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Epidemiology and Public Health, UCC - University College Cork

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<strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, <strong>UCC</strong><br />

Department Report 2006\2007


Contents<br />

Introduction<br />

Réamhrá<br />

New Courses/Teaching<br />

Cúrsai Teagaisc Nua<br />

Research<br />

Taighde<br />

New Staff<br />

Baill Fhoirne Nua<br />

Community <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Advocacy<br />

Abhcóideacht Pobail agus Sláinte<br />

Please click on the titles above to link to each section.<br />

To return to the contents page please click on the page numbers.<br />

For further information on courses of the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong><br />

& <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> courses visit http://www.ucc.ie/academic/pubh/<br />

courses/index.html or email t.oconnell@ucc.ie<br />

For further information on research featured in this report contact the<br />

researcher involved or Ms Karen Mulcahy at k.mulcahy@ucc.ie or visit<br />

http://www.ucc.ie/academic/pubh/research/index.html<br />

Más mian leat breis eolais a fháil ar ghné ar bith den tuarascáil seo,<br />

dein teagmháil le Ms Karen Mulcahy, Roinn na hEipidéimeolaíochta<br />

agus Sláinte Poiblí.<br />

This Report is published by the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> at <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>Cork</strong>. The opinions <strong>and</strong> views of<br />

the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> & <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Report are those<br />

of the contributors <strong>and</strong> not necessarily shared by <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />

<strong>Cork</strong>. Extracts from the Report should not be published without the<br />

permission of the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> & <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>.<br />

Editor<br />

Ms Ruth Mc Donnell, <strong>UCC</strong><br />

Photography<br />

Tomás Tyner, AV Services, <strong>UCC</strong>; Barry’s Photography;<br />

News Digital Press Photography; Andrew Bradley;<br />

Photo of Dr Patricia Kearney, (page 4) courtesy of TCD.<br />

Design<br />

designmatters<br />

Print<br />

Watermans Printers<br />

An Ghaeilge<br />

Helen Ní Chatháin, Ionad na Gaeilge Labartha


Introduction<br />

I am pleased to present the 2006/2007 report from the<br />

Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>. This is the<br />

fifth annual report from our department <strong>and</strong> it documents<br />

the continued development of the department’s teaching,<br />

research, public health advocacy <strong>and</strong> community service<br />

agenda. Highlights over the past two years include:<br />

»<br />

»<br />

»<br />

»<br />

»<br />

»<br />

»<br />

»<br />

The recruitment of additional academic, administrative<br />

<strong>and</strong> research staff<br />

Significant increases in research funding:<br />

•<br />

•<br />

•<br />

•<br />

Successful tender to conduct SLÁN 07, National <strong>Health</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> Lifestyle Survey (in collaboration with partners at<br />

RCSI, NUIG <strong>and</strong> ESRI)<br />

HRB funding for a new PhD Scholar Programme in<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Services Research (with partners at RCSI <strong>and</strong><br />

TCD)<br />

Five year HRB programme grant to establish a Centre<br />

for <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> Diet Research in partnership with UCD<br />

HRB Research & Development funding for a 4-year<br />

project (led by Department of General Practice)<br />

addressing the feasibility of establishing a National<br />

Diabetes Register<br />

Graduation of the first cohort of MSc in Occupational<br />

<strong>Health</strong> students<br />

Approval for new Masters in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> (MPH) to<br />

commence in October 2008<br />

Recruitment of full complement of BSc <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

students 117 students across the 4 years of the<br />

programme<br />

Increase in the numbers of MD <strong>and</strong> PhD students with<br />

three PhD graduates conferred in 2006<br />

Hosting of the 2006 Population <strong>Health</strong> Summer School<br />

– “Violence: A <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Issue”<br />

Hosting of the Joint Meeting of the Society for Social<br />

Medicine <strong>and</strong> the International Epidemiological<br />

Association 2007<br />

»<br />

»<br />

Collaboration with the Food Safety Authority of Irel<strong>and</strong> in<br />

a national study of dietary salt intake<br />

Ongoing collaboration with the Northside Initiative in<br />

Community <strong>Health</strong> (NICHE) project in their work to<br />

influence the implementation of the National Primary Care<br />

Strategy in Knocknaheeney<br />

Ongoing Developments<br />

<strong>UCC</strong>’s new Graduate Entry to Medicine Programme will commence<br />

in 2008. The Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong> will be centrally involved in teaching epidemiology,<br />

public health <strong>and</strong> evidence based medicine in the first year<br />

of this four-year programme.<br />

The Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> is now<br />

occupying all the space available to it in the Brookfield <strong>Health</strong><br />

Sciences Complex <strong>and</strong> will need to move to a new facility<br />

within the next twelve to eighteen months. The move to a<br />

new facility will be linked to the establishment of a Population<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Sciences Institute drawing on the expertise of colleagues<br />

across the campus <strong>and</strong> in relevant external agencies<br />

with research <strong>and</strong> teaching interests in population health,<br />

health services research <strong>and</strong> health policy. It is proposed that<br />

the Population <strong>Health</strong> Sciences Institute will be anchored in<br />

a School of <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> Primary Care.<br />

These are exciting <strong>and</strong> challenging developments for academic<br />

public health within the <strong>University</strong> which will enhance<br />

our capacity to respond to emerging population health <strong>and</strong><br />

health service issues in the wider community.<br />

Professor Ivan Perry<br />

Head of the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>,<br />

<strong>UCC</strong><br />

Introduction Réamhrá


Dr Patricia Kearney<br />

A prestigious scholarship<br />

awarded for the first time<br />

outside the United States<br />

has been won by a <strong>UCC</strong><br />

medical graduate.<br />

Award for<br />

Suicide<br />

Researchers<br />

The National Suicide Research Foundation<br />

(NSRF) is celebrating the part it<br />

has played in securing the first European<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Forum Award for an initiative<br />

creating awareness around suicide<br />

<strong>and</strong> depression.<br />

The European Alliance against Depression<br />

is an innovative suicide awareness<br />

programme that is used in 19 different<br />

regions across Europe. <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>and</strong> Kerry<br />

is one such region that is being coordinated<br />

by the National Suicide Foundation<br />

based in <strong>UCC</strong>.<br />

The programme takes a multi-pronged<br />

US award for <strong>UCC</strong> graduate<br />

Dr Patricia Kearney has been awarded the Paul B Beeson Career Development<br />

Award, worth €327,400, for her proposed research into biopsychosocial factors<br />

<strong>and</strong> vascular disease in an ageing cohort of Irish adults. A former Fulbright Scholar,<br />

Dr Kearney has a PhD in epidemiology from Tulane <strong>University</strong> in New Orleans.<br />

She worked until recently as a clinical research fellow at the <strong>University</strong> of Oxford.<br />

Her primary research interest is in the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease<br />

particularly among the elderly. Her previous work includes analyses of the global<br />

burden of hypertension, risk reduction with cholesterol lowering therapy, the<br />

cardiovascular hazards of coxibs <strong>and</strong> the use of aspirin in primary prevention of<br />

cardiovascular disease.<br />

Dr Kearney will undertake her research at Trinity <strong>College</strong> Dublin as part of The Irish<br />

LongituDinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) <strong>and</strong> she will be jointly supervised by Professor<br />

Rose Anne Kenny, Chair of Geriatric Medicine in TCD <strong>and</strong> Professor Ivan Perry,<br />

Chair of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> at <strong>UCC</strong>. TILDA is a unique study in the Irish<br />

context as it will collect data on health, economic <strong>and</strong> social variables. Dr Kearney<br />

will use the data from TILDA to determine the prevalence of known cardiovascular<br />

risk factors in the ageing Irish population, including hypertension, hypercholesterolemia,<br />

diabetes, smoking, <strong>and</strong> lack of physical activity. She will assess the extent to<br />

which these factors are clustered together in the population to quantify the burden<br />

posed by different risk factors in the population as well as to assess the potential<br />

benefits of strategies to prevent <strong>and</strong> treat such risk factors.<br />

In addition, she will investigate the role of psycho-social factors in cardiovascular<br />

disease. While health behaviours account for some of the social gradient in vascular<br />

disease risk, many of the causes <strong>and</strong> underlying mechanisms linking economic <strong>and</strong><br />

social disadvantage to cardiovascular morbidity <strong>and</strong> mortality remain unclear. It has<br />

been suggested that the effects of psycho-social factors on cardiovascular disease<br />

may be mediated by effects on neuro-psychological functioning, autonomic<br />

function <strong>and</strong> on inflammation. TILDA has detailed data on psycho-social factors,<br />

neuro-psychological function <strong>and</strong> measures of autonomic function <strong>and</strong> inflammatory<br />

biomarkers <strong>and</strong> will provide an opportunity for the association between these<br />

factors in an ageing population to be explored.<br />

“We’re not aiming to prepare everyone to become<br />

psychotherapists but we are trying to fill gaps in knowledge<br />

about the symptoms <strong>and</strong> warning signs of suicidal behaviour<br />

that will enable community workers to refer these people to<br />

the correct services,” says Dr Arensman.<br />

approach to increasing awareness surrounding<br />

depression <strong>and</strong> suicidal behaviour.<br />

“The programme is unique in that it<br />

comprises a four-stage approach to<br />

intervention dealing with primary care<br />

physicians, a media campaign, special<br />

training for key community groups <strong>and</strong><br />

providing those with specialised needs<br />

with the most suitable services,” says<br />

Dr Ella Arensman, Director of Research<br />

at the NSRF.<br />

“We’re not aiming to prepare everyone<br />

to become psychotherapists but we are<br />

trying to fill gaps in knowledge about the<br />

symptoms <strong>and</strong> warning signs of suicidal<br />

behaviour that will enable community<br />

workers to refer these people to the correct<br />

services,” says Dr Arensman.<br />

The NSRF has been investigating the<br />

effectiveness of a multifaceted intervention<br />

programme for depression <strong>and</strong> suicidal<br />

behaviour in <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>and</strong> Kerry since<br />

2005, with a specific focus on self-harm<br />

<strong>and</strong> suicide.<br />

The European <strong>Health</strong> Forum Award is<br />

a distinction given to groundbreaking<br />

healthcare projects in the EU.


<strong>UCC</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Students<br />

Win National Awards...<br />

<strong>UCC</strong> <strong>and</strong> UCD have been awarded €5m by the <strong>Health</strong><br />

Research Board to establish a National Research Centre for<br />

Diet, Obesity & Diabetes (NRC). The Centre will have access<br />

to nearly all the major diet, nutrition <strong>and</strong> health databases<br />

available in Irel<strong>and</strong>. This will enable it to provide relevant data<br />

for public policy, health promotion <strong>and</strong> clinical practice on the<br />

prevention <strong>and</strong> management of obesity, diabetes <strong>and</strong> related<br />

metabolic disorders.<br />

The NRC will address five interlinked areas of research:<br />

• An Obesity Observatory will be set up to develop statistical<br />

“Population Prevalence Models” for diabetes <strong>and</strong> other<br />

nutrition-related chronic conditions in collaboration with the<br />

Institute for <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> in Irel<strong>and</strong>. The Centre will carry<br />

out the first National Burden of Disease study in Irel<strong>and</strong>,<br />

focussing on obesity <strong>and</strong> nutrition related risk factors<br />

• The effects of maternal diet during pregnancy on foetal<br />

growth <strong>and</strong> the risk of obesity in childhood in two interlinked<br />

studies will be examined: an ante-natal cohort study <strong>and</strong> a<br />

r<strong>and</strong>omised controlled trial in pregnancy<br />

• The effects of dietary patterns on the prevalence <strong>and</strong><br />

population trends in obesity, the metabolic syndrome,<br />

type 2 diabetes in middle-aged men <strong>and</strong> women will be<br />

explored<br />

• A national obesity cohort based on a database of severely<br />

obese adult <strong>and</strong> paediatric patients will be established to<br />

<strong>UCC</strong> medical students were awarded<br />

15 out of 52 medical prizes at the annual<br />

National <strong>University</strong> of Irel<strong>and</strong> (NUI)<br />

Awards held in Dublin in November<br />

2007.<br />

Five NUI institutions were involved in<br />

the Dr HH Stewart Medical Scholarships<br />

that were awarded to students<br />

on the basis of a written essay. The top<br />

three prizes in the <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> area<br />

were won by three fourth year medical<br />

students at <strong>UCC</strong>. Ms Ciara Flynn<br />

was awarded the scholarship, while Mr<br />

Robert Sung <strong>and</strong> Ms Siobhán O’Neill<br />

were awarded second <strong>and</strong> third place<br />

respectively.<br />

Picture shows from left, Professor Ivan<br />

Perry, Head, Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, Dr Gemma<br />

Browne, Co-ordinator of the <strong>Public</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong> teaching on the 4th year Medical<br />

programme, Ms Ciara Flynn, Mr Robert<br />

Sung <strong>and</strong> Ms Siobhán O’Neill.<br />

€5m for New Centre for <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> Diet Research<br />

provide a platform for quality assurance of the management<br />

of obesity. It will also allow testing of novel hypotheses on<br />

predictors of treatment outcomes <strong>and</strong> help recruit patients<br />

for clinical trials<br />

• Consumers’ response to food will be examined with the<br />

focus on socio-demographical, psychological, physiological<br />

<strong>and</strong> health status factors that affect consumers’ food<br />

choice<br />

This research will harness, co-ordinate <strong>and</strong> promote the<br />

activities of academics, practitioners <strong>and</strong> policy makers<br />

involved with food <strong>and</strong> health in Irel<strong>and</strong>. The NRC will develop<br />

through e-learning an inter-institutional MSc programme in<br />

<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Nutrition for staff employed in the health care<br />

system in the Republic <strong>and</strong> in Northern Irel<strong>and</strong>.<br />

The participants in the Centre will include Professor Ivan<br />

Perry, <strong>Epidemiology</strong> & <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, <strong>UCC</strong>; Professor Michael<br />

Gibney, Food <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, UCD; Professor Albert Flynn,<br />

Nutrition, <strong>UCC</strong>; Professor Patrick Wall, <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

Population Science, UCD; Professor Kevin Cashman, Food<br />

<strong>and</strong> Nutritional Sciences, <strong>UCC</strong>; Dr Mary Mc Carthy, Food<br />

Business & Development, <strong>UCC</strong>; Dr Donald O’Shea, Lecturer<br />

in Medicine /Consultant Endocrinologist, Loughlinstown <strong>and</strong><br />

St Vincent’s <strong>University</strong> Hospital & UCD School of Medicine<br />

<strong>and</strong> Medical Science, UCD; Professor Fionnuala McAuliffe,<br />

Lecturer/Consultant Obstetrician, Obstetrics & Gynaecology,<br />

National Maternity Hospital, Holles St.<br />

News Nuacht


<strong>UCC</strong> part of €5m health services research PhD programme<br />

The <strong>Health</strong> Research Board has awarded €5m to <strong>UCC</strong>’s<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Services Research PhD Scholar programme.<br />

The programme, which is run jointly by the Royal <strong>College</strong><br />

of Surgeons, TCD <strong>and</strong> <strong>UCC</strong>, supports four cohorts of PhD<br />

students (6-8 per year) in a four-year structured inter-institutional<br />

PhD programme in <strong>Health</strong> Services Research (HSR).<br />

This award has significant implications for health services<br />

research at <strong>UCC</strong>. It provides a significant opportunity to develop<br />

an internationally competitive health services research<br />

infrastructure in the university. The funding will support the<br />

development of an integrated master’s level programme in<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Services Research as well as salary support over four<br />

years for the doctoral students.<br />

The project leaders are Professor Ivan Perry (<strong>UCC</strong>- <strong>Epidemiology</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>), Professor Hannah McGee (RCSI<br />

- <strong>Health</strong> Psychology) <strong>and</strong> Professor Charles Norm<strong>and</strong> (TCD<br />

- <strong>Health</strong> Economics). Other Steering Group members are: Dr<br />

Helen Whelton (<strong>UCC</strong> - Oral <strong>Health</strong> Services Research) Professor<br />

Tom Fahey (RCSI - General Practice), Professor Ruairi<br />

Brugha (RCSI - <strong>Epidemiology</strong> & <strong>Public</strong> Heath), Professor John<br />

Feely (TCD - Therapeutics), Professor Jane Grimson (TCD<br />

- <strong>Health</strong> Informatics). The supporting Principal Investigator<br />

list includes over 20 academics in health services research<br />

<strong>and</strong> related disciplines (including clinical disciplines) that will<br />

support the PhD training programme.<br />

Scholars will be supervised by a multidisciplinary team across<br />

two of the three participating institutions. There will be 12week<br />

work placements in Irish institutions collecting health<br />

Toolkit Helps Communities<br />

Promote <strong>Health</strong><br />

Dr Fiona MacLeod, Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong> was involved in the drafting of a new <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

Advocacy Toolkit which will help those working in the health<br />

area to think through, plan <strong>and</strong> undertake advocacy work.<br />

Advocacy is increasingly being recognised as a key element<br />

of the public health role in promoting health <strong>and</strong> well-being.<br />

In the context of the toolkit, public health includes any work<br />

which protects <strong>and</strong> improves health <strong>and</strong> involves people from<br />

all sectors <strong>and</strong> disciplines.<br />

The toolkit helps identify training needs, points to resources<br />

for developing skills <strong>and</strong> competencies <strong>and</strong> provides a<br />

framework for action. Four case studies are included: two<br />

which relate to anti-smoking campaigns; one which relates to<br />

a project to provide a voice for older people in Donegal <strong>and</strong><br />

another which looks at fluoridation in Canada.<br />

The toolkit is available as a printed <strong>and</strong> web based resource.<br />

The printed version provides a basic guide to advocacy while<br />

data in Year 1 (e.g. National Cancer Registry, CSO) <strong>and</strong> a<br />

two-week international site visit for scholars to work with researchers<br />

with specialist expertise in their research topic or<br />

methodology. The Scholar Programme will be managed by<br />

the Irish <strong>Health</strong> Services Research Institute <strong>and</strong> inter-institutional<br />

collaboration involving <strong>UCC</strong>, RCSI <strong>and</strong> TCD.<br />

The proposed Scholars’ Programme aims to improve the<br />

planning <strong>and</strong> delivery of health services in Irel<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> abroad<br />

through developing committed <strong>and</strong> skilled health services<br />

researchers. This should improve the quality of care, the experience<br />

of patients <strong>and</strong> the health of the population. The<br />

capacity in Irel<strong>and</strong> to carry out rigorous health services research<br />

has been constrained by the shortage of suitably<br />

skilled researchers.<br />

The training is in a four year programme, with generic <strong>and</strong><br />

specialized courses in the first year, a research project in years<br />

2-4, <strong>and</strong> personal development across the four years. Year<br />

1 courses cover health, health services <strong>and</strong> health policy,<br />

introductions to a range of disciplines <strong>and</strong> methods, experience<br />

of working in a research setting <strong>and</strong> high level courses<br />

in specific areas. Year 1 is equivalent to a research masters<br />

programme in health services research. The planned support<br />

for developing <strong>and</strong> carrying out the research project will<br />

ensure students receive appropriate support, supervision of<br />

the highest quality, <strong>and</strong> progress will be monitored to ensure<br />

a very rate of completion <strong>and</strong> high quality research.<br />

See page 10 for Sheena Mc Hugh’s report on the new<br />

programme.<br />

Dr Fiona MacLeod<br />

the website (http://advocacy.phii.org/), has in addition, crossreferenced<br />

resources to provide further information on each<br />

section.<br />

The toolkit was produced by the <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Alliance for<br />

the isl<strong>and</strong> of Irel<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> formed in 2006 by the <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

Alliance <strong>and</strong> the Northern Irel<strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Alliance.


<strong>UCC</strong> offers the only BSc in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion<br />

in Irel<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> the first group of students will graduate<br />

in the summer of 2008. The four year course attracts both<br />

school leavers <strong>and</strong> mature students, as well as international<br />

students. <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion includes counselling<br />

individuals about their health choices, improving the<br />

health of entire communities <strong>and</strong> working with governments<br />

<strong>and</strong> international agencies to foster health. The degree helps<br />

students become truly effective <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

Promotion practitioners.<br />

The BSc in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion will open up<br />

career opportunities in Irel<strong>and</strong>, Europe, <strong>and</strong> in other developed<br />

or developing countries. At the beginning of their final<br />

year the students went on ‘work placements’ to prepare them<br />

for the world of work. Their placements included <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion departments; community organisations<br />

<strong>and</strong> health related agencies such as the Irish Cancer Society.<br />

Some students went further a field working with community<br />

projects in Kenya <strong>and</strong> Zambia <strong>and</strong> the Malaria Consortium<br />

in Ug<strong>and</strong>a. The placements helped students underst<strong>and</strong><br />

working with public health issues like obesity, smoking, heart<br />

disease <strong>and</strong> HIV/AIDS <strong>and</strong> they proved to be a very positive<br />

experience for students <strong>and</strong> employers alike!<br />

Graduates with a BSc in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion<br />

will work in many areas such as public health <strong>and</strong> health promotion<br />

departments; other health service departments; national<br />

health agencies; community organisations; international<br />

agencies; health journalism; as well as in the private sector.<br />

They will also have an excellent foundation for professional<br />

training <strong>and</strong> accreditation as a public health practitioner. At<br />

postgraduate level the department runs an MSc in Occupational<br />

<strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> is launching a new Masters in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

(MPH) programme in 2008.<br />

For further information on this course contact Dr Fiona MacLeod,<br />

Email: f.macleod@ucc.ie or Ms Tara O’Connell, Email:<br />

t.oconnell@ucc.ie<br />

Students like diversity of course subjects.<br />

When final year student Michelle Daly’s mother had an accident<br />

that left her with a traumatic head injury in 2000, it<br />

brought home to Michelle how little support there was from<br />

the health services for people with long-term disability. This,<br />

New BSc course<br />

in <strong>UCC</strong> a first in<br />

Irel<strong>and</strong><br />

Students of the first BSc in <strong>Public</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion, Tom<br />

McCarthy <strong>and</strong> Michelle Daly<br />

along with a general interest in public health issues such as<br />

binge drinking <strong>and</strong> smoking, attracted her to the new BSc in<br />

<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion. She is one of 26 students<br />

who will graduate next summer.<br />

Michelle hopes to go to Australia when she graduates but<br />

would eventually like to work in the disability area <strong>and</strong> do a<br />

Masters degree after a few years work experience. For her<br />

work placement she was assigned to a Community Worker<br />

in the North Lee Community Work Department, attached to<br />

the HSE, South. She was involved in team building exercises<br />

with the traveller community, <strong>and</strong> helped organise a positive<br />

ageing day for the over 65s.<br />

Michelle <strong>and</strong> student John Madigan were also involved in<br />

collating <strong>and</strong> analysing data given to them by a public health<br />

nurse who had organised <strong>Health</strong> Days in disadvantaged areas<br />

around the city. They analysed the rate of smoking, BMI<br />

<strong>and</strong> cholesterol readings which showed them the practical<br />

application of their statistics courses.<br />

Michelle liked the diversity of subjects covered in the course<br />

<strong>and</strong> particularly liked the <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Advocacy <strong>and</strong> Determinants<br />

of <strong>Health</strong> sections of her course, - as did her fellow<br />

student Tom Mc Carthy.<br />

Tom was interested in health issues <strong>and</strong> journalism while<br />

at school <strong>and</strong> he has continued with these two interests at<br />

college. He is the <strong>Health</strong> Editor of the monthly student publication,<br />

Motley <strong>and</strong> was Secretary of the college Journalism<br />

Society last year. He hopes to travel after he graduates but<br />

his long term plans include doing a Masters <strong>and</strong> eventually<br />

working in journalism specialising in the health area. Tom is<br />

also the class representative <strong>and</strong> remarks positively on the<br />

openness of the staff to receiving feedback from the students<br />

about the course.<br />

Tom worked in NICHE (Northside Initiative in Community<br />

<strong>Health</strong>) for his placement. He helped organise men’s ‘drop-<br />

in’ evenings at the centre where around 15 men would visit<br />

the centre for a chat, acupuncture or massage. He was also<br />

involved in a mental health awareness week which included<br />

arranging a talk in the local secondary school.<br />

The BSc is now in its fourth year <strong>and</strong> attracts excellent students<br />

from home <strong>and</strong> abroad.<br />

Courses/Teaching Cúrsaí Teagaisc


Three PhD’s for Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, Winter Conferrings 2006<br />

Picture shows left to right, Professor Éamonn Quigley, Head of the School of Medicine, Dr Jennifer Sturley who was<br />

awarded a PhD was jointly supervised with the Department of Paediatric <strong>and</strong> Child <strong>Health</strong>, Professor Denis Lucey,<br />

Acting President, Dr Louise Burgoyne who was awarded a PhD <strong>and</strong> Professor Ivan Perry, Head of the Department of<br />

<strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>. Missing from photo <strong>and</strong> conferred in absentia was Dr Margaret Collins.<br />

PhD Students<br />

Dr Birgit Greiner supervised the PhD of Ms Bernie Mullally,<br />

working title: The smoking ban, bar worker health <strong>and</strong> risk<br />

perception of smoking. Anita Van den Heuvel (second supervisor),<br />

thesis title: A longitudinal study of the psychological<br />

benefits of orthodontic treatment for adolescent patients.<br />

Professor Ivan Perry is co-supervising the PhD of Mary Cronin,<br />

with Dr Cathal O’Connell of the Department of Applied Social<br />

Studies. Her working thesis title is <strong>Health</strong> Inequalities in<br />

Statutory Irish <strong>Health</strong> Promotion Discuourse - A Foucauldian<br />

Analysis<br />

Professor Ivan Perry is also supervising Janas Harrington<br />

whose working title is “Living against the tide: Determinants<br />

of low risk status for CVD in a high risk population” <strong>and</strong> Dr<br />

Gemma Brown whose working thesis title is “Social inequalities<br />

in Cardiovascular risk.”<br />

MD Students Supervised<br />

Clodagh Cashman, thesis title: Validation of a comprehensive<br />

occupational health tool for CIE Group employees in<br />

Irel<strong>and</strong>.<br />

MSc in Medicine<br />

Ms Vicki Mc Manus who was awarded an MSc in Medicine<br />

in December 2007 pictured with <strong>UCC</strong> President, Dr Michael<br />

Murphy. Her study entitled ‘Participation in everyday activities<br />

<strong>and</strong> quality of life in pre-teenage children living with cerebral<br />

palsy in the South West of Irel<strong>and</strong>’ was supervised by<br />

Professor Ivan Perry <strong>and</strong> Dr Paul Corcoran. The study was<br />

carried out while Ms McManus ran the South of Irel<strong>and</strong> CP<br />

register in Enable Irel<strong>and</strong> <strong>Cork</strong> Services.


MSc Students in Occupational<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Graduate<br />

The first intake of 25 students just successfully completed<br />

their studies in the new MSc in Occupational <strong>Health</strong> course.<br />

This course was designed to cover both conventional health<br />

<strong>and</strong> safety issues <strong>and</strong> ‘modern’ psychosocial factors at work.<br />

Taught from a population health perspective <strong>and</strong> based on a<br />

bio-psychosocial model of health (<strong>and</strong> safety) this course is<br />

unique in Irel<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> provides a modern approach to work<br />

<strong>and</strong> health taking newly emerging workplace health <strong>and</strong> safety<br />

issues into account such as drug <strong>and</strong> alcohol testing, cultural<br />

diversity, health <strong>and</strong> safety in micro businesses, job stress,<br />

work organisation, <strong>and</strong> bullying.<br />

This multidisciplinary course, which was run in collaboration<br />

with the Centre for Adult Continuing Education, the Department<br />

of Applied Psychology <strong>and</strong> Occupational Medicine was<br />

a success. Major focus points of the course were pro-active<br />

health <strong>and</strong> safety practice, evidence based practice informed<br />

by research evidence, reflective practice, <strong>and</strong> interdisciplinary<br />

working.<br />

The students came from diverse educational backgrounds<br />

such as engineering, nursing, medicine, social <strong>and</strong> natural<br />

sciences. They were employed in a number of industries including<br />

manufacturing, health care, education, public service,<br />

construction, <strong>and</strong> NGOs. The composition of the group created<br />

an ideal teaching <strong>and</strong> learning context that was highly<br />

conducive to learning from each other’s experiences.<br />

The first year of the programme had taught modules in psychosocial<br />

epidemiology, research methods, occupational<br />

health <strong>and</strong> safety issues, legislation, critical appraisal of<br />

scientific publications, applied psychology, training <strong>and</strong> development<br />

issues. The second year focussed on practice<br />

application <strong>and</strong> project writing. The class organised site visits<br />

which were followed by structured reading <strong>and</strong> discussions<br />

providing an effective way for experiential learning from each<br />

other. Students will be encouraged to publish their project<br />

work in scientific <strong>and</strong> trade journals.<br />

For further information on this course contact Dr Birgit Greiner,<br />

Email: b.greiner@ucc.ie or Ms Vera Mc Carthy, Email:<br />

v.mccarthy@ucc.ie<br />

Front row (l to r) Ms Vera Mc Carthy Course - Coordinator;<br />

Dr Birgit Greiner - Course Director; Professor<br />

Edward Johns; Professor Robbie McConnell; President, Dr<br />

Michael Murphy; Guest Speaker, Eoin O’Driscoll, Aderra<br />

Ltd; Professor David Kerins; Dr Louise Burgoyne; Dr John<br />

Gallagher; William Weir - Course Co-ordinator.<br />

Second Row (l to r) Mr Niall O’Connell, Ms Brigid Quaid-<br />

Dunphy, Ms Sinead O’Sullivan, Ms Orla Kelleher, Ms Regina<br />

D’Arcy, Mr Jerry Buckley, Mr Diarmuid Daly, Mr Neil Hunter,<br />

Ms Aileen Hartigan, Mr Eddie Ronayne, Mr Vincent Murphy.<br />

Back Row (l to r) Mr Gerard Spillane, Mr Seán Murray,<br />

Ms Mairéad Lane, Mr John Lordan, Ms Christine Horgan,<br />

Mr Gerald Fogarty, Ms Michelle O’Driscoll, Ms Cora Goold,<br />

Ms Sheilah Nolan, Ms Gerard Mc Sweeney, Ms Mary<br />

O’Connor.<br />

Courses/Teaching Cúrsaí Teagaisc


10<br />

“Being based within the Department<br />

of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

will provide the support, specialised<br />

expertise <strong>and</strong> supervision I need to<br />

complete a PhD in health services<br />

research,” says Sheena McHugh,<br />

one of the HRB scholars.<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Research Board Funds National PhD Programme<br />

In October 2007 Sheena McHugh joined the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong>. She also became one of nine students beginning the newly established PhD<br />

Scholars Programme in <strong>Health</strong> Services Research. She describes the programme<br />

below <strong>and</strong> outlines her progress to date.<br />

“This PhD programme is a joint initiative of senior staff in<br />

<strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>Cork</strong>, Trinity <strong>College</strong> Dublin <strong>and</strong> the Royal<br />

<strong>College</strong> of Surgeons. The theme of the Programme is “Integrated<br />

healthcare: from research to policy to practice” <strong>and</strong> is<br />

funded by the <strong>Health</strong> Research Board.<br />

This is a four year structured programme with scholars based<br />

at each of the institutions. During the first year we all come<br />

together on two days of the week for lectures at one of the<br />

three universities. These lectures cover a variety of topics from<br />

population health <strong>and</strong> health behaviour to health economics<br />

<strong>and</strong> health informatics. While at our home institutions students<br />

<strong>and</strong> lecturers remain in contact through a virtual learning<br />

environment platform.<br />

A number of disciplines are represented by the scholars on<br />

the programme. My own background is in psychology having<br />

graduated from <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> Dublin in 2006 with<br />

a BA (Hons) in Psychology. My degree thesis focused on<br />

the use of social coping strategies among gifted children in<br />

Irel<strong>and</strong>. During my BA programme I was introduced to the<br />

relatively new field of health psychology <strong>and</strong> decided to pursue<br />

this at postgraduate level. In 2007 I completed an MSc<br />

in <strong>Health</strong> Psychology at <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> London. This one<br />

year taught programme centred on the theory of behaviour<br />

change, statistics, chronic illness, health systems <strong>and</strong> health<br />

care delivery, <strong>and</strong> inter-related topics such as gender. There<br />

was also the opportunity to undertake research in a health<br />

setting. Having developed an interest in chronic illness, I investigated<br />

the influence of illness <strong>and</strong> treatment beliefs on<br />

adherence to treatment in people with diabetes.<br />

Over the course of the HRB PhD Scholars programme I will<br />

gain further knowledge <strong>and</strong> skills to conduct health services<br />

research. During this first year each student will plan <strong>and</strong><br />

develop a draft doctoral research proposal to be undertaken<br />

during the remaining three years. Studying within the Department<br />

of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> at <strong>UCC</strong> will allow me<br />

to pursue my research interests in chronic illness, particularly<br />

diabetes.<br />

There are a number of unique features which made the PhD<br />

Scholars Programme so appealing including a ten week<br />

placement at a health practice or policy organisation during<br />

the first year <strong>and</strong> the opportunity to visit a prestigious<br />

international academic institution in my second or third year.<br />

Both opportunities will be relevant to my PhD project. The<br />

joint endeavour between <strong>UCC</strong>, TCD <strong>and</strong> RCSI offers us all a<br />

wealth of knowledge, skills <strong>and</strong> resources as well as facilitating<br />

collaboration between students <strong>and</strong> staff from a variety of<br />

disciplines. Being based within the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> will provide the support, specialised<br />

expertise <strong>and</strong> supervision I need to complete a PhD in health<br />

services research.”


New Masters in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> (MPH)<br />

The Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> will offer<br />

a new Masters in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> starting in September 2008.<br />

Students of the 12 month programme will specialise in one of<br />

four areas: General <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>; <strong>Health</strong> Promotion, <strong>Health</strong><br />

Protection or <strong>Epidemiology</strong>. The Masters degree will be rooted<br />

in academic skill development but will also provide an opportunity<br />

to apply theory to practice. Students will get a further<br />

insight into the practical application of their studies through<br />

work placement.<br />

The Masters programme will help students analyse theories<br />

<strong>and</strong> issues related to public health; construct arguments<br />

around the social, political <strong>and</strong> economic factors determining<br />

the health of populations; <strong>and</strong> demonstrate ability in the<br />

key underpinning disciplines <strong>and</strong> theories of public health<br />

including epidemiology, biostatistics, social <strong>and</strong> behavioural<br />

sciences <strong>and</strong> social policy. The Departments of Statistics,<br />

Electronic Portfolio<br />

The worldwide web is an increasingly important educational<br />

tool. The Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong> has recently embraced a new technology called<br />

eFolioWorld. This technology allows users to create <strong>and</strong> maintain<br />

an electronic portfolio or eFolio anywhere they have internet<br />

access. Staff are using the system to update their CV’s <strong>and</strong><br />

to keep the department website up-to-date. The technology<br />

allows for inclusion of information on research publications,<br />

presentations <strong>and</strong> educational <strong>and</strong> career achievements.<br />

Fourth year students in the BSc in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

Promotion will use eFolio to communicate with staff while they<br />

were on their work placements. They will write up reports on<br />

their work experience including material such as daily journal<br />

entries <strong>and</strong> work placement essays.<br />

Applied Psychology <strong>and</strong> Applied Social Studies will also be<br />

involved in the delivery of the course.<br />

The Masters in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> will replace the existing Masters<br />

in <strong>Health</strong> Promotion <strong>and</strong> will offer a wider range of specialist<br />

areas. Both the MA in <strong>Health</strong> Promotion <strong>and</strong> the MSc in<br />

Occupational <strong>Health</strong> have been oversubscribed since their<br />

inception <strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> it is expected that the new MPH will attract<br />

students from a wider range of backgrounds including<br />

Medicine, Nursing, Nutrition, Psychology, the Social Sciences<br />

<strong>and</strong> International Development. Students will be given the<br />

option of exiting with a certificate or diploma or progressing<br />

to a masters.<br />

For further information on this course contact Ms Jennifer<br />

Russell, Email: jen.russell@ucc.ie or Ms Bernie Mullally, Email:<br />

b.mullally@ucc.ie<br />

MA, <strong>Health</strong> Promotion<br />

Back row (l to r) Ms Maureen Collins, Ms<br />

Jackie Ruttledge, Ms Vera McCarthy, Ms<br />

Eileen Duggan.<br />

Centre row (l to r) Ms Donna Peyton, Ms<br />

Connie Foley, Ms Carragh Miller, Ms Imelda<br />

O’Connor, Ms Máire O’Leary, Ms Elizabeth<br />

Carroll O’Leary, Ms Marion O’Shea.<br />

Front row (l to r) Ms Rose Power Moroney,<br />

Ms Elizabeth O’Connell, Professor Ivan<br />

Perry, <strong>UCC</strong> President, Professor GT<br />

Wrixon, Professor Denis Lucey, Ms Deirdre<br />

Kelleher, Ms Joan O’Sullivan. Missing from<br />

picture <strong>and</strong> conferred in absentia Ms Ann<br />

Hennessy, Ms Noreen Fitzgerald.<br />

For further information please contact Therese McNamee,<br />

Email: t.mcnamee@ucc.ie<br />

11<br />

Courses/Teaching Cúrsaí Teagaisc


12<br />

National register to improve<br />

diabetes care?<br />

<strong>UCC</strong> has received funding from the <strong>Health</strong> Research Board to<br />

examine whether a national diabetes register in Irel<strong>and</strong> would<br />

help improve the level of care to diabetes patients. Experience<br />

in other countries, particularly Sweden, has shown that<br />

having such a register can improve the delivery <strong>and</strong> quality<br />

of diabetes care. This happens because having an accurate<br />

idea of the number of people with the condition <strong>and</strong> its complications<br />

helps with planning the distribution <strong>and</strong> delivery of<br />

services to patients.<br />

The <strong>UCC</strong> researchers have been working with groups of GPs<br />

<strong>and</strong> diabetes specialists to try <strong>and</strong> improve services for diabetic<br />

patients. In three different parts of the country (the West,<br />

South <strong>and</strong> Midl<strong>and</strong>s) they have been working to get a more<br />

accurate idea of who has diabetes, how they are getting on<br />

with their diabetes <strong>and</strong> how their diabetes affects them. The<br />

first part of the study will involve looking at best practice in<br />

diabetes care in medical journals <strong>and</strong> in international practice.<br />

They will then survey all the people providing care to diabetic<br />

patients in Irel<strong>and</strong> to find out what are doing <strong>and</strong> invite them to<br />

<strong>UCC</strong> examines sexual health..<br />

work with the researchers to improve the quality of diabetes<br />

care. Following the surveys the researchers will review how<br />

diabetes care has improved. They then propose producing a<br />

national diabetes register (i.e. a list of everyone in the country<br />

with diabetes) which will be informed by the work going on<br />

<strong>and</strong> which will address all the legal, ethical <strong>and</strong> administrative<br />

issues that might arise in compiling such a list. People looking<br />

after diabetic patients will then be able to compare their<br />

figures with people in other parts of the country <strong>and</strong> compare<br />

how they are doing.<br />

The four year research project is a joint initiative between<br />

the Departments of General Practice <strong>and</strong> <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> at <strong>UCC</strong>. Professor Colin Bradley, Department of<br />

General Practice is the Principal Investigator while Professor<br />

Ivan Perry, Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> is<br />

a co-Principal Investigator.<br />

For further information on this research contact Ms Anne<br />

Fitzpatrick, Email: anne.fitzpatrick@ucc.ie<br />

Dr Frances Shiely joined the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>,<br />

<strong>UCC</strong>, in September 2005 as lecturer in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>. She received her PhD in<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Psychology from the <strong>University</strong> of Limerick in 2003. Before joining the<br />

department, Dr Shiely worked in the Department of <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Medicine <strong>and</strong><br />

<strong>Epidemiology</strong>, UCD, as a Senior Researcher. Her work involved an analysis of the<br />

SLÁN (Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes <strong>and</strong> Nutrition) <strong>and</strong> HBSC (<strong>Health</strong> Behaviour<br />

in School Aged Children) databases.<br />

Dr Shiely’s current research is in the area of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).<br />

She works closely with Dr Mary Horgan, Consultant in Infectious Diseases in the<br />

<strong>Cork</strong> <strong>University</strong> Hospital. Their current work involves the examinations of factors<br />

influencing a positive STI diagnosis in a GUM clinic sample <strong>and</strong> the influence of<br />

sexual intercourse prior to the legal age of consent on later STI diagnosis. Her<br />

other research interests include adolescent health, lifestyle <strong>and</strong> behaviour, contraceptive<br />

practices <strong>and</strong> risk taking behaviour.<br />

Dr Shiely also collaborates with Professor Cecily Kelleher, School of <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> Population Science, UCD on a number of papers related to sexual health,<br />

mental health <strong>and</strong> adolescent health, which have recently been published. Dr<br />

Shiely also works closely with Dr Kevin Hayes, Department of Mathematics <strong>and</strong><br />

Statistics, <strong>University</strong> of Limerick.<br />

For further information on this research contact Dr Frances Shiely,<br />

Email: f.shiely@ucc.ie


How frequently should we have our teeth checked?<br />

There is no good quality, reliable evidence to inform healthcare decisions regarding<br />

the frequency with which patients should attend for dental check-ups according to<br />

Dr Paul Beirne of <strong>UCC</strong>’s Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>.<br />

Dr Beirne <strong>and</strong> a team of reviewers from the Cochrane Oral<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Group carried out a worldwide review of the literature<br />

in relation to the frequency with which people should see<br />

their dentist for check-ups. They found insufficient evidence<br />

to support or refute the common practice of encouraging patients<br />

to attend for dental check-ups at six-monthly intervals.<br />

Debates over the ‘optimal’ frequency for dental check-ups<br />

<strong>and</strong> the potential effects on oral health of altering recall intervals<br />

between check-ups have been the subject of ongoing international<br />

debate for almost three decades. Although recommendations<br />

regarding optimal recall intervals vary between<br />

countries <strong>and</strong> dental health care systems, six-monthly dental<br />

check-ups have traditionally been advocated by general dental<br />

practitioners in many developed countries.<br />

Following the publication of their review, the National <strong>Health</strong><br />

Service <strong>Health</strong> Technology Assessment Programme in the UK<br />

is commissioning research to compare the effects of dental<br />

check-ups at six monthly intervals, 24 monthly intervals <strong>and</strong><br />

at intervals based on patients’ risk from oral disease.<br />

Dr Paul Beirne undertakes systematic reviews of the effectiveness<br />

of healthcare interventions. Dr Beirne has been actively<br />

involved in the work of the Cochrane Collaboration <strong>and</strong> has<br />

The EU Injury Database (IDB) is an EU<br />

injury surveillance system based on hospital<br />

emergency department data from<br />

selected member state hospitals. The<br />

Injury Data Base within the current EU<br />

<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Programme 2003-2008,<br />

is the successor to the former European<br />

Home <strong>and</strong> Leisure Accidents Surveillance<br />

System at DG SANCO, European<br />

Commission. The data are collected by<br />

the national data administrators who are<br />

responsible for the implementation <strong>and</strong><br />

maintenance of the Injury Data Base in<br />

their country. The st<strong>and</strong>ardised national<br />

data sets are then prepared <strong>and</strong> uploaded<br />

to the central database. This data are<br />

aggregated at EU level in a st<strong>and</strong>ardised<br />

way <strong>and</strong> stored in a password restricted<br />

central database hosted by the European<br />

Commission at https://webgate.<br />

cec.eu.int/idb/.<br />

taught on a number of systematic review training courses<br />

in Irel<strong>and</strong> in conjunction with staff from the UK Cochrane<br />

Centre.<br />

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international non-profit <strong>and</strong><br />

independent organisation, dedicated to making up-to-date,<br />

accurate information about the effects of healthcare readily<br />

available worldwide. It produces <strong>and</strong> disseminates systematic<br />

reviews of healthcare interventions <strong>and</strong> promotes the search<br />

for <strong>and</strong> synthesis of the best available <strong>and</strong> most reliable evidence<br />

on the effects of healthcare interventions. The major<br />

product of the Collaboration is the Cochrane Database of<br />

Systematic Reviews which is published quarterly as part of<br />

the Cochrane Library.<br />

The <strong>Health</strong> Research Board in Dublin has negotiated free<br />

all-Irel<strong>and</strong> internet access to the Cochrane Library. Irel<strong>and</strong><br />

was the first country in the world where the Cochrane Library<br />

was made available free of charge to anyone with internet<br />

access.<br />

For further information on this research contact Dr Paul<br />

Beirne, Email: p.beirne@ucc.ie<br />

EU investigates injuries ...<br />

Ms Sarah Meaney, Research Assistant,<br />

leads on this work on behalf of the<br />

department. As well as collecting the<br />

data <strong>and</strong> compiling reports, Ms Meaney<br />

is also responsible for the international<br />

coding helpdesk. As the Injury Data<br />

Base is only as good as the quality of the<br />

national Injury Data Base data collection<br />

systems, the support <strong>and</strong> training of individuals<br />

participating in the network is<br />

a major goal within the current project.<br />

An Injury Data Base coding helpdesk<br />

was established to provide all key documents<br />

i.e. coding manual, coding guide<br />

etc <strong>and</strong> to offer support for specific coding<br />

difficulties encountered by the national<br />

data administrators with a view to<br />

reaching an agreed resolution.<br />

For further information on this research<br />

contact Ms Sarah Meaney, Email: sarah.<br />

nsrf@iol.ie<br />

1<br />

Research Taighde


1<br />

The smoking ban in work places has been one of the major<br />

public health interventions in Irel<strong>and</strong> in the past years that<br />

gained international attention. Tobacco control remains one<br />

of the major research foci of the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>. Researchers examine the sustained<br />

effect of the ban on health, smoking behaviour <strong>and</strong> ‘smoking<br />

careers’ as well as smoking risk perceptions among Bar workers,<br />

General Practitioners <strong>and</strong> the General Population.<br />

The project is funded by the <strong>Health</strong> Research Board <strong>and</strong> led<br />

by Dr Birgit Greiner (Principal Investigator) with colleagues Ms<br />

Bernie Mullally <strong>and</strong> Ms Sarah Meaney.<br />

Ms Mullally, who is currently pursuing a PhD, led the third<br />

phase of the Bar Workers Study with the help of research<br />

assistants Ms Sarah Meaney <strong>and</strong> Ms Nicola Gwillym. They<br />

continue to document the health impact of the legislative<br />

ban two years after its introduction. The findings concerning<br />

the impact of the ban on respiratory health <strong>and</strong> smoking<br />

behaviour of bar workers are of international interest as policy<br />

makers in several European countries have considered the<br />

introduction of a legislative smoking ban. Future work within<br />

this project will use qualitative interviews with bar workers<br />

<strong>and</strong> others to learn more about the ‘smoking careers’ in the<br />

context of the smoking ban.<br />

The research team is also investigating whether the general<br />

population has become more aware of the health risks associated<br />

with active <strong>and</strong> passive smoking over the past few<br />

years. Ms Mullally recently coordinated a survey conducted<br />

by TNS/MRBI among a nationally representative sample of the<br />

general population (n=1,000). The results on risk perception<br />

of smoking in this sample will be compared with results of<br />

a similar survey among the general population conducted in<br />

1999 (Power et al., 2004) to determine changes in risk perception<br />

over time. Questions include class <strong>and</strong> sex differences in<br />

risk perception of smoking in relation to other risks (e.g. road<br />

traffic accidents).<br />

Data collection on a follow-up sample of 131 General Practitioners<br />

from the <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>and</strong> Kerry region was co-ordinated by<br />

Ms Sarah Meaney. Ms Meaney <strong>and</strong> Ms Mullally were supported<br />

in this data collection by Ms Nicola Gwillym, Ms Shabana<br />

Khalid <strong>and</strong> Ms Eilish Dolan. Data was previously collected in<br />

1999 by Professor Ivan Perry <strong>and</strong> colleagues (Power et al.,<br />

2004) <strong>and</strong> this data will serve as an expert groups opinion for<br />

comparisons with the general population.<br />

In addition to this repeated sample researchers also recruited<br />

an additional sample of 117 newly qualified General Practitioners.<br />

These were recruited in order to account for changes in<br />

age <strong>and</strong> sex distributions throughout general practice since<br />

1999.<br />

It can be assumed that the general public <strong>and</strong> especially<br />

general practitioners are aware of most but not of all health<br />

risks associated with smoking <strong>and</strong> passive smoking. An insight<br />

into smoking risk perceptions may provide valuable<br />

information for smoking cessation advice in the future <strong>and</strong><br />

inform public health practice to ensure that risks of smoking<br />

are cogently <strong>and</strong> accurately communicated to all sectors in<br />

society. Furthermore the results will help public health policy<br />

makers underst<strong>and</strong> the consequences of this tobacco control<br />

measure on existing health inequalities.<br />

Currently Ms Meaney is comparing the accuracy of both general<br />

practitioners’ <strong>and</strong> the general population’s risk perceptions<br />

of smoking by making a direct comparison between the<br />

outcomes on both smokers’ <strong>and</strong> non-smokers’ health.<br />

Dr Birgit Greiner investigates specific systematic prevalence<br />

<strong>and</strong> consumption changes in the general population before<br />

<strong>and</strong> after implementation of the ban. She is using data of a<br />

monthly phone survey with data collected under the auspices<br />

of the Office of Tobacco Control.<br />

Research results were presented at national <strong>and</strong> international<br />

conferences such as the World Tobacco Conference in Washington,<br />

the European Tobacco or <strong>Health</strong> Conference in Basel,<br />

the Asian Pacific Conference on Tobacco or <strong>Health</strong> in Taipei<br />

<strong>and</strong> the Society for Social Medicine UK & Irel<strong>and</strong>.<br />

Acknowledgements<br />

The researchers thank Ms Nicola Gwillym, Ms Shabana Khalid<br />

<strong>and</strong> Ms Eilish Dolan for their help with interviews. They<br />

especially thank the bar staff <strong>and</strong> General Practitioners who<br />

participated in the interviews.<br />

For further information on this research contact Dr Birgit<br />

Greiner, Email: b.greiner@ucc.ie or Ms Bernie Mullally, Email:<br />

b.mullally@ucc.ie


Dr Louise Burgoyne<br />

The relationship between social inequality <strong>and</strong> physical inactivity<br />

is a public health concern. Dr Louise Burgoyne of<br />

the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> has researched<br />

the challenges of introducing public health initiatives<br />

to economically disadvantaged areas. Results from three<br />

studies found that well-meaning initiatives by health professionals<br />

could be counter-productive <strong>and</strong> in fact dis-empower<br />

communities.<br />

The first study, commissioned by the Northside Community<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Initiative in <strong>Cork</strong> explored what determines physical<br />

activity among residents from the Knocknaheeny <strong>and</strong> Hollyhill<br />

neighbourhoods. Results showed that engaging in physical<br />

activity was linked to residents’ self-contentment <strong>and</strong> to their<br />

contentment with the local social <strong>and</strong> physical environment.<br />

Walking was considered the most popular form of activity <strong>and</strong><br />

residents expressed a need for local walking areas.<br />

The second study organised with Dr Catherine Woods of<br />

DCU’s School of <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> Human Performance, was a<br />

‘before’ <strong>and</strong> ‘after’ assessment of the Irish Heart Foundations’<br />

international walking initiative the Slí-na-Sláinte, together with<br />

an accompanying media campaign. These were introduced<br />

in <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>and</strong> also to Darndale <strong>and</strong> Belcamp in Dublin. While<br />

baseline survey findings showed that participants were well<br />

disposed towards doing recommended levels of physical<br />

activity, negative follow-up findings found no significant in-<br />

<strong>Health</strong> promoters need to be<br />

aware of the social <strong>and</strong> physical<br />

context in which they work.<br />

creases in self-reported or objectively measured (video camera)<br />

levels of walking.<br />

These results prompted a third study in <strong>Cork</strong> investigating the<br />

marginal impact of the walking route. Although walking was<br />

considered by residents in this study, it was merely a catalyst<br />

for discussion on a wider set of neighbourhood issues centring<br />

on the local social <strong>and</strong> physical environment.<br />

Conclusions from this research suggest that although health<br />

initiatives such as walking routes appear an attractive promo-<br />

<strong>Health</strong> promoters need to concentrate more on the factors<br />

underlying community health according to Dr Louise Burgoyne<br />

tional tool with easily obtained benefits for users, due attention<br />

on the part of health promoters must be directed towards<br />

assessing the individual suitability of such interventions. In<br />

particular, health promoters need to be aware of the social<br />

<strong>and</strong> physical context in which they are working. With respect<br />

to administration, research, community development, <strong>and</strong> the<br />

notion of ‘empowerment’, health promoters must be cautious<br />

of their tendency to adopt a paternalistic approach.<br />

<strong>Health</strong> promotion initiatives such as Slí-na-Sláinte have a<br />

good theoretical basis <strong>and</strong> intuitive appeal but have to be<br />

carefully assessed for their suitability. There is a temptation<br />

to use them as a sticking plaster covering more fundamental<br />

issues. However in order to achieve substantial impacts on<br />

neighbourhood health they need to be deeply embedded in<br />

a supportive <strong>and</strong> facilitative environment. <strong>Health</strong> promoters<br />

1<br />

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1<br />

need to concentrate more on the factors underlying community<br />

health. Individuals who are regularly physically active<br />

are healthier, feel better <strong>and</strong> are less likely to be overweight<br />

or obese in comparison to their less active counterparts. The<br />

public health challenge is to establish effective physical activity<br />

interventions for all sectors of the community.<br />

Funding <strong>and</strong> resources for this research were provided by the<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Promotion Unit at the Department of <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> Children,<br />

the Northside Initiative for Community <strong>Health</strong> (NICHE)<br />

in <strong>Cork</strong>, the Irish Heart Foundation <strong>and</strong> the former Northern<br />

Area <strong>Health</strong> Board.<br />

The major findings have been published in the Journal of<br />

<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> in BMC <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>.<br />

For further information on this research contact Dr Louise<br />

Burgoyne, Email: l.burgoyne@ucc.ie<br />

Ms Vera McCarthy<br />

Research Funding 2006/2007<br />

Departmental collaboration with the NICHE Project<br />

has now become a regular <strong>and</strong> invaluable part of<br />

the department’s activities. The NICHE project is a<br />

pioneering community health development project<br />

that serves the Knocknaheeny/Hollyhill areas of<br />

North <strong>Cork</strong> city. The department has been represented<br />

on the Project’s Management Committee<br />

since the project’s inception in 1998. This has enabled<br />

the department to help develop the strategy of<br />

a project, the significance of which stretches well<br />

outside the specific locality. Being involved with the<br />

NICHE Project has helped the department to stay<br />

abreast, <strong>and</strong> feed into its teaching, the experience<br />

that is drawn from the cutting edge of community<br />

health development in Irel<strong>and</strong>. The collaboration is<br />

a rare but unambiguous ‘win-win’ involvement.<br />

HRB PhD Scholar Programme €5,000,000 (between RCSI, <strong>UCC</strong>, TCD)<br />

HRB R&D (Diabetes Register) €935,481 (between GP <strong>and</strong> <strong>Epidemiology</strong> & <strong>Public</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong>)<br />

HRB Equipment Grant €165,000 (at NSRF)<br />

EU 6th Framework €58,000<br />

SLÁN 07 €1,800,000 over two years in collaboration with RCSI,<br />

NUI Galway <strong>and</strong> ESRI.<br />

Safefood €256,277<br />

Ms Vera McCarthy is employed as a part-time Departmental Nurse Research Assistant.<br />

She is also the course coordinator in the MSc in Occupational <strong>Health</strong>.<br />

Ms McCarthy has worked on the Inflammatory Bowel Disease study which began in 2003<br />

<strong>and</strong> is currently at analysis stage. She is also working on the <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>and</strong> Kerry Heart Disease<br />

<strong>and</strong> Diabetes study (Phase II). Another project is a study, in collaboration with the International<br />

Transport Workers’ Federation to ascertain the level of stress <strong>and</strong> fatigue in civil<br />

aviation workers.<br />

Ms McCarthy qualified with a Diploma of Higher Education in Nursing at the Middlesex<br />

<strong>University</strong> with Barnet <strong>College</strong> of Nursing & Midwifery. She later received a BSc (Hons) in<br />

Nursing Studies with the <strong>University</strong> of Hertfordshire. Ms McCarthy also did specialist courses<br />

in orthopaedic <strong>and</strong> intensive care nursing. While still in the UK, she completed further<br />

courses on teaching <strong>and</strong> assessment in clinical practice <strong>and</strong> on the care <strong>and</strong> management<br />

of persons with HIV/AIDS. She graduated with an MA in <strong>Health</strong> Promotion in December 2006<br />

from <strong>UCC</strong>.<br />

Ms McCarthy’s interests are in Occupational <strong>Health</strong>, particularly with regard to job strain,<br />

stress <strong>and</strong> fatigue.<br />

HRB <strong>Health</strong> Research Centres 2007 €4,973,341 in collaboration with UCD<br />

Research on Suicide <strong>and</strong> Self harm €1,251,615 (2006) + €1,500,000 (2007)<br />

The Department’s Research on suicide <strong>and</strong> self harm is carried out in collaboration with the National Suicide Research<br />

Foundation, an independant research institute based at 1, Perrott Avenue, <strong>College</strong> Road, <strong>Cork</strong>. It is funded by the National<br />

Office of Suicide Prevention, the EU 6th Framework <strong>and</strong> the HRB.


Have Irish people good<br />

habits? <strong>UCC</strong> investigates…<br />

SLÁN-06 is a national survey of the lifestyles, attitudes <strong>and</strong><br />

nutrition of people living in Irel<strong>and</strong>. It is the third SLÁN survey<br />

to be commissioned by the Department of <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> Children.<br />

Previous studies were conducted in 1998 <strong>and</strong> 2002 <strong>and</strong><br />

each provided invaluable information to guide health promotion<br />

policy <strong>and</strong> practice. SLÁN ‘06 is being coordinated by<br />

a consortium from the Royal <strong>College</strong> of Surgeons of Irel<strong>and</strong>,<br />

<strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>Cork</strong>, the ESRI, <strong>and</strong> NUI Galway. The Department<br />

of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> is the <strong>UCC</strong> coordinating<br />

department.<br />

SLÁN-06 was the largest survey to date. A scientifically representative<br />

r<strong>and</strong>om sample of 10,000 people aged 18 <strong>and</strong><br />

over were interviewed in their own homes, by experienced<br />

researchers from the Economic <strong>and</strong> Social Research Institute.<br />

The survey covered general health, behaviours relating to<br />

health (e.g. exercise, nutrition) <strong>and</strong> the use of certain health<br />

services. In addition, 1,500 people took part in a detailed<br />

medical examination. This will provide vital information on the<br />

health-risk profile of the general population.<br />

The department is responsible for the nutrition theme of the<br />

survey, <strong>and</strong> is also jointly responsible for the Physical Examination<br />

component with the Royal <strong>College</strong> of Surgeons of<br />

Irel<strong>and</strong>. Professor Ivan Perry is the <strong>UCC</strong> Principal Investigator<br />

coordinating partner <strong>and</strong> Ms Janas Harrington is the <strong>UCC</strong><br />

project researcher.<br />

The first SLÁN-07 report which summarised the major findings<br />

was published in April 2008, <strong>and</strong> the nutritional sub-report<br />

will be published in June 2008.<br />

For further information on the SLÁN project contact Professor<br />

Ivan Perry, Email: i.perry@ucc.ie or Ms Janas Harrington,<br />

Email: j.harrington@ucc.ie, or visit www.slan06.ie<br />

How fare the hearts of <strong>Cork</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> Kerry people?<br />

The Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> embarked<br />

in 2006 on a follow-up study of the 1,018 men <strong>and</strong> women<br />

aged 50-69 years who participated in the <strong>Cork</strong> & Kerry Diabetes<br />

<strong>and</strong> Heart Disease Study in 1998. The <strong>Cork</strong> & Kerry<br />

Diabetes & Heart Disease Study is the largest cross sectional<br />

study of the prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes <strong>and</strong> major cardiovascular<br />

disease risk factors conducted in an Irish general<br />

population sample to date. It is based on a sample of 1,018<br />

men <strong>and</strong> women, sampled from 17 General Practice lists in<br />

Counties <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>and</strong> Kerry, with an overall response rate of 70%<br />

(including fasting bloods). The study has provided unique <strong>and</strong><br />

invaluable data on the prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes <strong>and</strong><br />

cardiovascular disease risk factors in the Irish population. The<br />

primary care records of all surviving members of the cohort<br />

have been reviewed in 2006 <strong>and</strong> data are now available from<br />

a comprehensive follow-up questionnaire addressing lifestyle,<br />

diet, drug therapy <strong>and</strong> health service useage. In particular,<br />

this cohort provides considerable data from both the baseline<br />

<strong>and</strong> follow-up studies on investigations, drug therapy <strong>and</strong> interventions<br />

for ischaemic heart disease. The follow-up survey<br />

is being led by Professor Ivan Perry as Principal Investigator,<br />

with Ms Janas Harrington as Project Researcher <strong>and</strong> Ms Vera<br />

McCarthy as Research Nurse.<br />

For further information on the <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>and</strong> Kerry project contact<br />

Professor Ivan Perry Email: i.perry@ucc.ie, Ms Janas<br />

Harrington Email: j.harrington@ucc.ie or Ms Vera Mc Carthy,<br />

Email: v.mccarthy@ucc.ie<br />

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Research Taighde


1<br />

Suicide Research in collaboration with the National Suicide Research Foundation<br />

National Suicide Research Foundation<br />

Research Strategy NSRF 2006-2007<br />

General objective:<br />

To produce a nationally <strong>and</strong> internationally<br />

recognised body of reliable knowledge from a<br />

multidisciplinary perspective on the risk <strong>and</strong><br />

protective factors associated with suicidal behaviour.<br />

Outcome:<br />

A solid evidence base for policy development<br />

<strong>and</strong> intervention in the prevention of suicide <strong>and</strong><br />

the management of patients presenting with deliberate self harm.<br />

I <strong>Epidemiology</strong> of deliberate self harm <strong>and</strong> suicide II Efficacy of intervention <strong>and</strong> prevention programmes<br />

for deliberate self harm <strong>and</strong> suicide, <strong>and</strong> attitudes<br />

towards suicidal behaviour <strong>and</strong> its prevention<br />

Deliberate Self-Harm<br />

Ongoing<br />

1) National Registry of Deliberate<br />

Self Harm<br />

2) Child <strong>and</strong> Adolescent Self Harm<br />

in Europe: CASE<br />

3) Suicide risk assessment among<br />

DSH patients (pilot HSE South<br />

East)<br />

4) Pilot all injury surveillance<br />

5) Cross-cultural comparison of<br />

DSH <strong>and</strong> associated factors in 8<br />

European regions (NICE-SP)<br />

Suicide<br />

Ongoing<br />

1) Trends in suicide <strong>and</strong> other<br />

causes of mortality<br />

2) Accuracy of CSO Form 104<br />

in the registration of suicide<br />

3) Risk <strong>and</strong> protective factors<br />

in relation to suicide among<br />

victims of institutional child sexual<br />

abuse<br />

New<br />

4) National Inquiry into suicide<br />

deaths <strong>and</strong> other deaths leading<br />

to a coroner’s inquest - Scoping<br />

exercise<br />

5) Comparative study: Irel<strong>and</strong> -<br />

The Netherl<strong>and</strong>s in relation to:<br />

Accuracy of suicide statistics,<br />

sociodemographic profile of<br />

suicide cases, information<br />

obtained from suicide notes<br />

Efficacy of intervention<br />

programmes for DSH patients<br />

Ongoing<br />

1) Problem-solving treatment<br />

study for deliberate self harm<br />

patients (NSRF co-supervisor)<br />

2) Integrative Cognitive Behavioural<br />

treatment trial for DSH<br />

patients (NSRF co-supervisor)<br />

3) Pilot Four-level community<br />

based intervention study for<br />

depression <strong>and</strong> suicidal behaviour<br />

4) “Mind Yourself”: Brief Problem<br />

Solving intervention in schools.<br />

Pilot study HSE Southern Area in<br />

collaboration with North Eastern<br />

area: a pilot study<br />

5) St<strong>and</strong>ardisation of assessment<br />

<strong>and</strong> treatment referral of DSH<br />

patients attending A&E departments:<br />

a pilot-study<br />

Attitudes towards suicidal<br />

behaviour <strong>and</strong> its prevention<br />

Ongoing<br />

1) ATTs in different professional<br />

groups (Coroners, GPs)<br />

(dissemination)<br />

2) ATTS among the general<br />

population<br />

3) Cross-cultural comparison of<br />

ATTS in collaboration with 9<br />

European research centres<br />

Dr Ella Arensman, Dr Paul Corcoran, Mrs Eileen Williamson <strong>and</strong> colleagues


Collaborations<br />

Dr Tony Fitzgerald is working with Professor Kevin Cashman <strong>and</strong> Dr. Mairead Kiely in Department<br />

of Food <strong>and</strong> Nutritional Sciences on a programme investigating the dietary requirement for vitamin<br />

D <strong>and</strong> the health implications of improving vitamin D status in adults <strong>and</strong> elderly.<br />

Dr Fitzgerald is working with Dr Paul O’Toole in the Department of Microbiology on a study looking<br />

at microbiota as an indicator <strong>and</strong> agent of nutritional health in elderly Irish subjects.<br />

Dr Fitzgerald is collaborating with Dr Geraldine Boylan, Department of Paediatrics <strong>and</strong> Child <strong>Health</strong>,<br />

<strong>UCC</strong> on a number of studies relating to automated seizure detection in newborns <strong>and</strong> the long-term<br />

neuro-development of newborns with HIE.<br />

Dr Fitzgerald is working with colleagues throughout Europe as part of the European Society of<br />

Cardiology’s HeartSCORE risk prediction system. He is also working with Dr Catherine McGorrian,<br />

McMaster <strong>University</strong>, on a revised risk prediction system that incorporates Diabetes.<br />

Ms Mary Cronin <strong>and</strong> Ms Sarah Meaney collaborated with Dr Finbarr Allen, <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>University</strong> Dental<br />

School <strong>and</strong> Hospital <strong>and</strong> Dr Michael Cronin, Department of Statistics, <strong>UCC</strong>, on a study into patients’<br />

experiences of tooth loss <strong>and</strong> the use of partial dentures, which was funded by the Chief Dental<br />

Officer of Irel<strong>and</strong>.<br />

Dr Birgit Greiner, Ms Bernie Mullally <strong>and</strong> Ms Sarah Meaney are collaborating with Dr Shane Allwright<br />

of Trinity <strong>College</strong> Dublin <strong>and</strong> the Office of Tobacco Control on the impacts of the smoking ban.<br />

Dr Greiner <strong>and</strong> Ms Vera McCarthy are collaborating with Dr Ellen Rosskam, Visiting Professor, <strong>University</strong><br />

of Massachusetts, Lowell, Work Environment Department, USA <strong>and</strong> the International Transport<br />

Workers Federation in London on a research project on stress <strong>and</strong> fatigue in airline workers.<br />

Dr Greiner is collaborating with Dr Niklas Krause, <strong>University</strong> of California San Francisco, Department<br />

of Occupational Medicine on musculoskeletal injury in urban transit operators.<br />

Dr Greiner is collaborating with the <strong>University</strong> of Nottingham, Institute of Work <strong>Health</strong> & Organisations,<br />

WHO Collaborating Centre (Socrates student, staff mobility agreement).<br />

Dr Patricia Kearney is working with Professor Rose Anne Kenny, Chair of Geriatric Medicine at TCD<br />

<strong>and</strong> Professor Ivan Perry, <strong>UCC</strong> on the Irish LongituDinal Study on Ageing which will collect data on<br />

health, economic <strong>and</strong> social variables on older people.<br />

1<br />

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<strong>Public</strong>ations 2006-07<br />

1. Slee N, Arensman E, Spinhoven Ph, Garnefski N. Cognitive behavioural therapy for deliberate<br />

self harm. Crisis, 2007;28: 175-182.<br />

2. McAuliffe C, Arensman E, Keeley HS, Corcoran P, Fitzgerald AP. Motives <strong>and</strong> suicide intent<br />

underlying hospital treated deliberate self-harm <strong>and</strong> their association with repetition. Suicide &<br />

Life-Threatening Behavior. 2007;37: 397-408.<br />

3. Arensman E, Predictie van Suicidaal Gedrag, In: Ed. C. van Heeringen Nederl<strong>and</strong>s-Vlaams<br />

H<strong>and</strong>boek over Suicidaal Gedrag. D. Tijdstroom Vitgeverij, 2007.<br />

4. Crane C, Williams JM, Hawton K, Arensman E, Hjelmel<strong>and</strong> H, Bille-Brahe U, Corcoran P et<br />

al. The association between life events <strong>and</strong> suicide intent in individuals presenting with firstepisode<br />

<strong>and</strong> repeated deliberate self harm. Suicide <strong>and</strong> Life Threatening Behavior, 2007;37:<br />

367-378.<br />

5. Hegerl U, Wittmann M, Arensman E, Van Audenhove C, Bouleau JH, V<strong>and</strong>er Feltz-Cornelis<br />

C et al. The ‘European Alliance Against Depression’ (EAAD): A multifaceted communitybased<br />

action programme against depression <strong>and</strong> suicidality. The World Journal of Biological<br />

Psychiatry, 2007 April 5, Epub ahead of print.<br />

6. Slee N, Garnefski N, Van der Leeden R, Arensman E, Spinhoven Ph. Outcomes of a<br />

r<strong>and</strong>omized controlled trial of a cognitive behavioural intervention for adolescents <strong>and</strong> young<br />

adults with deliberate self harm. British Journal of Psychiatry 2008; (In press).<br />

7. Varnik A, Kolves K, Van der Feltz-Cornelis C, Marusic A, Oskarsson H, Palmer A, Reisch Th,<br />

Scheerder G, Arensman E, et al., Suicide methods in Europe – A gender specific analyses of<br />

countries participating in the “European Alliance Against Depression” Journal of <strong>Epidemiology</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> Community <strong>Health</strong> 2008; (In press).<br />

8. Wittenburg L, Arensman E, Aromaa E, Van Audenhove C, Bouleau JH, Van der Feltz-Cornelis<br />

CM et al. The European Alliance Against Depression: a multi-level approach to the prevention<br />

of suicidal behaviour. Psychiatric Services; 2008 (In press).<br />

9. Slee, N, Garnefski N, Spinhoven, Ph, Arensman E, The influence of cognitive emotion<br />

regulation strategies <strong>and</strong> depressive symptoms on Deliberate Self Harm. Suicide & Life<br />

Threatening Behaviour 2008; (In press).<br />

10. Kraaij, V, Arensman, E, Garnefski, N, Kremers, I, The role of cognitive coping in female<br />

victims of stalking. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 2008; (In press).<br />

11. Hourihane J. O’B, Beirne P. Evidence of effectiveness of anaphylaxis management plans: are<br />

we waiting for Godot? Clinical & Experimental Allergy 2007;37: 967–969.<br />

12. Cashman CM, Beirne P, Greiner B, Verbeek J. Alcohol <strong>and</strong> drug screening of occupational<br />

drivers for preventing injury. (Protocol) Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue<br />

2. Art. No.: CD006566. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006566.<br />

13. Hegarty J, Beirne P, Comber H, Wallace M. Watchful waiting versus prostatectomy for<br />

prostate cancer. (Protocol) Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 3. Art. No.:<br />

CD006590. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006590.<br />

14. Burgoyne L, Coleman R, Perry IJ. Walking in a city neighbourhood, paving the way. J <strong>Public</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong>. 2007;29: 222-9.<br />

15. Burgoyne L, Woods C, Coleman, R, Perry IJ. Neighbourhood perceptions of physical<br />

activity: a qualitative study. BMC <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> 2008 (In press).


16. Corcoran P, Gallagher J, Keeley HS, Arensman E, Perry IJ. Adverse childhood experiences<br />

<strong>and</strong> lifetime suicide ideation: a cross-sectional study in a non-psychiatric hospital setting.<br />

Ir Med J. 2006;99: 42-5.<br />

17. McAuliffe C, McLeavey BC, Corcoran P, Carroll B, O’Keeffe B, O’Regan M, Fitzgerald E, Ryan<br />

L, Hickey P, Arensman E, Fitzgerald AP. Baseline characteristics <strong>and</strong> comparative treatment<br />

satisfaction of deliberate self-harm patients recruited in a r<strong>and</strong>omised controlled trial of group<br />

interpersonal problem-solving skills training compared with st<strong>and</strong>ard care. Psychiatr Danub.<br />

2006;18 (Suppl 1):90.<br />

18. McAuliffe C, Corcoran P, Keeley HS, Arensman E, et al., Problem solving <strong>and</strong> repeated DSH:<br />

WHO/EURO Multicentre study findings. Psychological Medicine 2006;36: 45-55.<br />

19. Corcoran P, Arensman E, O’Mahony D, Suicide <strong>and</strong> other External-Cause Mortality<br />

Statistics in Irel<strong>and</strong>: A comparison of Registration <strong>and</strong> Occurrence data. Crisis 2006, 27(3),<br />

130-134.<br />

20. McAuliffe C, Corcoran P, Hickey P, McLeavey BC. Optional thinking ability among hospitaltreated<br />

deliberate self-harm patients: A 1-year follow-up study. British Journal of Clinical<br />

Psychology 2007; (In press).<br />

21. Corcoran P, Arensman E, Perry IJ, The area-level association between hospital-treated<br />

deliberate self-harm, deprivation <strong>and</strong> social fragmentation in Irel<strong>and</strong>. J Epidemiol Community<br />

<strong>Health</strong>. 2007 Dec;61(12): 1050-5.<br />

22. Corcoran P, Arensman E, Keeley HS, O’Sullivan, M, Perry IJ, The incidence of hospitaltreated<br />

deliberate self-harm in Irel<strong>and</strong> by sociodemographic characteristics <strong>and</strong> life context.<br />

Crisis 2008; (In press).<br />

23. Madge N, Hewitt A, Hawton K, De Wilde EJ, Corcoran P et al., The prevalence of deliberate<br />

self-harm within an international community sample of young people: findings from the Child<br />

& Adolescent Self-harm in Europe (CASE) Study. Journal of Child Psychology <strong>and</strong> Psychiatry<br />

2008 (In press).<br />

24. Morey C, Corcoran P, Arensman E, Perry IJ. The prevalence of self-reported deliberate self<br />

harm in Irish adolescents. BMC <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, 2008; (In press).<br />

25. Cronin M, Connolly C. Exploring the use of Experiential Learning Workshops <strong>and</strong> Reflective<br />

Practice within Professional Practice Development for Postgraduate <strong>Health</strong> Promotion<br />

Students. <strong>Health</strong> Education Journal 2007;l66: 286-303.<br />

26. Thunhurst C, Cronin M, Curtin M. The ORCHID Project - Using Operational Research to build<br />

Partnerships for Community <strong>Health</strong> Development in Brailsford. In: Harper P (Eds) Operational<br />

Research for <strong>Health</strong> Policy: Making Better Decisions - Proceedings of the 31st Annual<br />

Conference of the European Working Group on Operational Research Applied to <strong>Health</strong><br />

Service. pp 23-38 (2007)<br />

27. Ryan AM, Rowley SP, Fitzgerald AP, Ravi N, Reynolds JV. Adenocarcinoma of the<br />

oesophagus <strong>and</strong> gastric cardia: male preponderance in association with obesity. Eur J<br />

Cancer. 2006;42: 1151-8.<br />

28. Hayat A, O’Brien D, O’Rourke P, McGuckin S, Fitzgerald AP, Conneally E, Browne PV,<br />

McCann SR, Lawler MP, V<strong>and</strong>enberghe E. CD38 expression level <strong>and</strong> pattern of expression<br />

remains a reliable <strong>and</strong> robust marker of progressive disease in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.<br />

Leukemia & Lymphoma. 2006;47: 2371-9.<br />

29. Brophy K, Ryan AW, Thornton JM, Abuzakouk M, Fitzgerald AP, McLoughlin RM, O’Morain<br />

C, Kennedy NP, Stevens FM, Feighery C, Kelleher D, McManus R. Haplotypes in the CTLA4<br />

21<br />

Research Taighde


22<br />

<strong>Public</strong>ations 2006-07 ctd<br />

region are associated with coeliac disease in the Irish population. Genes <strong>and</strong> immunity.<br />

2006;7: 19-26.<br />

30. Murray DM, Boylan GB, Fitzgerald AP, Ryan CA, Murphy BP, Connolly S. Persistent lactic<br />

acidosis in neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy correlates with EEG grade <strong>and</strong><br />

electrographic seizure burden. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2006 Dec 7 [Epub ahead of<br />

print].<br />

31. Murray DM, Ryan CA, Boylan GB, Fitzgerald AP, Connolly S. Prediction of seizures in<br />

asphyxiated neonates: correlation with continuous video-electroencephalographic monitoring.<br />

Pediatrics. 2006;118: 41-6.<br />

32. O’Donnell S, Condell S, Begley C, Fitzgerald AP. Prehospital care pathway delays: gender<br />

<strong>and</strong> myocardial infarction. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2006;53: 268-76.<br />

33. McGorrian C, Fitzgerald AP, Leong T, H<strong>and</strong> E, Graham IM. Self reported diabetes predicts<br />

risk of cardiovascular death differently in men <strong>and</strong> women in high risk European countries:<br />

the SCORE project. European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation 2006;13<br />

Suppl 1: S29.<br />

34. Panagiotakos DM, Fitzgerald AP, Pitsavos C, Pipilis A, Graham I, Stefanadis C. Statistical<br />

Modelling of 10-Year Fatal Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Greece: The HellenicSCORE (a<br />

Calibration of the ESC SCORE Project). Hellenic J Cardiol. 2007;48: 55-63.<br />

35. McCullagh R, Fitzgerald AP, Murphy RP, Cooke G. Long-term benefits of exercising<br />

on Quality of Life <strong>and</strong> Fatigue on MS patients with mild disability: A Pilot Study. Clinical<br />

Rehabilitation. 2007 (In press).<br />

36. Sans S, Fitzgerald AP, Royo D, Conroy R, Graham I. Calibracion de la tabla SCORE de<br />

riesgo cardiovascular para España. Revista Espanola de Cardiologia. 2007;60: 476-85.<br />

37. Vaida F, Fitzgerald AP, DeGruttola V. Efficient hybrid EM for linear <strong>and</strong> nonlinear mixed<br />

effects models with censored response. Computational Statistics & Data Analysis. 2007;51:<br />

5718-30.<br />

38. Sleeman DP, Davenport J, Fitzgerald AP. Incidence of badgers in Irish farm yards in winter.<br />

Vet Record. (short communication; in press)<br />

39. Mahon P, Kowalski RG, Fitzgerald AP, Lynch EM, Boylan GB, McNamara B <strong>and</strong> Shorten<br />

GD. Spectral Entropy as a Monitor of Depth of Propofol Induced Sedation. Journal of Clinical<br />

Monitoring <strong>and</strong> Computing 2008 (In press)<br />

40. Power C, Byrne PJ, Lim K, Ravi N, Moore J, Fitzgerald AP, Keeling PWN, Reynolds JV.<br />

Superiority of anti-reflux stent compared with conventional stents in the palliative management<br />

of patients with cancer of the lower esophagus <strong>and</strong> esophago-gastric junction: results of a<br />

r<strong>and</strong>omized clinical trial. Diseases of the Esophagus 2008 (In press).<br />

41. Greiner BA & Krause N. Observational stress factors <strong>and</strong> musculoskeletal disorders in urban<br />

transit operators. Journal of Occupational <strong>Health</strong> Psychology 2006;11: 38-51.<br />

42. Griffin JM, Greiner BA, Stansfeld S, Marmot, MG. Predicting depression <strong>and</strong> anxiety<br />

symptoms: A comparison of theoretical models using self-reported <strong>and</strong> observed work<br />

characteristics. Journal of Occupational <strong>Health</strong> Psychology 2006;12: 334-349.<br />

43. Van den Heuvel A, Fitzgerald M, Greiner BA & Perry IJ. Screening for autistic spectrum<br />

disorder at the 18-month developmental assessment: a population-based study. Ir Med J<br />

2007;100: 565-7.


44. Griffin J, Greiner BA, Stansfeld S & Marmot M. The effect of self-reported <strong>and</strong> observed job<br />

conditions on depression <strong>and</strong> anxiety symptoms: A comparison of theoretical models. Journal<br />

of Occupational <strong>Health</strong> Psychology 2008; (In press).<br />

45. Whelton H, Harrington J, Crowley E, Kelleher V, Cronin M, Perry IJ. Prevalence of<br />

overweight <strong>and</strong> obesity on the isl<strong>and</strong> of Irel<strong>and</strong>: Results from the North South Survey of<br />

Children’s Height, Weight <strong>and</strong> Body Mass Index, 2002. BMC <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> 2007, 7: 187 (31<br />

July 2007)<br />

46. Harrington, J, Friel S, Thunhurst C, Kirby A & B, M. An obesogenic isl<strong>and</strong>: the financial<br />

burden of private transport on low income households. I Journal of <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> 2008 (In<br />

press).<br />

47. Rossow I, Ystgaard M, Hawton K, Madge N, Van Heeringen K, De Wilde EJ, De Leo D, Fekete<br />

S, Morey C. Cross-National comparison of the association between alcohol consumption <strong>and</strong><br />

deliberate self-harm in adolescents. Suicide & Life Threatening Behavior, 2007;37: 605-615.<br />

48. O’Sullivan SS, Spillane JE, McMahon E, Sweeney BJ, Galvin RJ, McNamara B, Cassidy EM.<br />

Clinical characteristics <strong>and</strong> outcome of patients diagnosed with psychogenic non-epileptic<br />

seizures: A 5-year review. Epilepsy & Behavior, 2007;11: 77-84.<br />

49. Pursell L, Allwright S, O’Donovan D, Paul G, Mullally BJ, D’Eath M. Before <strong>and</strong> after study of<br />

bar workers’ perceptions of the impact of smoke-free workplace legislation in the Republic of<br />

Irel<strong>and</strong>. BMC <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> 2007;1: 131.<br />

50. Bennett K, Kabir Z, Unal B, Shelley E, Critchley J, Perry IJ, et al. Explaining the recent<br />

decrease in coronary heart disease mortality rates in Irel<strong>and</strong>, 1985-2000. J Epidemiol<br />

Community <strong>Health</strong>. 2006;60: 322-7.<br />

51. O’Reilly M, Cahill MR, Perry IJ. Writing to patients: a r<strong>and</strong>omised controlled trial. Clin Med.<br />

2006;6: 178-82.<br />

52. Sattar N, Murray HM, McConnachie A, Blauw GJ, Bollen EL, Buckley BM, Cobbe SM, Ford I,<br />

Gaw A, Hyl<strong>and</strong> M, Jukema JW, Kamper AM, Macfarlane PW, Murphy MB, Packard CJ, Perry<br />

IJ, Stott DJ, Sweeney BJ, Twomey C, Westendorp RG, Shepherd J. C-reactive protein <strong>and</strong><br />

prediction of coronary heart disease <strong>and</strong> global vascular events in the Prospective Study of<br />

Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER). Circulation. 2007;115: 981-9.<br />

53. Trompet S, Pons D, DE Craen AJ, Slagboom P, Shepherd J, Blauw GJ, Murphy MB, Cobbe<br />

SM, Bollen EL, Buckley BM, Ford I, Hyl<strong>and</strong> M, Gaw A, Macfarlane PW, Packard CJ, Norrie J,<br />

Perry IJ, Stott DJ, Sweeney BJ, Twomey C, Westendorp RG, Jukema JW. Genetic variation<br />

in the interleukin-10 gene promoter <strong>and</strong> risk of coronary <strong>and</strong> cerebrovascular events: the<br />

PROSPER study. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007;1100: 189-98.<br />

54. Shiely F, CC Kelleher, K Hayes. Contraceptive patterns across the lifecourse in the SLÁN<br />

populations. Ir Med J 2007;100: 435-439.<br />

55. Murrin C, McNicholas F, Keogh L, Shiely F, Corrigan H, NicGabhainn S, Kelleher CC (2007).<br />

Correlates of Increased Risk of Eating Disorders in Irish School Children. Ir Med J 2007;100:<br />

Suppl 40-2.<br />

56. Fitzsimon N, Shiely F, Corradino D, Friel S, Kelleher CC. Predictors of Poor Self-rated<br />

<strong>Health</strong> at Area Level in the Eastern Regional <strong>Health</strong> Authority: A Multilevel Analysis. Ir Med J<br />

2007;100: 8 pp.49-52.<br />

2<br />

Research Taighde


2<br />

Abstracts/Conference Presentations/Posters<br />

1. Arensman E, Corcoran P, Perry IJ. Assessment <strong>and</strong> aftercare of deliberate self harm (DSH)<br />

patients presenting to A&E Departments: a pilot study. Abstract published in Psychiatria Danubina,<br />

18, 27-157. Paper presented at 14th Annual <strong>UCC</strong> Research Day, June 2006.<br />

2. Arensman E, Sullivan C, Corcoran P, Farrow R, Keeley HS, Perry IJ. Psychosocial factors<br />

associated with repeated deliberate self-harm in adolescents. Abstract published in Irish Journal<br />

of Medical Science, <strong>and</strong> Psychiatria Danubina, 18, 27-157. Paper presented at 14th Annual<br />

<strong>UCC</strong> Research Day, June 2006.<br />

3. Arensman E. Suicide Prevention; Suicide <strong>and</strong> deliberate self harm across Europe: The extent<br />

of the problem <strong>and</strong> priorities for prevention. Moderator <strong>and</strong> presenter, 1st European Conference<br />

on Injury Prevention <strong>and</strong> Safety Promotion, June 2006.<br />

4. Moore-Corry M, McMahon E, Kelleher M, Bradley C, Arensman E. The experience of patient<br />

suicide among general practitioners. Paper presented at the PSI Annual Conference, November<br />

2006.<br />

5. Moore-Corry M, McMahon E, Kelleher M, Bradley C, Arensman E. The experience of patient<br />

suicide among general practitioners. Poster presented at the 11th Annual Conference of the<br />

Irish Association of Suicidology, September 2006. Paper was presented at the PSI Annual<br />

Conference, November 2006.<br />

6. Walsh K, McMahon E, Kelleher M, Arensman E. Opinions on depression <strong>and</strong> attitudes towards<br />

suicidal behaviour among the general public. Annual Research Day, <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />

<strong>Cork</strong>, June 2007 – Oral presentation<br />

7. Arensman E, Corcoran P, Perry IJ. Assessment <strong>and</strong> aftercare of deliberate self harm (DSH)<br />

patients presenting to A&E departments: a pilot study. XXIV Congress of the International Association<br />

for Suicide Prevention, August 2007, Killarney – Oral presentation.<br />

8. Arensman E, Fitzgerald AP, Cooper J, Corcoran P, De Leo D, Grad O, Hawton K, Hjelmel<strong>and</strong><br />

H, Kapur N, Perry IJ, Sal<strong>and</strong>er-Renberg E, Van Heeringen K. Deliberate self harm (DSH)<br />

<strong>and</strong> suicide: gender specific trends in eight European regions. XXIV Congress of the International<br />

Association for Suicide Prevention, August 2007, Killarney – Oral presentation.<br />

9. O’Riordan M, Arensman E. Institutional child sexual abuse <strong>and</strong> suicidal behaviour: Outcomes<br />

of a literature review, consultation meetings <strong>and</strong> a qualitative study. XXIV Congress of the<br />

International Association for Suicide Prevention, August 2007, Killarney – Oral presentation.<br />

10. Gaffney P, Cosgrove K, Collins F, Agnew F, Russell V, Arensman E, Bedford D, Carragher S,<br />

Flynn F, Williamson E, Mallon P, McElduff S, McGlone A. “Mind Yourself” – Can a strengths<br />

based intervention model contribute to adolescent suicide prevention. XXIV Congress of the<br />

International Association for Suicide Prevention, August - September 2007, Killarney – Oral<br />

presentation.<br />

11. Walsh K, McMahon E, Kelleher M, Arensman E. Opinions <strong>and</strong> attitudes towards suicidal behaviour<br />

among the general public. XXIV Congress of the International Association for Suicide<br />

Prevention, August 2007, Killarney – Oral presentation.<br />

12. Williamson E, Arensman E, Dooley D. Abstract published in Psychiatria Danubina, 18, 27-157.<br />

13. McAuliffe C, Arensman E, Keeley H, Corcoran P. Motives <strong>and</strong> suicide intent associated with<br />

repeated deliberate self-harm. Seminar: Relating to Self Harm <strong>and</strong> Suicide, Tavistock, March,<br />

London.<br />

14. Arensman E, on behalf of all partners of the EAAD. Evaluating the effectiveness of community<br />

based intervention programmes on depression <strong>and</strong> suicidal behaviour: primary <strong>and</strong><br />

secondary outcome measures. Abstract published in Psychiatria Danubina, 18, 27-157.


15. Burgoyne L, Perry IJ. (2006) ‘Walking in a city neighbourhood: paving the way’ Proceedings<br />

of the 14th Annual Medical Faculty research day, June 2006, <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>University</strong> Hospital, <strong>Cork</strong>.<br />

16. McAuliffe C, McLeavey B, Corcoran P, Carroll B, O´Keeffe B, O´Regan M, Fitzgerald E, Ryan<br />

L, Hickey P, Arensman E, Fitzgerald AP. Baseline characteristics <strong>and</strong> comparative treatment<br />

satisfaction of deliberate self-harm patients recruited in a r<strong>and</strong>omised controlled trial of group<br />

interpersonal problem-solving skills training compared with st<strong>and</strong>ard care. Abstract published<br />

in Psychiatria Danubina, 18, 27-157. Paper presented at 11th ESSB <strong>and</strong> 11th Annual Conference<br />

of the Irish Association of Suicidology, September 2006; Draft in progress.<br />

17. Corcoran P, National programmes for suicide prevention: can they rely on suicide statistics?<br />

Abstract published in Psychiatria Danubina, 18, 27-157. Keynote lecture at 11th ESSB,<br />

September 2006.<br />

18. Corcoran P, Arensman E, Perry IJ. The area-level association between hospital-treated<br />

deliberate self harm, deprivation <strong>and</strong> social fragmentation in Irel<strong>and</strong>. Paper presented for the<br />

Royal Academy of Medicine in Irel<strong>and</strong> Jacqueline Horgan Bronze Medal Prize in <strong>Epidemiology</strong><br />

(November 2006) - Awarded.<br />

19. Corcoran P, Arensman E, Perry IJ. The area-level association between hospital-treated<br />

deliberate self harm, deprivation <strong>and</strong> social fragmentation in Irel<strong>and</strong>. Annual Research Day,<br />

<strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>Cork</strong>, June 2007 – Oral presentation.<br />

20. Corcoran P, Arensman E, Perry IJ. The area-level association between hospital-treated<br />

deliberate self harm, deprivation <strong>and</strong> social fragmentation in Irel<strong>and</strong>. XXIV Congress of the<br />

International Association for Suicide Prevention, August 2007, Killarney – Oral presentation.<br />

21. Corcoran P, Arensman E, Perry IJ. The incidence <strong>and</strong> pattern of deliberate self harm<br />

presentations to hospital in Irel<strong>and</strong>. XXIV Congress of the International Association for Suicide<br />

Prevention, August 2007, Killarney – Oral presentation<br />

22. Corcoran P. The influence of marital status on rates of suicide in Irel<strong>and</strong>. XXIV Congress of<br />

the International Association for Suicide Prevention, August 2007, Killarney – Oral presentation<br />

23. Corcoran P. The influence of marital status on rates of suicide in Irel<strong>and</strong>. XXIV Congress of<br />

the International Association for Suicide Prevention, August 2007, Killarney – Oral presentation<br />

24. McAuliffe C, Corcoran P, Hickey P, McLeavey BC. Optional thinking ability in deliberate selfharm<br />

patients: A one year follow-up study. XXIV Congress of the International Association for<br />

Suicide Prevention, August 2007, Killarney – Oral presentation.<br />

25. Corcoran P, Arensman E, Perry IJ. Recommended next care for deliberate self harm patients<br />

presenting to accident <strong>and</strong> emergency departments in Irel<strong>and</strong>. 22nd All Irel<strong>and</strong> Social<br />

Medicine meeting, March Belfast: Poster.<br />

26. McAuliffe C, Corcoran P, Nic Daeid N. Suicide <strong>and</strong> education status in Irel<strong>and</strong>, 1976-2000.<br />

Draft in progress.<br />

27. Corcoran P. Misclassification <strong>and</strong> suicide mortality in Europe <strong>and</strong> Irel<strong>and</strong>. XXIV Congress of<br />

the International Association for Suicide Prevention, August - September 2007, Killarney – Oral<br />

presentation.<br />

28. Corcoran P, Arensman E, Perry IJ. Assessment <strong>and</strong> aftercare of deliberate self harm (DSH)<br />

patients presenting to A&E departments: a pilot study. All Irel<strong>and</strong> Social Medicine Meeting,<br />

Wicklow, October 2007 – Oral presentation.<br />

29. Fitzgerald AP. Regional variation in risk prediction for cardiovascular mortality in Europe: The<br />

Swedish, German, Belgian <strong>and</strong> Greek examples. EUROPREVENT, Athens, Greece, May 2006<br />

– Oral Presentation.<br />

2<br />

Research Taighde


2<br />

Abstracts/Conference Presentations/Posters ctd<br />

30. Thunhurst C, Cronin M, Curtin M. Supporting Partnership Development by Keeping Community<br />

Groups in the Driving Seat, NCVO/VSSN Researching the Voluntary Sector Conference.<br />

<strong>University</strong> of Warwick, September 2006.<br />

31. McGorrian C, Fitzgerald AP, Leong T, H<strong>and</strong> E, Graham IM. Self reported diabetes predicts<br />

risk of cardiovascular death differently in men <strong>and</strong> women in high risk European countries:<br />

the SCORE project. Abstract published in European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention &<br />

Rehabilitation 2006;13 Suppl 1:S29.<br />

32. Fitzgerald AP. The SCORE <strong>and</strong> HeartSCORE projects. The 10th Jubilee International Congress<br />

of the Polish Cardiac Society, 2006.<br />

33. Fitzgerald AP, Perry IJ. The 10-year Risk of CVD Mortality in Irel<strong>and</strong> – A Recalibration of the<br />

SCORE Risk Chart. 14th Annual Medical Faculty Research Day <strong>UCC</strong> 2006 - Poster Presentation.<br />

34. Malone A, Boylan GB, Fitzgerald AP, Connolly S, Ryan CA. Ability of Medical Personnel to<br />

accurately diffentiate neonatal seizures from non-seizure movements. 14th Annual Medical<br />

Faculty Research Day <strong>UCC</strong> 2006. Oral Presentation.<br />

35. Fitzgerald AP. Risk Prediction. The Regionalisation of SCORE in Europe <strong>and</strong> Beyond. Canadian<br />

Cardiovascular Congress, Quebec, October 2007 - Oral Presentation.<br />

36. Fitzgerald AP. Risk Assessment- Global Cardiovascular Risk Management. Canadian Hypertension<br />

society - A Multidisciplinary Symposium For <strong>Health</strong> Care Professionals, Quebec,<br />

October 2007 – Oral Presentation.<br />

37. Greiner BA, Mullally BJ, Meaney S, Perry IJ, Allwright S. Changes in smoking prevalence<br />

<strong>and</strong> consumption rates after the legislative ban on smoking. Faculty of Medicine Interdisciplinary<br />

Conference <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>Cork</strong> 2006.<br />

38. Greiner BA, Mullally BJ, Meaney S, Perry IJ. Risk perceptions of smokers <strong>and</strong> non-smokers<br />

health: Do general practitioners <strong>and</strong> the general population differ? Joint <strong>Health</strong> Research<br />

Day <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>Cork</strong> June 2007: Poster<br />

39. Greiner BA, Mullally BJ, Meaney S, Perry IJ. Risk perception of smoking in the general<br />

population: Changes from 1999 to 2006. Joint Conference of the Society for Social Medicine<br />

<strong>and</strong> the International Epidemiological Association, September 2007 in <strong>Cork</strong>.<br />

40. Greiner BA, Griffin J, Stansfeld SA, Marmot MG. Observational versus self-reported job<br />

characteristics <strong>and</strong> hypertension. Joint Conference of the Society for Social Medicine <strong>and</strong> the<br />

International Epidemiological Association, September 2007 in <strong>Cork</strong>.<br />

41. Greiner BA, Mullally BJ, Meaney S, Perry IJ. Smoking prevalence <strong>and</strong> consumption in<br />

the republic of Irel<strong>and</strong> before <strong>and</strong> after the legislative ban on workplace smoking. European<br />

Tobacco or <strong>Health</strong> Conference, September 2007 in Basel.<br />

42. Greiner BA, Mullally BJ, Meaney S, Perry IJ. Risk perceptions of smokers <strong>and</strong> non-smokers<br />

health: Do general practitioners <strong>and</strong> the general population differ? 4th European Conference<br />

Tobacco or <strong>Health</strong> Basel, Switzerl<strong>and</strong>. October 2007: Poster.<br />

43. Harrington J, Whelton H, Perry IJ. “How much heavier are we? Secular childhood obesity<br />

trends in the Republic of Irel<strong>and</strong>”. Society of Social Medicine Annual Conference. <strong>University</strong><br />

<strong>College</strong> <strong>Cork</strong> September 2007.<br />

44. Keeley H, Farrow R. Opinions <strong>and</strong> experiences of Irish adolescents: comparison of selfharmers<br />

with controls in a qualitative case-controlled study. Seminar: Relating to Self Harm<br />

<strong>and</strong> Suicide, Tavistock, 30th March – 2nd April, London.


45. Keeley H, Sullivan C, Corcoran P, Arensman E. Parental substance abuse <strong>and</strong> its effect<br />

on adolescents. XXIV Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, Aug.<br />

2007, Killarney – Oral presentation.<br />

46. Keeley HS, Corcoran P, Sullivan C. Parental history of alcohol-substance abuse <strong>and</strong> young<br />

people’s risk of self-harm <strong>and</strong> substance abuse. Abstract published in Psychiatria Danubina,<br />

18, 27-157. Draft in progress.<br />

47. McCarthy V, Bairead E, Fitzgerald AP, Shanahan F, <strong>and</strong> Perry IJ. Appendectomy, smoking<br />

<strong>and</strong> inflammatory bowel disease; a case control study. 14th Annual Medical Faculty Research<br />

Day 2006 – Poster presentation.<br />

48. McCarthy V, Bairead E, Fitzgerald AP, Shanahan F, <strong>and</strong> Perry IJ. Appendectomy, smoking<br />

<strong>and</strong> inflammatory bowel disease; a case control study. 2nd Interdisciplinary Conference <strong>UCC</strong><br />

2006 – Poster presentation.<br />

49. Meaney S, Greiner BA, Mullally BJ, Perry IJ. Risk perceptions of smokers <strong>and</strong> non-smokers<br />

health: Do general practitioners <strong>and</strong> the general population differ? (Poster). Joint Conference<br />

of the Society for Social Medicine <strong>and</strong> the International Epidemiological Association,<br />

September 2007 in <strong>Cork</strong>.<br />

50. McCarthy V, Greiner BA. The Experience of the Death of a Patient <strong>and</strong> the Resultant Stress<br />

it causes the Staff Nurse. 2nd Interdisciplinary Conference <strong>UCC</strong> 2006 – Poster presentation<br />

51. Meaney S, Mullally BJ, Perry IJ, Greiner BA (poster). Changes in smoking prevalence <strong>and</strong><br />

consumption rates after the legislative ban on smoking. Annual conference of the UK Society<br />

for Social Medicine, Leeds, 2006.<br />

52. Meaney S, Williamson E, O Mahony D, Fitzgerald AP, Perry IJ. Intentional Self Harm,<br />

Assault And Unintentional Injuries: Do The Profiles Differ? International Association for suicide<br />

prevention. August 2007.<br />

53. Meaney S, Williamson E, O’Mahony D, Fitzgerald AP, Perry IJ. Intentional self harm,<br />

assault <strong>and</strong> unintentional injuries: do the profiles differ? XXIV Congress of the International Association<br />

for Suicide Prevention, August 2007, Killarney – Poster presentation.<br />

54. McCarthy V, Bairead E, Fitzgerald AP, Shanahan F, <strong>and</strong> Perry IJ. Appendectomy, smoking<br />

<strong>and</strong> inflammatory bowel disease; a case control study. The Joint Meeting of the Society for<br />

Social Medicine & the International Epidemiological Association (European Federation) 12th<br />

September 2007 – Oral Presentation.<br />

55. Greiner BA, Mullally BJ, Meaney S, Perry IJ. Smoking prevalence <strong>and</strong> consumption in the<br />

Republic of Irel<strong>and</strong> before <strong>and</strong> after the legislative ban on workplace smoking. Asian Tobacco<br />

or <strong>Health</strong> Conference, Taiwan. October 2007.<br />

56. Mullally BJ, Greiner BA, Meaney S, Perry IJ. Is exposure to second h<strong>and</strong> smoke (SHS)<br />

dangerous? Risk perception before <strong>and</strong> after the smoking ban. 15th June Annual Research<br />

Day, <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>Cork</strong>. Poster.<br />

57. Mullally BJ, Greiner BA, Meaney S, Perry IJ. Is exposure to second h<strong>and</strong> smoke dangerous?<br />

Risk perception before <strong>and</strong> after the smoking ban. European Tobacco or <strong>Health</strong> Conference,<br />

September 2007 in Basel.<br />

58. Lamb S, Mullally B, Arensman E. Accident & Emergency Nursing Assessment of self-harm<br />

– Exploring the impact of introducing a suicide education programme. XXIV Congress of the<br />

International Association for Suicide Prevention, August - September 2007, Killarney – Oral<br />

presentation.<br />

2<br />

Research Taighde


2<br />

Abstracts/Conference Presentations/Posters ctd<br />

59. Mullally BJ, Greiner BA, Meaney S, Perry IJ. 4th European Conference Tobacco or <strong>Health</strong><br />

Basel, Switzerl<strong>and</strong>. October 2007.<br />

60. O’Connell L. Trait characteristics of people who engage in deliberate self harm (DSH): stability<br />

over time <strong>and</strong> the relationship with repetition. XXIV Congress of the International Association<br />

for Suicide Prevention, August 2007, Killarney – Oral presentation.<br />

61. Ormond G, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Nelson P, Toledano M, Iszatt N, Geneletti S, Eillott P. Folate<br />

Supplementation, Endocrine Disruptors <strong>and</strong> Hypospadias. 19th Conference of the International<br />

Society for Environmental <strong>Epidemiology</strong> (ISEE), Mexico City, September 2007.<br />

62. O’Riordan M, Arensman E. An investigation into the risk <strong>and</strong> protective factors for suicidal<br />

behaviour amongst persons who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse.<br />

Paper presented at the 11th Annual Conference of the Irish Association of Suicidology,<br />

September 2006.<br />

63. Williamson E, Arensman E. Critique of Reach Out: The Irish National strategy for action on<br />

suicide prevention 2005-2014 employing a population health approach. Presentation at 1st<br />

European Conference on Injury Prevention <strong>and</strong> Safety Promotion, June, 2006.<br />

Reports<br />

1. Lamb S, Arensman E, Mullally B. Accident & Emergency Nursing Assessment of Deliberate<br />

Self harm. Report HSE – NSRF, June 2006.<br />

2. O’Riordan M, Arensman E. Institutional child sexual abuse <strong>and</strong> suicidal behaviour. Report<br />

NSRF, November 2006.<br />

3. O’Riordan M, Arensman E. Institutional child sexual abuse <strong>and</strong> suicidal behaviour: Outcomes<br />

of a literature review, consultation meetings <strong>and</strong> a qualitative study. National Suicide Research<br />

Foundation, 2007.<br />

4. Arensman E. Predictie van Suicidaal Gedrag, Chapter in Nederl<strong>and</strong>s-Vlaams H<strong>and</strong>boek over<br />

Suicidaal Gedrag. In: Ed. C. van Heeringen Nederl<strong>and</strong>s-Vlaams H<strong>and</strong>boek over Suicidaal<br />

Gedrag. D. Tijdstroom Vitgeverij, 2007.<br />

5. Arensman E, Kerkhof A. Deliberate self harm: epidemiology <strong>and</strong> risk factors. M. Gelder (Ed.).<br />

New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry, 2nd ed. (In Press)<br />

6. Burgoyne L, Woods C, Perry IJ. (2006). ‘City walk: a walking initiative <strong>and</strong> media awareness<br />

study.’ A report for the Irish Heart Foundation <strong>and</strong> the HSE (Eastern Region, Northern Area).<br />

7. NSRF, Corcoran P et al. Inquested deaths in Irel<strong>and</strong>: A study of routine data <strong>and</strong> recording<br />

procedures. National Suicide Research Foundation, 2007.<br />

8. Corcoran P, O’Connell L, Perry IJ, Arensman E, Keeley HS, Williamson E <strong>and</strong> Data Registration<br />

Officers. National Registry of Deliberate Self Harm – Annual Report - 2005. Report<br />

NSRF, March 2007<br />

9. Whelton H, Harrington J, Crowley E, Kelleher V, Cronin M, Perry IJ. “North South Survey of<br />

Children’s Height, Weight <strong>and</strong> Body Mass Index, 2002”. The WHO Collaborating Centre for<br />

Oral <strong>Health</strong> Services Research <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>Cork</strong>, The Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> <strong>Cork</strong>. (2006).


10. Whelton H, Harrington J, Crowley E, Kelleher V, Cronin M, Perry IJ. North South Survey of<br />

Children’s Height, Weight <strong>and</strong> Body Mass Index. A Collaborative Report Involving the Department<br />

of <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> Children February 2008. http://www.dohc.ie/publications/north_south_<br />

bmi_report2007.html<br />

11. Meaney S, Williamson E, Perry IJ. Pilot Implementation of the European Injury Database<br />

(IDB): Report of 2005 Data for Irel<strong>and</strong>. National Suicide Research Foundation & Department of<br />

<strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, 2007.<br />

12. Williamson E, Meaney S. EU Injury Database: Coding Task Force, Implementation Report.<br />

National Suicide Research Foundation, 2007<br />

13. Williamson E, Meaney S. EU Injury Database: IDB Data Collection, Implementation report for<br />

Irel<strong>and</strong>. National Suicide Research Foundation, 2007.<br />

Newsletters<br />

1. Ormond G, Perry IJ. Edited by McElhinney A, Ramirez A. European Autism Information Systems<br />

(EAIS) Newsletter June 2007. http://www.eais.eu/content.php?page=138<br />

2. Ormond G, Perry IJ. Edited by McElhinney A, Ramirez A. European Autism Information Systems<br />

(EAIS) Newsletter November 2007. http://www.eais.eu/downloads/EAIS_2nd_Newsletter_Nov_2007.pdf<br />

Compiled by Anne Fitzpatrick<br />

Contribution to the Community/advocacy<br />

Dr Frances Shiely is the departmental representative on the <strong>University</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion Committee.<br />

She is also a representative on Niche (Northside Initiative for Community <strong>Health</strong>).<br />

Membership of Boards<br />

Professor Ivan Perry<br />

Director of the National Parasuicide Registry<br />

Chairman of the Board of the Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society<br />

Member of Board of the National Cancer Registry<br />

Member of Board of the National Suicide Research Foundation<br />

Member of Board of the <strong>Cork</strong> Northside Community <strong>Health</strong> Initiative<br />

Member of Board of the National Suicide Reduction Steering Group<br />

2<br />

Research Taighde


0<br />

New Staff<br />

Ms Gillian Ormond Ms Anne Fitzpatrick Dr Gemma Browne (top picture)<br />

Ms Gillian Ormond graduated with a BSc (Genetics) from<br />

<strong>UCC</strong> in 2005. During her studies she developed an interest in<br />

epidemiology. She gained experience in the field working for<br />

the summer months in the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> on the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Study. After<br />

her primary degree Ms Ormond moved to Imperial <strong>College</strong><br />

London <strong>and</strong> did an MSc in Modern <strong>Epidemiology</strong>.<br />

In November 2006, Ms Ormond re-joined the department.<br />

Her main role is to work on the European Autism Information<br />

Systems project. She is also working on the Interdisciplinary<br />

study on the BSc <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion, <strong>Cork</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> Kerry Heart Disease <strong>and</strong> Diabetes study Phase II, the<br />

CASE study <strong>and</strong> the 5C study.<br />

Ms Anne Fitzpatrick joined the department in October 2007<br />

as study coordinator of the HRB funded Diabetes Register<br />

project. This role involves coordinating the design <strong>and</strong> implementation<br />

of a programme to develop a template for a<br />

national diabetes register.<br />

Ms Fitzpatrick returned to <strong>Cork</strong> in June 2006, having left<br />

her native city 17 years earlier in 1988. On her return, she<br />

worked at the School of Medicine at <strong>UCC</strong> for a year, where<br />

she acted as student liaison officer <strong>and</strong> provided administrative<br />

support to a professor <strong>and</strong> three senior lecturers at the<br />

<strong>Cork</strong> <strong>University</strong> Hospital.<br />

Prior to this, Ms Fitzpatrick spent seven years in Chicago,<br />

Illinois where she worked with the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> Biostatistics, School of <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> at the <strong>University</strong><br />

of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) for four years. While at UIC she<br />

worked as a project manager, working on the design <strong>and</strong><br />

implementation of a chronic disease management programme<br />

for asthma. Ms Fitzpatrick also spent two years working<br />

as a special projects manager at the Chicago Housing<br />

Authority where she managed various community development<br />

projects <strong>and</strong> initiatives.<br />

Following her graduation from UCD with a Higher Diploma<br />

in Development Studies in 1998, Ms Fitzpatrick worked as a<br />

project coordinator with GOAL in Dublin, where she coordinated<br />

various health <strong>and</strong> community development projects in<br />

Asia, Africa, Central America <strong>and</strong> Eastern Europe.<br />

She graduated from <strong>UCC</strong> with a BA in Economics <strong>and</strong> Geography<br />

in 1988 <strong>and</strong> worked with various financial institutions in<br />

London, Dublin <strong>and</strong> Sydney over a period of nine years.<br />

Dr Gemma Browne is a lecturer in the department since<br />

October 2006. Graduating from <strong>University</strong> <strong>College</strong> Dublin<br />

in Medicine, she completed her clinical specialist training in<br />

Nephrology <strong>and</strong> General medicine in the Royal Infirmary of<br />

Edinburgh <strong>and</strong> since returning to Irel<strong>and</strong> has completed an<br />

MSc in <strong>Epidemiology</strong>. While in Edinburgh she conducted<br />

audit <strong>and</strong> outcome studies on patients with end stage kidney<br />

disease. More recently she has performed a cohort study<br />

on predictors of mortality in patients with end stage kidney


Picture shows Dr Andrew Collins (centre) at an award ceremony for<br />

community medicine distributors in Northern Ug<strong>and</strong>a. It was also an<br />

Irish Aid visit with Dr Michael Woods <strong>and</strong> Minister Pat Carey <strong>and</strong> the Irish<br />

Ambassador to Ug<strong>and</strong>a present.<br />

Dr Andrew Collins<br />

disease commencing renal replacement therapy in the HSE<br />

southern region. She is an instructor <strong>and</strong> coordinator of the<br />

<strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> course for the <strong>UCC</strong> medical<br />

school <strong>and</strong> is especially interested in the clinical application<br />

<strong>and</strong> relevance of epidemiology to practising doctors. At<br />

present she is the lead researcher on a study investigating<br />

salt intake in Irel<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> she is planning to study social determinants<br />

of cardiovascular disease in the Irish population.<br />

She is also a practising physician in the Mercy <strong>University</strong><br />

Hospital in <strong>Cork</strong>.<br />

Dr Andrew Collins recently joined the Department of General<br />

Practice part-time <strong>and</strong> lectures medical <strong>and</strong> public health<br />

students. He will be involved in creating research proposals<br />

for <strong>UCC</strong> work in developing countries as well as devising international<br />

health modules as part of college degree courses<br />

in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>.<br />

Following postgraduate training in General Practice, Dr Collins<br />

spent almost nine of the past 12 years working in Ug<strong>and</strong>a<br />

punctuated by a Master’s degree in Tropical Medicine <strong>and</strong><br />

International <strong>Health</strong> at the London School of Hygiene <strong>and</strong><br />

Tropical Medicine. He worked previously in the Department<br />

of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> on the <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>and</strong> Kerry<br />

Diabetes <strong>and</strong> Heart Disease Study.<br />

While in Ug<strong>and</strong>a, he worked in various eastern <strong>and</strong> southern<br />

African countries in both clinical <strong>and</strong> public health roles. For<br />

the past four years he has been the Deputy Director of the<br />

Ms Jennifer Lutomski<br />

Kampala regional African office of the Malaria Consortium,<br />

a fast growing international non-governmental organisation.<br />

The Consortium helped ministries of health in various African<br />

countries plan <strong>and</strong> implement high coverage communicable<br />

disease programmes for malaria, TB <strong>and</strong> other infectious<br />

diseases.<br />

In addition to his <strong>UCC</strong> post, he continues to work part-time<br />

in General Practice in Fermoy.<br />

Ms Jennifer Lutomski graduated with an MSc in epidemiology<br />

from the State <strong>University</strong> of New York at Albany School of<br />

<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, USA in 2006. During her studies, she assisted<br />

in the creation of a baseline study of childhood obesity <strong>and</strong><br />

West Nile Virus surveillance for the Dutchess County Department<br />

of <strong>Health</strong>. She also worked for the New York State<br />

Department of <strong>Health</strong> Migrant <strong>and</strong> Seasonal Farmworker Immunisation<br />

Programme, which involved estimating the size of<br />

the migrant, seasonal farm worker population throughout New<br />

York State, conducting an educational campaign to increase<br />

immunisation uptake among workers, <strong>and</strong> liaising with clinics<br />

to administer vaccines such as MMR (measles, mumps,<br />

rubella), tetanus, <strong>and</strong> Twinrix (hepatitis A <strong>and</strong> B).<br />

In September 2007, Ms Lutomski joined the department as a<br />

research assistant. Her primary role is to work on the Survey of<br />

Lifestyle, Attitudes <strong>and</strong> Nutrition (SLÁN) <strong>and</strong> a cross-sectional<br />

study of dietary salt intake.<br />

1<br />

New Staff Baill Fhoirne Nua


2<br />

Administrative Staff in the Department<br />

Picture shows from left Ms Vicky Murphy, PA to Professor Ivan Perry, <strong>and</strong> Executive Assistant to the Department of<br />

<strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>. Ms Tara O’Connell, Administrator for the BSc <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion. She<br />

also offers support for Med III <strong>and</strong> Med IV teaching in the department. Ms Anne Fitzpatrick is Study Coordinator of the<br />

HRB funded Diabetes Register project. Ms Anne Kelly provides undergraduate & post graduate teaching administration<br />

support. Karen Mulcahy (missing from photo) has recently taken up the position of Centre Administrator for the HRB<br />

Centre for <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> Diet Research within the department. Karen is also responsible for the management of department<br />

research grant accounts, research staff employment contracts <strong>and</strong> other research administration.<br />

Staff in the Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

Professor Ivan Perry<br />

Professor of <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>/Head of<br />

Department<br />

Dr Birgit Greiner<br />

Senior Lecturer in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

Dr Paul Beirne<br />

<strong>College</strong> Lecturer in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

Dr Frances Shiely<br />

<strong>College</strong> Lecturer<br />

Dr Gemma Browne<br />

<strong>College</strong> Lecturer<br />

Dr Fiona MacLeod<br />

<strong>College</strong> Lecturer<br />

Director of BSc PHHP<br />

Dr Tony Fitzgerald<br />

Lecturer in Medical Statistics/Senior<br />

Statistician, Part-time<br />

Ms Jennifer Russell<br />

<strong>College</strong> Lecturer, Part-time<br />

Dr Catherine Conlon<br />

<strong>College</strong> Lecturer, Part-time<br />

Dr Patricia Kearney<br />

Beeson Scholar<br />

Ms Karen Mulcahy<br />

Senior Executive Assistant<br />

Ms Tara O’Connell<br />

Executive Assistant<br />

Ms Vicky Murphy<br />

Executive Assistant<br />

Ms Janas Harrington<br />

Research Assistant<br />

Ms Gillian Ormond<br />

Research Assistant<br />

Ms Mary Cronin<br />

<strong>College</strong> Lecturer, Part-time/<br />

PhD Student<br />

Ms Sarah Meaney<br />

Research Assistant<br />

Ms Anne Kelly<br />

Executive Assistant, Part-time<br />

Dr Louise Burgoyne<br />

<strong>College</strong> Lecturer<br />

Dr Harry Comber<br />

Senior Lecturer in <strong>Epidemiology</strong>*<br />

Dr John Gallagher<br />

<strong>College</strong> Lecturer in<br />

Occupational <strong>Health</strong>**<br />

Dr Ella Arensman<br />

Honorary Senior Lecturer, NSRF***<br />

Dr Paul Corcoran<br />

Senior Lecturer, NSRF***<br />

Ms Jennifer Lutomski<br />

Research Assistant, Part-time<br />

Ms Anne Fitzpatrick<br />

Diabetes Register Project<br />

Co-ordinator (with Dept of GP)<br />

Ms Sheena McHugh<br />

<strong>Health</strong> Research Board PhD Scholar<br />

Dr Linda Sharp<br />

Honorary Senior Lecturer<br />

Ms Vera McCarthy<br />

Research Assistant/ Course Coordinator<br />

of MSc Occupational <strong>Health</strong><br />

Ms Bernie Mullally<br />

Research Assistant/Course<br />

Co-ordinator of Diploma/MA<br />

in <strong>Health</strong> Promotion<br />

* Director, National Cancer Registry<br />

** Occupational <strong>Health</strong>, HSE – Southern Area<br />

*** National Suicide Research Foundation


Medical experts launch global campaign against salt to<br />

prevent over 2.5 million deaths worldwide each year<br />

194 medical experts from 48 countries around the world,<br />

including Professor Ivan Perry of <strong>UCC</strong>’s Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> joined together in 2006 to launch<br />

a new global organisation, WASH – World Action on Salt <strong>and</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong> – in a concerted effort to reduce dietary salt intake to<br />

less than 5g per day per adult (the WHO target), in order to<br />

lower blood pressure globally.<br />

Raised blood pressure is the biggest single cause of cardiovascular<br />

disease accounting for 62% of strokes <strong>and</strong> 49% of<br />

heart disease. Strokes <strong>and</strong> coronary heart disease kill more<br />

people around the world than any other cause of death<br />

– around 12.7 million people each year. It is estimated that<br />

reducing salt intake by 6g a day could lead to a 24% reduction<br />

in deaths from strokes <strong>and</strong> an 18% reduction in deaths from<br />

coronary heart disease, thus preventing approximately 2.6<br />

million stroke <strong>and</strong> heart attack deaths each year worldwide.<br />

To save these lives, the main aims of the new organisation<br />

will be to:<br />

• persuade international food companies to employ a global<br />

salt reduction plan, so that not only will the salt content of<br />

their processed food products be reduced but it will be<br />

uniform in each country in which they are marketed<br />

• ensure that the body of evidence from the scientific community<br />

about the dangers of excessive salt consumption, is<br />

translated into policy by each individual Government around<br />

the world<br />

• reduce salt added at home during cooking <strong>and</strong> at the table<br />

through a combination of media publicity <strong>and</strong> public health<br />

campaigns.<br />

WASH research has highlighted the huge variations in salt<br />

levels in the same food product purchased in different countries<br />

around the world. Some of the discrepancies uncovered<br />

include:<br />

• Nestlé Cheerios bought in the Caribbean contain 2.33g<br />

of salt per 100g while the same br<strong>and</strong> in the UK contains<br />

around half that amount - 1.2g per 100g<br />

• Kellogg’s Coco Pops in Colombia contain 2.13g of salt per<br />

100g, whilst, in Italy the salt content is less than an eighth<br />

of this, at 0.25g per 100g<br />

• A Kentucky Fried Chicken Twister purchased in the UK<br />

contains 34% more salt than the same product purchased<br />

in France<br />

• A McDonald’s Cheeseburger Happy Meal in the UK contains<br />

57% of a six year-old’s daily recommended limit of<br />

salt, while the same meal in Brazil contains 98% of a six<br />

year-old’s daily limit.<br />

“The UK is currently leading the way in reducing salt,” said<br />

Professor Graham MacGregor, Chairman of WASH. “The<br />

experience of Finl<strong>and</strong>, which has had a salt reduction programme<br />

running since the late 1970s, shows that population-wide<br />

reduction of dietary salt leads to population-wide<br />

reductions in blood pressure <strong>and</strong> parallel reductions in deaths<br />

Community <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Advocacy Abhcóideacht Pobail agus Sláinte


from stroke <strong>and</strong> heart disease. The American Medical Association<br />

has recently voted to work to reduce the amount of salt<br />

added to food by industry in the US by at least 50% in the next<br />

ten years. But if we are really going to save lives around the<br />

world we need to make sure that food producers make salt<br />

reductions in all their markets. I am really encouraged by the<br />

number of individual experts who have joined WASH <strong>and</strong> the<br />

geographical spread of the countries involved. If we encourage<br />

the food industry in all these markets to make gradual<br />

reductions in the salt content of their foods, which is easy to<br />

do, as illustrated by Finl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> the UK, then we will make a<br />

huge difference in people’s health around the world.”<br />

According to Professor Perry, Irish food companies have begun<br />

a serious engagement with the Food Safety Authority of<br />

Irel<strong>and</strong> (FSAI) with a view to reducing the salt content of their<br />

products. The Food Safety Authority of Irel<strong>and</strong> has a five to<br />

The crisis of confidence in the performance of the Irish health<br />

care system shows no sign of abating in 2007 despite a decade<br />

of unprecedented increases in spending on health (from<br />

3.7 billion in 1997 to over 14 billion in 2007) <strong>and</strong> equally unprecedented<br />

efforts to analyse <strong>and</strong> reform the system, as<br />

articulated in the Government’s 2001 health strategy: “Quality<br />

& Fairness”. Given the concerns about the quality of services<br />

for breast cancer <strong>and</strong> the difficulties in accessing care for<br />

patients without private health insurance, as highlighted by<br />

the late Susie Long, the notion of quality <strong>and</strong> fairness rings<br />

hollow to many observers in 2007. We will never have a perfect<br />

health system. However it is increasingly clear that to improve<br />

the quality <strong>and</strong> fairness of our health system we need to look<br />

beyond resources <strong>and</strong> organisational structures <strong>and</strong> acknowledge<br />

that our health system is an expression of core societal<br />

values <strong>and</strong> a tangible manifestation of our political culture.<br />

From my perspective, the fundamental problems we face in<br />

our efforts to reform the health system relate to our high tolerance<br />

for inequity or unfairness in access to care, the lack of a<br />

10 year programme aimed at reducing salt intake levels from<br />

10g a day to 6g a day –“the body actually requires much less<br />

salt per day but it’s felt that 6g a day is an achievable target<br />

in that time frame,” he said.<br />

He added that processed meat, <strong>and</strong> bread account for over<br />

50 per cent of sodium intake from foods, with the remainder<br />

contributed by various other processed foods. Professor Perry<br />

said a report in 2005 by the Food Safety Authority recommended<br />

that consideration should be given to the m<strong>and</strong>atory<br />

labelling of foods with salt content above a specific threshold<br />

as “high salt”, while EU legislation sets clear guidelines for the<br />

use of claims such as “low salt” or “reduced salt.”<br />

Four members of <strong>UCC</strong> staff, Professors Albert Flynn, Colin<br />

Hill, Ivan Perry <strong>and</strong> Dr Mairéad Kiely were involved in the<br />

preparation of the FSAI report on salt intake.<br />

Quality in health care: beyond resources <strong>and</strong> reorganisation<br />

Our health system is an expression of core societal values <strong>and</strong> a tangible<br />

manifestation of our political culture writes Professor Ivan Perry.<br />

well defined quality culture in the health service <strong>and</strong> our unwillingness<br />

to acknowledge the limits of health care. Despite the<br />

rhetoric of “Quality <strong>and</strong> Fairness”, unfairness is the major blight<br />

on our health system <strong>and</strong> the case for a single tier, not for<br />

profit, social insurance funding model is now compelling. Of<br />

the total health spend in Irel<strong>and</strong> , approximately 78% comes<br />

from the public sector, 12% from out of pocket expenditure<br />

<strong>and</strong> approximately 10% from private health insurance. The<br />

10 % of expenditure from private health insurance secures<br />

preferential access (i.e queue jumping) for close to 50% of<br />

the population who can afford the annual premiums. Thus<br />

we do not have private health insurance in Irel<strong>and</strong>. For those<br />

who can afford it, we have insurance against delays in the<br />

public health care system <strong>and</strong> as most care is either provided<br />

directly or heavily subsidised by the public sector our annual<br />

health insurance premiums are low by international st<strong>and</strong>ards.<br />

It is difficult to argue that this system is fair or that it will be<br />

improved by the co-location of for-profit private hospitals on<br />

the grounds of our public hospitals. However the clamour for<br />

change in our health care funding model is muted because


the current system of “private health insurance” works well<br />

for the middle classes <strong>and</strong> in particular for “swing voters” who<br />

determine the outcome of elections. It will be interesting to<br />

see, come the next election, whether the debate on health<br />

care has moved on from operational matters such as the<br />

location of centres of excellence <strong>and</strong> projected bed numbers<br />

to addressing fundamental policy issues, in particular the<br />

fairness of the system.<br />

The lack of a well defined quality culture in health services,<br />

while not unique to Irel<strong>and</strong>, poses a further challenge to reform.<br />

The essence of a quality culture in health care is ongoing<br />

rigorous review <strong>and</strong> reflection on the quality of care, including<br />

the patients’ experience of the system, the outcomes from diagnosis<br />

<strong>and</strong> treatment <strong>and</strong> the incidence of medical errors by<br />

means of systematic audits <strong>and</strong> related quality improvement<br />

systems; all led from the top of health care organisations <strong>and</strong><br />

involving staff at all levels. This is a tall order for most health<br />

care institutions. Clearly it requires resources <strong>and</strong> training,<br />

but most of all it depends on leadership <strong>and</strong> culture change.<br />

The traditional culture within medicine <strong>and</strong> other health care<br />

professions is sceptical of leadership <strong>and</strong> quality systems.<br />

The focus is on professional autonomy <strong>and</strong> care for the individual<br />

patient while leaving the management of the health<br />

care system to “administrators”. Clinical autonomy <strong>and</strong> advocacy<br />

for the individual patient will always be at the heart of<br />

health care but we also need greater involvement of health<br />

professionals, including doctors, operating at a strategic level<br />

to enhance the quality, fairness <strong>and</strong> economic efficiency of<br />

the system. It is time to move beyond the ritual excoriation of<br />

“non- frontline administrators” <strong>and</strong> clichéd slogans about our<br />

bloated health care bureaucracy to ask why do we not have<br />

more clinicians, in particular consultants (the highest earners),<br />

working at senior management level in our health system. In<br />

recent decades we have experienced at least one significant<br />

cultural revolution in health care led by clinicians, the evidence<br />

based medicine movement, the notion that decisions about<br />

diagnosis <strong>and</strong> therapy should be based on scientific evidence<br />

of effectiveness from clinical research as opposed to tradition,<br />

dogma <strong>and</strong> the opinions of authority figures. Now that we<br />

have evidence to guide decisions on the right care for many<br />

conditions, the challenge is to design systems that aspire to<br />

deliver the right care to the right patient in the right setting<br />

every time. This will require a further cultural revolution in attitudes<br />

towards quality, management <strong>and</strong> leadership in health<br />

care <strong>and</strong>, unless led by clinicians, it will not happen.<br />

The quality revolution will paradoxically require us to confront<br />

the limits of health care. High performing health systems<br />

document <strong>and</strong> publish statistics on outcomes <strong>and</strong> error rates<br />

<strong>and</strong> as a society we need to accept <strong>and</strong> deal with the uncertainty<br />

of diagnosis <strong>and</strong> prognosis, the often fine balance<br />

between doing good <strong>and</strong> harm in health care <strong>and</strong> the human<br />

frailty of practitioners. We also need to acknowledge that the<br />

major determinants of our health <strong>and</strong> wellbeing <strong>and</strong> that of our<br />

children lie well beyond the health system. For instance we<br />

face a global epidemic of obesity <strong>and</strong> diabetes over the next<br />

two decades, a “global fattening” crisis akin to global warming<br />

that threatens to bankrupt health systems world wide. While<br />

we look to government for leadership <strong>and</strong> increased spending<br />

on health care, we neglect at our peril the wider societal<br />

determinants of health, wellbeing <strong>and</strong> longevity.<br />

“Tabhair aire don<br />

tsláinte nó bí á<br />

huaireasa”<br />

Community <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Advocacy Abhcóideacht Pobail agus Sláinte


1.<br />

2.<br />

3.<br />

4.<br />

Women suffer more from smoking according to<br />

research presented at international meeting at <strong>UCC</strong><br />

Over 400 delegates attended the conference held in the<br />

Brookfield <strong>Health</strong> Sciences Complex in <strong>UCC</strong>. Countries<br />

represented include Irel<strong>and</strong>, United Kingdom, North America,<br />

Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Serbia,<br />

Portugal, Sweden, Denmark <strong>and</strong> others.<br />

Two out of three deaths in women who smoke are caused by their nicotine addiction, according<br />

to the latest findings of a major UK study which was presented at the Society for<br />

Social Medicine <strong>and</strong> International Epidemiological Association (European Federation) in <strong>UCC</strong><br />

in September 2007.<br />

Data from the Million Women Study - one of the largest epidemiological studies ever carried<br />

out in the UK or Irel<strong>and</strong> - highlighted the huge impact that smoking has on the mortality rate<br />

of women.<br />

The new paper, Smoking, Cancer <strong>and</strong> Mortality in the Million Women Study was one of over<br />

100 peer reviewed papers presented during the three day joint meeting.<br />

“We know that just over five million deaths a year world-wide are caused by smoking but<br />

because women are significantly healthier than men, have a lower risk of heart disease in particular<br />

<strong>and</strong> a better life expectancy, smoking amounts for a disproportionate amount of health<br />

problems in women as the Million Women study paper shows,” he said.<br />

Another paper entitled Mortality <strong>and</strong> Alcohol: 50,000 adult deaths in three cities in Russia<br />

highlighted the role of alcohol as a major cause of death in these cities.


5.<br />

Professor Perry explained: “In the last decade, there has<br />

been a calamitous decline in the public health infrastructure<br />

in Russia that has been associated with a ten year fall in life<br />

expectancy, mostly from deaths in young men. The causes<br />

related to alcohol consumption include accidents, violence<br />

<strong>and</strong> liver damage.” One in six men in the cities surveyed drank<br />

a bottle of vodka every day.<br />

The Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> at <strong>UCC</strong><br />

presented a report on the prevalence of obesity in Irish children<br />

that found that the weight of the average 14 years old<br />

boy has increased from 37 kg in 1948 to 47kg in the mid 70s<br />

<strong>and</strong> to 61 kg in 2002.<br />

“There was a fairly steady rise in the weight of Irish children<br />

between 1948 <strong>and</strong> the 70s but there has been a sharp increase<br />

from the 70s to 2002. Children are getting taller as<br />

well as heavier each year but they are getting fatter faster<br />

than they are getting taller which is of great concern,” said<br />

Professor Perry.<br />

Other papers looked at topics such as the impact of the<br />

smoking ban on acute cardiac infraction, a review of the current<br />

evidence on the safety of water fluoridation <strong>and</strong> recent<br />

achievements <strong>and</strong> challenges in epidemiology.<br />

The conference addressed both public health research in<br />

the causes <strong>and</strong> prevention of disease in the population <strong>and</strong><br />

health services research services research addressing the<br />

effectiveness <strong>and</strong> efficiency of health services.<br />

Michelle Mc Donagh<br />

The Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> hosted<br />

the joint meeting of the Society for Social Medicine <strong>and</strong><br />

the International Epidemiological Association in September<br />

2007 in <strong>UCC</strong>. This was only the second time that these two<br />

associations held their annual conferences together <strong>and</strong> the<br />

first time outside of the UK. The Society for Social Medicine<br />

conference is the major UK/Irish annual scientific meeting<br />

in public health.<br />

Over 400 delegates attended the conference. Countries represented<br />

include Irel<strong>and</strong>, United Kingdom, North America,<br />

Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Serbia,<br />

Portugal, Sweden, Denmark <strong>and</strong> others.<br />

The opening address was followed by the Cochrane <strong>and</strong><br />

Pemberton Lectures given by Professor Trevor Sheldon,<br />

of the <strong>University</strong> of York, UK, <strong>and</strong> Professor Jorn Olsen of<br />

Aarhus <strong>University</strong>, Denmark, respectively. Approximately<br />

200 scientific papers spanning all major areas of public<br />

health practice <strong>and</strong> health services research were presented<br />

in parallel oral <strong>and</strong> poster sessions over the three days of<br />

the conference.<br />

Karen Mulcahy<br />

1. Photo shows from left Dr Timothy<br />

Jackson, <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Specialist HSE<br />

South, Ms Margaret O’Connell, student<br />

<strong>and</strong> Professor Robert West, Chair of the<br />

Society of Social Medicine.<br />

2. Dr Colin Thunhurst (left) <strong>and</strong> Professor<br />

Trevor Sheldon who gave the Cochrane<br />

lecture<br />

3. Some of the organisers of the meeting:<br />

(l-r) Ms Gillian Ormond, Ms Linda<br />

O’Keeffe, Ms Tara O’Connell, Ms Sarah<br />

Meaney <strong>and</strong> Ms Karen Mulcahy<br />

4. Photo shows from left: Dr Jane Wilde,<br />

Chief Executive, Institute of <strong>Public</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong>, Belfast; Dr Helen Whelton,<br />

Director, Oral <strong>Health</strong> Services Research<br />

Centre, <strong>UCC</strong>; Emeritus Professor Denis<br />

O’Mullane, <strong>UCC</strong>; Dr Margaret Shannon,<br />

Department of <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> Children<br />

5. Photo shows from left: Dr Michael<br />

Murphy, <strong>UCC</strong> President; Mr Micheál<br />

Martin, TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade<br />

<strong>and</strong> Employment; Councillor Donal<br />

Counihan, Lord Mayor of <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

Professor Ivan Perry, Head, Department<br />

of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, <strong>UCC</strong><br />

Community <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Advocacy Abhcóideacht Pobail agus Sláinte


1.<br />

2.<br />

<strong>UCC</strong> hosts summer school on violence<br />

The fifth Population <strong>Health</strong> Summer School was held in September 2006. This conference is organised annually by the Department<br />

of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, <strong>UCC</strong>; the Department of <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, HSE Southern Area; <strong>and</strong> the Institute of<br />

<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>. The theme for this summer school was Violence – a <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Issue. The purpose of the summer school<br />

was to promote discussion <strong>and</strong> debate on violence as a public health issue from a broad multidisciplinary perspective.<br />

Speakers included Dr Chris Luke, Consultant in Emergency Medicine in <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>University</strong> Hospital, Professor Ian Robertson,<br />

Professor of Psychology, Institute of Neuroscience <strong>and</strong> School of Psychology, Trinity <strong>College</strong> Dublin; Professor Des O’Neill,<br />

Consultant Geriatrician at Tallaght Hospital in Dublin, Dr Julia Verne, Director of the South West <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Observatory,<br />

UK, <strong>and</strong> Dr Mary E Black, UNICEF staff member on sabbatical <strong>and</strong> visiting lecturer, Belgrade School of <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>.<br />

Karen Mulcahy<br />

Photos Show:<br />

1. l-r Professor Ivan Perry, Head, Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, <strong>UCC</strong>, Dr Leslie Boydell, Institute of<br />

<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, Belfast <strong>and</strong> Dr Brian O’Mahony, GP<br />

2. l-r Dr Chris Luke, consultant in Emergency Medicine in <strong>Cork</strong> <strong>University</strong> Hospital, Dr Elizabeth Keane, Director of <strong>Public</strong><br />

<strong>Health</strong>, HSE Southern Area <strong>and</strong> Dr Jane Wilde, Institute of <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

3. Dr Mary Black, UNICEF staff member on sabbatical <strong>and</strong> visiting lecturer, Belgrade School of <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong><br />

4. l-r Ms Angela Murphy <strong>and</strong> Ms Eileen Ryan of the HSE Southern Area, Ms Karen Mulcahy <strong>and</strong> Ms Anne Kelly<br />

Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>, <strong>UCC</strong>. Seated is Ms Carmel Nixon from the HSE Southern Area<br />

3.<br />

4.


1. 2. 3.<br />

4.<br />

5. 6. 7.<br />

8. 9. 10.<br />

Inaugural Cameron Lecture<br />

The Department of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> hosted a<br />

reception to mark the occasion of the first graduates from the<br />

BSc in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion <strong>UCC</strong>, the launch<br />

of a new Masters in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> (MPH) <strong>and</strong> the inaugural<br />

Cameron lecture in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>.<br />

The Cameron lecture was given by <strong>UCC</strong> graduate, Professor<br />

Joe Barry, from the Department of <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> Primary<br />

Care at Trinity <strong>College</strong> Dublin. His topic was ‘Substance use<br />

problems in Irel<strong>and</strong>; can we turn the tide?’ In his lecture he<br />

examined drug <strong>and</strong> alcohol abuse in Irel<strong>and</strong> over a 20 year<br />

period, the public policy response to the problem <strong>and</strong> how<br />

Irel<strong>and</strong> compared internationally in the area.<br />

Professor Grace Neville, Vice President, Teaching <strong>and</strong> Learning,<br />

<strong>UCC</strong> launched the Masters in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong>. She commended<br />

the department for the interdisciplinary nature of<br />

the BSc <strong>and</strong> Master’s programmes that accords so well with<br />

the US Institute of Medicine’s vision for the future of public<br />

health.<br />

For more details on the BSc in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Promotion<br />

<strong>and</strong> the Masters in <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> see pages 7 <strong>and</strong> 11<br />

Photos Show:<br />

1. Dr Paul Byrne <strong>and</strong> Dr Frances Shiely of the Department<br />

of <strong>Epidemiology</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Health</strong> <strong>UCC</strong>. 2. Dr Fiona<br />

MacLeod, Director of the BSc PHHP. 3. Professor Joe<br />

Barry, TCD who gave the Inaugural Cameron Lecture.<br />

4. Student Mr John Madigan with his project on his work<br />

placement in community work in <strong>Cork</strong>. 5. Students Ms Mary<br />

O’Sullivan, Mr Douglas Nnaemeka, Ms Sarah Freeman. 6.<br />

l-r Students Ms Christine Buike <strong>and</strong> Ms Grace Cornally.<br />

7. Professor Grace Neville, Vice President Teaching <strong>and</strong><br />

Learning, <strong>UCC</strong> who launched the MPH programme. 8. l-r<br />

Ms Vicky Murphy who provides administrative support for<br />

the MPH <strong>and</strong> Ms Jennifer Russell MPH course co-ordinator.<br />

9. Students Ms Áine Carey, Ms Sinéad O’Neill, Ms Fiona<br />

O’Shea <strong>and</strong> Ms Deirdre Hickey. 10. Ms Bernie Mullally<br />

(right) co-ordinator of the Diploma/MA in <strong>Health</strong> Promotion<br />

with Ms Helen O’Brien.


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