St John of God Research Conference 2024

Welcome to the St John of God Research Conference 2024 (formerly St John of God Research Study Day). Join us on Tuesday, 12 November 2024 at 9:00 AM at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan for a day filled with insightful discussions and groundbreaking research presentations. This in-person event is a great opportunity to network with fellow researchers and learn about the latest advancements in the field of healthcare. Don’t miss out on this exciting conference!

2024 Theme: Building Lifelong Health: Insights from Intellectual Disability and Mental Health Research.

Our Guest Speakers incude:

• Prof. Gordon Harold, Professor of the Psychology of Education and Mental Health @ University of Cambridge
• Prof. Seán Kennelly, Consultant Physician in Geriatric Medicine @ Tallaght University Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor, Medical Gerontology @ Trinity College Dublin
• Dr. Dominic Trépel, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry & Health Economist @ Trinity College Dublin

CPD Points: The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland have awarded 5.5 External CPD credits

Agenda

09.00am Registration/Tea/Coffee/Pastries

09.45am Welcome

Session 1: Prof. Gordon Harold

Q&A

St John of God Staff Oral Presentations

Session 2: Dr. Dominic Trépel

Q&A

13.00pm Lunch

St John of God Staff Oral Presentations

Session 3: Prof. Seán Kennelly

Panel Discussion: ‘Housing & Disability: A crisis within a Crisis’

Session 4: Competition Results

17.00pm Close

Speaker & Panel Bios:

Bio

Professor Gordon Harold is the inaugural Professor of the Psychology of Education and Mental Health at the University of Cambridge, having previously held appointments as the Andrew and Virginia Rudd Chair and Professor of Psychology at the University of Sussex, the Alexander McMillan Chair and Professor of Childhood Studies at the University of Otago, and Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at Cardiff University. His primary research interests and activities focus on:

• examining the interplay between family relationship dynamics and child-adolescent mental health and development, including education and academic outcomes,
• understanding the interplay between genetic factors, pre-natal, post-natal environmental factors and mental health outcomes,
• promoting the development and implementation of evidence-based practice and policy guidelines and recommendations aimed at enhancing mental health outcomes for young people and that reduce the propensity for the intergenerational transmission of mental health problems and adverse family and interpersonal relationship processes.

Gordon is a member of UKRI-ESRC’s Strategic Advisory Network (SAN), a member of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Methods Advisory Group (MAG), and an advisor to multiple UK and international government departments and scientific committees.

Bio

Dr. Dominic Trépel (PhD) joined Trinity in 2017 as an Assistant Professor of Economics and is jointly appointed as faculty for the Global Brain Health Institute (www.gbhi.org) and Trinity School of Medicine. Trépel is also primary investigator in Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN) where he directs Trépel lab (www.healtheconomics.ie). Trépel has been an academic health economics for over 15 years, has published over 100 research articles and much of this research efforts are dedicated to the study of dementia, brain health and ageing. Trépel lab currently includes ten PhDs and Postdoctoral researchers working on grants funded by: Health Research Board (HRB), Irish Research Council (Ireland), Research Collaborative in Quality and Patient Safety (RCQPS), Health and Social Care Northern Ireland (R&D Division), Global Brain Health Institute, Brainlat and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Trépel has previously held Senior Research Fellowships with leading centres in health economics including University of York and the Academic Unit for Health Economics (AUHE) at University of Leeds. His PhD examined the ‘Economics of Dementia in Ireland and Europe’ was supported by the prestigious Government of Ireland Scholarship (IRCHSS) and a Cochrane Fellowship (HRB), and outputs were presented to members of the Irish Parliament.

Bio

Professor Prof. Seán Kennelly is a consultant physician in geriatric and stroke medicine in Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) and Clinical Associate Professor of Medical Gerontology in Trinity College. He is Director of the Institute for Memory and Cognition, and the Cognitive Clinical Trials Unit in Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin. He is clinical director of the National Intellectual Disability Memory Service in TUH. He is co-lead investigator on Dementia Trials Ireland, a national clinical trials network, and is lead-PI and chair of Dementia Research Network Ireland (DRNI). A fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London & Ireland, he has extensively published in his main research areas of ageing, brain health and dementia. He has served as chief and principal investigator on several international clinical trials in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. He is principle investigator and lead-clinical advisor on several industry collaborations investigating novel applications of digital gait and speech biomarkers in detection of cognitive decline. He is a member of the clinical and research advisory panel for the Alzheimer’s Society Ireland and a principal investigator in the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. He is a faculty member for the Global Brain Health Institute in Trinity College Dublin.

Panelists

Joanne Murphy, Family Carers Ireland

Joanne Murphy joined Family Carers Ireland (FCI) in 2022. Joanne’s background in Occupational Therapy from University College Cork, along with her experience supporting her parents in caring for her grandmother, inspired her to pursue a Master’s by Research on the lived experiences of those caring for a parent with dementia—from early symptoms through to bereavement.

As the organisation’s Research Officer, she supports FCI’s programme of research and evaluation, including the bi-annual State of Caring report. She is especially focused on advancing Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) among family carers, researchers, and other stakeholders. Her key activities include managing a variety of qualitative and quantitative projects related to family carers, developing partnerships, and advising researchers conducting studies in this area.

Kathy Endersen

Kathy grew up in south county Dublin with her siblings, including her brother David Kennedy. David is smart and funny, and very perceptive about people’s feelings. David has a disability and a number of medical issues. He requires some support to live in his own home. He was living at home with his Mum and Dad, who were both in their eighties. His Mum has since passed away, sadly. David began transitioning to independent living in 2021. Kathy is here to talk about how independent living has changed David’s life and the lives of her family, especially in the context of aging.

Michele Thunder

Michelle is CEO of St John of God Housing Association. She studied Commerce at UCD, specialising in Economics. She then completed a Master’s in Business Studies with a focus on Strategy and Organisational Psychology. Most recently, she completed a post grad in Leadership in Not-for-Profit Organisations in 2020.

Michelle worked in ICT in a large Irish organisation, a multinational and her own business before switching to the not-for-profit sector, first as a lecturer in the Technological University of the Shannon. In 2008 she joined the Saint John of God organisation and has held senior positions in various services.

Michelle is chair of the Housing Sub-committee of the Federation of Voluntary Service Providers. She also sits on the Tier 3 group for larger approved housing bodies of the Irish Council for Social Housing. Through these and other fora she is committed to advocating for housing for people with ID and enduring mental health issues, who are often forgotten in the current housing crisis.