HRB-TMRN Research Associates

Dr. Tom Conway received a BA in Psychology, a MSc in Health Psychology and a PhD in Developmental Psychology all from NUI Galway. After completing his PhD, Tom was appointed as a post-doctoral qualitative researcher with the HRB-TMRN to evaluate the HRB-TMRN Schools Teaching Awareness of Randomised Trials (START) Competition for which Tom is now an ambassador. Tom was also appointed as Acting Programme Manager of the HRB-TMRN. Recently, Tom has been appointed as a Trial Co-ordinator at the Clinical Research Facility Galway. In this role he will also be the CRFG liaison for the HRB-TMRN.

Sebastian Vencken received a BSc in Biochemistry from University College Dublin and a PhD in Molecular Biology from Trinity College Dublin. As a post-doctoral fellow in Prof Catherine Greene’s and Prof Noel McElvaney’s lab at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Sebastian conducted research in genetics and nanomedicines. After an SFI Industry Fellowship at the genetic diagnostics firm, GenePlanet, in Ljubljana, Sebastian started the role of Biostatistician at the UCD Clinical Research Centre. His duties at the UCD CRC involve designing and analysing clinical trials and observational studies and teaching statistics at the UCD teaching hospitals. Sebastian is a board member of the UCD CRC management committee and is the UCD liaison for the HRB-TMRN. In these roles, he is responsible for the identification and implementation of trial methodology research opportunities in UCD CRC studies, and for communicating and contributing to HRB-TMRN events within UCD.

Damian has extensive experience as a Clinical Research Project Manager, with over 15 years’ experience coordinating and implementing complex and critical projects. He has previously worked as a Research Analyst in Health Research Board, Researcher Officer (Quality/Risk Management) at Cork University Hospital and Research Project Manager at the National Cancer Registry, Ireland, where he spent 6 years as project manager on two HRB funded national population based cancer research studies (PanCAM and CaRE).At the HRB CRF-C Damian has worked as Clinical Trial Manager on a number of clinical trials including, the Irish Omega-3 study. He currently manages a portfolio of academic and investigator led clinical investigations/clinical trials. Damian completed an undergraduate in Sociology and Social Research from the University of Limerick. He later completed a Higher Diploma in Statistics from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in Sociology from University College Cork. He recently completed a Higher Diploma in Project Management from Cork Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI). He is currently completing an Organisational Development and Transformation Diploma with the IMI.

Elaine Finucane is a Midwife, a Cochrane Fellow and Research Associate in the Centre for Health Evaluation, Methodology Research and Evidence Synthesis (CHEMRES), located in the National University of Ireland Galway. Elaine received a BSc in Midwifery Science from NUI Galway and is currently a PhD Fellow in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, NUI Galway. Elaine is working on a variety of clinical trials. Her current projects include a HRB funded multi-site feasibility study and a HRB funded innovative, virtual trial aimed at enhancing the public’s understanding of randomised trials. Elaine is also an ambassador for the START (Schools Teaching Awareness of Randomised Trials) outreach competition in NUI Galway. In addition, Elaine is on the teaching faculty of Evidence Synthesis Ireland, an all-Ireland initiative funded by the Health Research Board and the Health and Social Care, Research and Development (HSC R&D) Division of the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland.

Dr Karen Matvienko-Sikar is a Health Psychologist and HRB Research Fellow in the School of Public Health, University College Cork. She obtained her PhD, MA and BA from the School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork. Karen’s research interests are in the area of maternal and child health, particularly perinatal stress and health outcomes. Karen has experience and expertise in developing, implementing and evaluating interventions for maternal and child health in antenatal and primary care settings in pilot and feasibility trials. Karen has experience and a keen interest in development of core outcome sets. She recently led on the development of a core outcome set for infant feeding interventions to prevent childhood obesity, which was supported by the HRB-TMRN and the Irish Research Council. Karen also collaborates with the COMET initiative on their annual updates of core outcome sets for comparative effectiveness research. Karen is currently leading on a Study Within a Trial (SWAT) in the area of core outcome sets and questionnaire response rates.

Claire holds Bachelor’s degrees in both Business Studies & Event Management (Limerick Institute of Technology) and Midwifery Science (National University of Ireland, Galway). In 2014 she was awarded the Dr H.H. Stewart Medical Scholarship in Midwifery. Her PhD thesis titled ‘The development of a survey instrument to evaluate women’s experiences of their maternity care in Ireland’ was submitted to NUI Galway in March 2020. The survey instrument developed has been adopted by the National Care Experience Programme as the Irish National Maternity Experience Survey and was implemented nationally in Ireland in February 2020.

Dr Hannah Delaney is a Post-Doctoral researcher with the HRB-TMRN, based in NUI Galway and Trinity College Dublin. She is an experienced mixed-methods researcher with expertise in both qualitative and quantitative methods in a variety of health-related fields. Hannah obtained her PhD from the University of the West of England in 2016, her research in active travel behaviours explored the experiences and sharing practices of cyclists and pedestrians on shared-use paths; through in-depth interviews, video ethnographies and on-site surveys. She then worked as a Senior Researcher on the health policy team at the Scottish Centre for Social Research in Edinburgh; where she led multiple studies relating to health behaviour, alcohol and tobacco control, and research with children and young people. Hannah is currently working on a 3-year HRB funded study where she is applying her health research skills and mixed-methods experience to trial methodology, specifically trial recruitment. The TRAIN study (Training Recruiters-An educational Intervention) will develop and evaluate an education and training intervention for recruiters to randomised trials.

Catherine Houghton, RN, RCN, BN, MHSC, PhD, is a lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at NUI Galway. Catherine’s primary research expertise is in qualitative methodology, qualitative evidence synthesis (QES), and dementia research. She has extensive experience in, and has published on, qualitative case study methodology, qualitative evidence synthesis methodology, data collection, ethics, rigour, paradigms and analysis in qualitative research. This interest in research methodology led to her current focus on QES and trial methodology. In 2015, Catherine was awarded funding from the HRB-TMRN to develop staff expertise in QES. This led to the registration of a QES in the Cochrane Methodology Review Group exploring the factors that impact on recruitment to trials. This review is currently being prepared for submission. Catherine was subsequently awarded funding from the Irish Research Council New Foundations Scheme for the purpose of developing a clearly articulated pathway between QES and trial methodology and further developing QES expertise in Ireland. Catherine is currently collaborating on a number of qualitative evidence syntheses, for example in: Personhood in dementia, infant feeding, pulmonary rehabilitation and trial recruitment, two of which are registered in Cochrane. Catherine is Co-Chair for QUESTS (Qualitative Research in Trials Centre), established in 2016 and embedded within HRB-TMRN. The mission of QUESTS is to maximise the integration of qualitative research in randomised trials In addition to collaboration on successful bids, QUESTS has delivered training on qualitative approaches that can be used in trials and Studies Within A Trial (SWAT).

Valerie Smith is a Professor in Midwifery at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin. Valerie’s research interests extend to all areas of maternity care and healthcare research methods, with specific topic expertise in the areas of fetal wellbeing (fetal heart rate monitoring and fetal movements) and intrapartum care. Her methodological expertise includes systematic reviews of varying types, randomised trials, and survey research. Valerie is also active in trial methodology activity including core outcome set development, and conducting Study Within A Trial (SWAT) research. Valerie is a senior Cochrane Ireland systematic review trainer and a member of Evidence Synthesis Ireland’s Steering Committee.

Brian is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the School of Nursing and Human Sciences at Dublin City University. Brian’s research interests are in eHealth (digital health), eHealth in the context of self-management of chronic illness (e.g., chronic pain), digital behaviour change, user engagement, technology design using participatory methods, human computer interaction and more broadly in health and organisational psychology. In the context of trial methodology, Brian is particularly interested in how we conceptualise, maintain, report and measure user engagement as it relates to intervention outcomes. Given this interest, Brian was funded by the HRB TMRN to conduct a SWAT to examine the impact of an informational video on trial retention. More recently, Brian was supported by the HRB TMRN to host their first event at Dublin City University on the topic ‘Methodological considerations in digital health behaviour change research: Design, implementation, and evaluation in the context of randomised trials’

I am Professor of Epidemiology in UCC and my research interests are in large-scale observational epidemiology, clinical trials and implementation science. I was the lead PI in Ireland for the EUFP7 funded TRUST clinical trial, ‘Multi-modal Effects of Thyroid Hormone Replacement for Untreated Older Adults with Subclinical Hypothyroidism; a Randomised Placebo-controlled Trial, the largest trial ever undertaken worldwide among people with subclinical hypothyroidism. At the time the trial started, there was no clinical research facility (CRF) in UCC, UCC had not previously sponsored a clinical trial and few staff had training or experience in clinical trials. I worked with the newly developed CRF-C to develop expertise and capacity in clinical trial research, training research nurses, doctors and pharmacists. In addition, I developed a network of over 100 GPs actively recruiting participants for TRUST with satellite sites across the South of Ireland. A HRB-TMRN funded PhD student worked with me on TRUST investigating the role of Risk Based Monitoring in clinical trials. The HRB-TMRN supported a Study Within A Trial (SWAT) associated with TRUST to look at patient preferences for dissemination of the results of clinical trials. I am currently leading the Choosing Healthy Eating for Infant Health (CHErIsH) study, funded through a HRB ICE Award. CHErIsH is a pilot study of an infant feeding intervention to prevent childhood obesity developed based on a systematic approach to the design, implementation and evaluation of the intervention. The TMRN funded a Core Outcome Study led by one of the ICE Fellows of childhood obesity interventions associated with CHErIsH. I am co-PI of the ongoing Improving Diabetes Eye Screening (IDEAS) study, a feasibility study of an intervention to improve diabetic retinopathy screening uptake. I am PI of a HRB-TMRN SWAT evaluating the impact of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) on the IDEAS trial intervention.

Linda is a lecturer in Midwifery at NUI Galway. A midwife and qualitative researcher by training, Linda’s research focuses largely in the fields of maternity care and knowledge translation. Her methodological areas of expertise are in evidence synthesis (qualitative and quantitative) and advancing qualitative research in trial methodology research. She is passionate about understanding how we help people, and children in particular, to learn how to recognise and assess health claims and is leading two projects in this area (an evaluation of the HRB-TMRN START initiative and the contextualising of the Informed Health Choices programme for use in Irish primary school curricula.

Dr. Chris Noone is a lecturer in the School of Psychology at NUI Galway, where he primarily teaches methodology and statistics. Chris completed his PhD at NUI Galway in which he critically analysed claims regarding the effect of mindfulness on thinking skills. He also holds a MSc in Applied Neuroscience from the Leiden University. He has contributed to research on a wide range of topics broadly related to health, wellbeing and cognition and works closely with the Health Behaviour Change Research group led by Prof. Molly Byrne and the MEDAL research group led by Dr Gerry Molloy. He is also Chair of the Research Sub-committee for the National LGBT Federation. Chris's research focuses on health behaviour, LGBT+ health and cardiovascular health. Chris is interested in the application of trial methodology to behavioural interventions - particularly N-of-1 methods - and the use of novel evidence synthesis methods, such as network meta-analysis, to explore the active components of complex interventions in healthcare. He is a member of the International Behavioural Trials Network (IBTN) and the organising committee for the IBTN Summer School 2020.