DrMary Rose Sweeney

I am a very experienced and well regarded researcher. My research areas are public health/health systems research. My research aims to reduce the global burden of disease and improve health and quality-of-life for patients/wider society. I am Vice-President of the Nutrition Section of EUPHA. and on the Scientific Committee for EUPHA's International Conference which will take place in Lisbon this year.

I recently received funding from Skillnet Ireland to undertake a project to explore the feasibility of a national standardised induction programme for home support workers.

I am a co-investigator on the recently funded Rosemary Collaborative, funded by Special Olympics, an international health systems level assessment and advocacy project that aims to promote health systems that are more accessible, affordable, and able to provide appropriate, high-quality care to persons with Intellectual Disabilities.

I am also the STEM Co-PI on an IRC funded project which is exploring the experiences of autistic students in primary and post-primary education in Ireland. The study is adopting a mixed methods approach.

I collaborated on two HRB funded projects during COVID-19, the first a collaboration with UCD, exploring the experiences of contact tracers during the pandemic, the second an exploration of the approach taken by nurses working in inclusion health settings to safeguard their clients during the pandemic. I was also the Principal Investigator of a study which explored the experiences of staff, residents and family members in residential care settings for older people during wave one of the pandemic.

I have collaborated on and led many national and international research projects including the largest programme of research ever undertaken in an ethnic minority group (the All-Ireland Travellers Health Study), the largest programme of research ever undertaken in Autism Epidemiology (the ASDEU project) and the largest programme of research ever undertaken to understand the determinants of Health Behaviours across Europe (DEDIPAC study). I have attracted national and international funding.

I was a founding member of the Autism Friendly University Project first implemented at DCU but which has since been embedded in many HEIs nationally.

I have 70 peer reviewed publications, (with several more submitted/in-press/under review at the current time) and over 60 conference presentations, as well as many technical reports (170 outputs in total). My research is regularly featured in national and international media and has informed policy nationally and internationally. My metrics from google scholar are - citations 1544, H-index 24, i10-Index 31. This is above average for my disciplinary field. I have received the DCU Presidents award twice during my 14 years at DCU, one a Special Merit Award for Engagement (2018) and one for Research Impact (2020). I have supervised many undergraduate and postgraduate students including up to Ph.D. completions.

I have attracted research funding from a range of national and international sources to a total value of €4.8 million.