DrOlga Cleary

Olga’s research is grounded in population health and health systems science, with a focus on translating evidence into policy, service design, and system-level change. Her work spans integrated care, chronic disease prevention, health systems performance, and implementation science, with a strong emphasis on equity, ethics, and applied impact. Drawing on both academic training and senior roles within the Irish health service, she works across disciplines to address complex challenges in the planning and delivery of population health services. Her PhD research used data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) to examine the prevalence and impact of multimorbidity in older adults, offering a population-level evidence base that challenged disease-specific models of care. Since then, she has continued to integrate quantitative and qualitative methodologies to inform policy evaluation and support the adoption of evidence-informed practices in health and social care.

Olga is currently developing a programme of research on gender equity in health research, policy, and academic systems. She has contributed to international scoping reviews on gender disparities in academic health science and equity-focused workplace interventions, published in BMJ Open and BMC Medicine. She also co-authored the European Institute of Women’s Health position paper Women and Dementia in Europe, which highlighted the gendered burden of dementia and informed policy discourse at the European level. Her current work builds on these foundations to explore structural and cultural barriers to equity in academic and health system contexts, including through collaboration on RCSI’s Workload Allocation Model (WAM) project. Across her research portfolio, Olga maintains a strong focus on public and patient involvement, ethical engagement, and the use of research to inform inclusive and responsive population health systems.