Psychology Graduate Publishes Research Featured in the Irish Times
December 2025
Psychology graduate Susie Boyle has published her undergraduate thesis in the Journal of Public Health. Her study explores Food Restricted Alcohol Consumption (FRAC) among Irish college students. The research caught national attention last week when The Irish Times ran a feature on her findings.
Dr Lynn Farrell in collaboration with Dr Amanda Kracen and colleagues at UCD, MU, and DkIT awarded funding
December 2024
Dr Lynn Farrell (PI) and Dr Amanda Kracen were recently awarded funding by the Higher Education Authority's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Enhancement Fund to the value of €71,662 for a project titled "Talk EDI to Me: Promoting Engagement in Affirming Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Conversations among Higher Education Staff". This is a cross-institutional project in collaboration with Prof Louise McHugh (University College Dublin), Dr Avril Brandon (Maynooth University) and Dr Orla Moran (Dundalk IT).
The project will draw on Acceptance and Commitment Training to develop an evidence-based workshop to increase staff members’ comfort to talk about gender and EDI issues. Participants will develop skills to have affirming conversations and contribute to a respectful organisational culture, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of EDI initiatives. This work will contribute to the promotion of EDI and social justice principles via necessary evidence-based intervention and will have implications for gender equality initiatives.
Dr Conor Thornberry PhD Graduation
September 2024
Congratulations to Dr Conor Thornberry on his PhD graduation from Maynooth University. Conor’s research was on The Neural Correlates of Spatial Learning and Memory During Human Navigation. A huge congratulations on completing this significant piece of work!
Dr David Mothersill lead author on paper in Irish Journal of Education
September 2024
Dr David Mothersill was lead author on the paper ‘Mental Health Among Third-Level Students in Ireland During COVID-19', published in the Irish Journal of Education
Dr David Mothersill contributing author on paper in American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
September 2024
Dr David Mothersill was a contributing author on the paper ‘Assessing Stigma Toward Mental, Neurological, and Substance Use Disorders in Liberia: A Population Representative Study’, published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.24-0203 (impact factor 3.707)
Dr David Mothersill Interview with Silicon Republic
September 2024
Dr David Mothersill was interviewed about his research by Irish technology news website Silicon Republic in the article ‘This neuroscientist wants to remove the stigma from mental health’,.
Dr David Mothersill publication in Ireland’s Education Yearbook 2024
September 2024
Dr David Mothersill's article summary, 'Supporting parents to navigate the modern digital ecosystem for themselves and their children', accepted for publication in Ireland’s Education Yearbook 2024.
Dr Conor Nolan has joined the Process Based Behaviour Therapy (PBBT) Institute Advisory Committee
September 2024
Dr Conor Nolan has joined the Process Based Behaviour Therapy (PBBT) Institute Advisory Committee. The role of the committee is to oversee the quality of the formal training offered at the PBBT Institute. The Advisory Committee is comprised of international experts in the area of behavioural psychology and therapy. Conor is delighted to have been asked to join.
Dr Conor Thornberry co-authored a paper published in Neuroinformatics
September 2024
Dr Conor Thornberry co-authored the paper ‘Understanding Learning from EEG Data: Combining Machine Learning and Feature Engineering Based on Hidden Markov Models and Mixed Models’, published in Neuroinformatics.
Dr Michelle Kelly and Dr Caoimhe Hannigan co-authored a paper published Journal of Health Psychology
September 2024
Dr Michelle Kelly and Dr Caoimhe Hannigan co-authored the paper ‘Mechanisms through which befriending services may impact the health of older adults: a dyadic qualitative investigation’, published in the Journal of Health Psychology. The paper is available open access here Mechanisms through which befriending services may impact the health of older adults: A dyadic qualitative investigation - Caoimhe Hannigan, Michelle Kelly, Eimile Holton, Brian Lawlor, Thomas Scharf, Frank Kee, Sean Moynihan, Aileen O’Reilly, Joanna McHugh Power, 2024 (sagepub.com)
Dr Michelle Kelly Invite to be a Keynote Speaker
September 2024
Dr Michelle Kelly was invited to present a keynote speech at the 11th Conference of The European Association for Behaviour Analysis in Brno, Czech Republic, 4th to 7th September. Her keynote was entitled “Applications of behaviour analysis with an ageing population”. She also presented a panel discussion on the development of behaviour analytic standards in Europe with Dr M. Hoerger and Dr B. Sveinbjornsdottir.
Dr Amanda Kracen and PhD student, Laura Curran, attended the International Psychosocial Oncology Society annual meeting in Maastricht.
September 2024
Laura presented a poster, co-authored by Amanda and Dr Rebecca Maguire of Maynooth University, about her research on premature/early menopause resulting from cancer treatment on psychological wellbeing. Amanda also presented a poster, co-authored by colleagues from Trinity College Dublin, Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute, Children’s Health Ireland, and the Health Service Executive about the Irish psycho-oncology workforce.
Dr Amanda Kracen Opening Address
September 2024
Dr Amanda Kracen presented the opening address (The Case for Psychosocial Care for Cancer Survivors and Caregivers) at the launch of Josephine Brady’s new book The Breath of Consolation: Finding Solace in Cancer Literature.
Dr David Mothersill was a contributing author in a paper published in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
August 2024
Dr David Mothersill was a contributing author on the paper ‘Atypical Brain Aging and Its Association With Working Memory Performance in Major Depressive Disorder’, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.04.008 (impact factor 5.7)
Dr Lynn Farrell invitation to join research supervision team
August 2024
Dr Lynn Farrell was invited to join the research supervision team for Dr Táhcita Medrado Mizael’s postdoctoral project in University of Sao Paulo which received funding to explore and address microaggressions experienced by racial minorities and people with disabilities.
Dr Caoimhe Hannigan, Dr Michelle Kelly and colleagues publish preprint
August 2024
Dr Caoimhe Hannigan, Dr Michelle Kelly and colleagues in Maynooth University, Queens University Belfast, Trinity College Dublin, and Newcastle University published a preprint on ‘The impact of a befriending service on health-related quality of life in older adults: an interventional N-of-1 pilot study’. The preprint can be accessed here: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4807512/v1
PhD student has work selected by the Irish Cancer Society
August 2024
Congrats to Laura Curran, PhD student supervised by Drs Amanda Kracen and Rebecca Maguire of Maynooth University. Her work was selected by the Irish Cancer Society for their Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) Award 2024 (€5000). Her project is entitled: The impact of premature/early menopause resulting from cancer treatment on psychological wellbeing and fear of recurrence.