity to wish her and her supervisor Professor Mary Hughes every success with the project. 

1 Trinity Research Doctorate Award (TRDA) has been awarded

Congratulations to Pavithra Pavithra  who has been awarded this prestigious Scholarship. The School would like to take the opportunity to wish her and her supervisor Dr Eimear McGlinchey every success with the project. 

Late-stage cancer diagnosis for people with intellectual or developmental disability

Dr. Martin McMahon, Professor Philip McCallion, and Professor Mary McCarron from TCAID recently published an Editorial in 'Cancer' entitled:

'An invisible population: Late-stage cancer diagnosis for people with intellectual or developmental disability'

In this Editorial, they discuss recent evidence on how people with intellectual or developmental disabilities are more likely to be diagnosed with metastatic breast (female) and colorectal cancer compared to the general population. They also highlight the urgent need to develop effective strategies aimed at reducing this inequity for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

This thematic area of work is aligned with the Trinity Centre for Ageing and Intellectual Disability Strategy 2023 - 2028, which seeks to create care pathways for poorly understood diseases such as cancer in older people with intellectual disability.

Click here to access the Editorial