Congratulations to Professor Agnes Higgins who was nominated for this year’s GALAS LGBTQ+ Awards!

 The Gala LGBTQ + Awards annual event recognises and acknowledges the contribution of individuals, companies, organisations and their work to make Ireland and the world a better place for the LGBTQ+ community.

We are pleased to share with you all, that Professor Agnes Higgins has been nominated by the public to this years’ GALAS LGBTQ+ Awards long list, in the category of LGBTQ+ Ally Award.

Agnes has made it to the short list for this award!

On behalf of the entire school community, we would like to congratulate Professor Higgins  for this well-deserved recognition and thank her once again for her infinite contribution in this field, as well as wish her the best of luck at the awards event, that will take place on Saturday 5th October at the Royal Dublin Convention Centre.

TCAID hosted a wonderful event on Women's Health on September 6th at the Dublin Chamber.

Led by Stephanie Corrigan and Prof Éilish Burke, the event featured talks from experts in the field of Women's Health across Ireland and the UK: Prof Mary McCarron (Principal Investigator of IDS-TILDA and Director of TCAID), Prof Éilish Burke (Prof in Intellectual Disability Nursing and Director of Research in the SNM), Dr Rachael Eastham (Lecturer in Adolescent Health Inequalities - Lancaster University), Dr Alex Kaley (Lecturer in Global Public Health - University of Essex), Stephanie Corrigan (PhD Student with TCAID, investigating menopause in women with intellectual disabilities) and Patricia Blee (PhD student at TCD, investigating Sexual and Reproductive Health Service Access for women with intellectual disabilities).

Each talk was accessibly interpreted by our Ambassador Liaison Officer Ms Mei Lin Yap, ensuring that everyone in the room understood the important messages from each of the academic presentations.

The event also included an insightful workshop led by Rachael and Alex which explored issues such as contraception, consent, abortion, reproduction and much more. This workshop sparked important discourse amongst the attendees of the event, highlighting issues that have historically been swept under the carpet.

In attendance were women with lived experience of intellectual disability, representatives from the Health Service Executive, the Women's Task Force, and various services around the country.

The theme of the event was to "end the taboo" around sexual and reproductive health in women with an intellectual disability. It is vital to include women with an intellectual disability in the conversation around sexual and reproductive health, and this event was the first of many more conversations to come with a powerful group of self-advocates in attendance.

We're thrilled to announce the launch of the second edition of our case study competition!

Research Impact Case Studies provide the opportunity to communicate how your research is making a positive impact on healthcare and people’s lives.

The quality of entries to last year’s competition was very high and we were delighted to receive submissions from researchers across our School who are working on diverse and important projects.

Winners of the competition last year included Dr Susan Hannon (postdoctoral category), Dr Eilish Burke (individual category) and the IDS-TILDA team (team category). 

Watch videos narrating their case studies here

This year there will be two prizes (research grants):

- €1,000 (PhD/Postdoc category)

- €1,000 (PI/Individual Researchers)

For more information, please see details here

PhD Opportunities with the HAP3 Project

We are delighted to be recruiting for two new PhD positions based in Trinity College Dublin (Dublin) and KU Leuven (Belgium) as part of doctoral training linked to the Healthy Adaptation to Pregnancy, Postpartum and Parenthood (HAP3) project. 

HAP3 aims to address the detrimental impact of intergenerational transmission of obesity and mental health problems from parents to infants in the first three years of life. 

• DC4: PhD Position: Co-creating the online HAP3  intervention  for prevention of obesity in routine care from pregnancy, postpartum and early parenthood 

• DC10: PhD Position: Implementation of a dashboard for care professionals into routine care from pregnancy, postpartum and early parenthood 

The HAP3 Doctoral Training Network is funded by the European Commission (EC). More specifically, it is part of the EC’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and is a Joint Doctorate Training Network which provides high-level transdisciplinary training to high achieving and committed doctoral candidates. Each candidate will work towards a Joint Doctorate from two European Universities and serve as a “PERINATAL CARE INNOVATOR”. Your work will develop innovative (technical) solutions to effectively address the complex challenges of obesity and mental health problems during pregnancy and early parenthood. 

Professor Joan Lalor, Professor of Maternal Health at Trinity College Dublin, said: “The HAP3 project presents a wonderful opportunity for early career researchers to contribute to research which seeks to improve health outcomes in perinatal care, and achieve a joint doctorate from two of Europe’s leading universities, Trinity College Dublin and KU Leuven. I look forward to working with the successful doctoral candidates who will be based in Trinity.” 

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!

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!

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

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