DrMaria Pertl

Dr Maria Pertl is a Chartered Health Psychologist, Principal Investigator, and Lecturer in RCSI’s School of Population Health. She co-leads the undergraduate Lifestyle Medicine curriculum and teaches Health Psychology, Communication Skills for Brief Interventions and Motivational Interviewing to medical, pharmacy and physiotherapy students. Maria contributed to the development of the HSE National Undergraduate Curriculum for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management: Making Every Contact Count (MECC) and is actively involved in its implementation across RCSI’s undergraduate programmes.

Maria’s research focuses on the psychological and social impact of chronic health conditions on patients, their families, and caregivers. A major strand of her work lies in psycho-oncology, with an emphasis on identifying and evaluating interventions to support individuals living with and beyond cancer. Her research has received funding from the Irish Research Council, Science Foundation Ireland, the Health Research Board, the Irish Cancer Society, and the National Cancer Control Programme.

Maria serves as an Associate Editor for Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine and is a Chartered Member of the Psychological Society of Ireland’s Division of Health Psychology (DHP), where she also sits on the committee. She is Conference Chair for the DHP’s 22nd Annual Psychology, Health and Medicine Conference. Maria holds a Diploma in Lifestyle Medicine from the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine (2021) and is a founding committee member of the Irish Society of Lifestyle Medicine (ISLM).

Maria completed her PhD, MSc, and BA in Psychology at Trinity College Dublin and previously held postdoctoral research positions at the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and the School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin.