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Team Members

‌HEALTH BEHAVIOUR IN SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN (HBSC) IRELAND

World Health Organization Collaborative Cross-National Study

The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey is a WHO collaborative cross-national study that monitors the health behaviours, health outcomes and social environments of school-aged children every four years. HBSC Ireland surveys school-going children aged 9-18 years. The study is conducted by the HBSC Ireland team, based at the Health Promotion Research Centre, University of Galway.

Principal Investigator

Ms. Aoife Gavin

Aoife Gavin is a researcher within the Health Promotion Research Centre. She is a graduate of Brock University in Ontario, Canada with a BA in Community Health Sciences as well as NUI Galway with a MA in Health Promotion. Her current research interests include: the health and well-being of young people particularly children with disability or chronic illness.
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Ms. Louise Lunney

Louise Lunney is a research assistant with the Health Promotion Research Centre working on the HBSC study. She is a graduate of Maynooth University with a BA in Psychology and of University College Cork with a MA in Applied Psychology. Louise’s research interests include young people’s mental health and well-being and environmental psychology.

Ms. Ruchika Tara Mathur

Ruchika Tara Mathur is a full-time PhD student in Health Promotion with the School of Health Sciences at the University of Galway. She is an alum of Trinity College Dublin with an MSc in Development Practice, and of Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi with a BA in Political Science. Ruchika has been working as an implementor, peer-educator and researcher in sexual and reproductive health and rights with organisations such as Oxfam, Ipas and the Population Council. She is interested in learning about and contributing to the field of knowledge on adolescent and youth participation in health services.

Ms. Larri (Lorraine) Walker

Larri Walker has worked within the Department of Health Promotion since 1996. She has provided support on various research projects including HBSC (since 2006), Childrens Understanding of Health and Well being, General Healthcare Study of the Irish Prisoners Population, The Impact of Alcohol Advertising on Teenagers in Ireland , SLAN & HBSC 1998 and the National Survey of General Practitioners 1996.
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PHD Students

Ms. Mary Callaghan

Mary Callaghan is a part-time PhD student within the Health Promotion Research Centre. She is a graduate of the National University of Ireland Galway with a BA in Geography and Irish, and a postgraduate diploma in Health Promotion. She has also completed a MSc in Geographic Information Systems at the University of Ulster, Coleraine. She is a member of the Violence & Injury Prevention Group and the early career group within the international HBSC network. Her research interests include the effects of the environment on health, the nutritional environment of schools, electronic media contact and school bullying.

Ms. Ruchika Tara Mathur

Placement Students

HBSC Collaborators

Kieran Walsh completed his PhD in psychosocial ageing in the University of Limerick, where he remained as a lecturer until joining HBSC Ireland in November 2005. Kieran worked as a senior researcher in the HPRC with responsibility for translating the 2002 findings into policy and practice. His research interests include health care inequity, social inequality and adolescent health and well-being. Kieran is currently Director of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, University of Galway.

Dr. Brian McGrath is a lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Sociology, University of Galway and former Programme Director of the MA in Community Development. He holds an MA from NUI Galway and PhD from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He has previously worked as a principal researcher on international collaborative research in the area of rural youth and development policy. His main interest is in exploring the rural-urban dimensions of young people's behaviour and experiences.

Cecily Kelleher is Professor of Public Health Medicine and Epidemiology and Head of Ireland’s first School of Public Health and Population Science at University College Dublin. Prior to this she was foundation chair of Health Promotion at National University of Ireland Galway and Scientific Staff member at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology and Medical Care Unit. She has researched and published widely on the social and life-course determinants of heart disease and has participated in numerous population surveillance projects and settings based evaluations of health promotion action research in schools, workplace and primary care.

Previous HBSC Ireland team members:

Dr. Graham Brennan, Ms. Eimer Brown, Dr. Lorraine Burke, Ms. Mary Callaghan, Ms. Natasha Clarke, Ms. Pauline Clerkin, Mr. Simon Comer, Mr. Greg Conlon, Ms. Mary Cooke, Ms. Helen Corrigan, Dr. Gail Cummins, Ms. Katie Cunningham, Dr. Maureen D'Eath, Mr. Eoin Dennehy, Ms. Aingeal de Roiste, Ms. Priscilla Doyle, Ms. Laura Farrell, Ms. Kiah Finnegan, Dr. Amanda Fitzgerald, Ms. Cliona Fitzpatrick, Dr. Kathy Ann Fox, Dr. Jakub Gajewski, Ms. Marie Galvin, Ms. Aisling Harrington, Ms. Martha Higgins, Dr. Martin Javornicky, Ms. Aileen Kavanagh, Dr. Eimear Keane, Ms. Olivia Lennox, Ms. Emer McCarthy, Ms. Rachael Maloney,Professor Michal Molcho, Ms. Katie Monahan, Mr. Trevor Moylan, Ms. Katie Murphy, Ms. Geraldine Nolan, Dr. Siobhan O'Higgins, Ms. Catherine Perry, Ms. Divya Ravikumar, Dr. Mariane Sentenac, Ms. Ummu A. Tunis-Paasewe, Ms. Leah Tyrrell, Professor Kieran Walsh, Ms. Pamela Wong, Dr. Honor Young.

Previous Placement Students:

Ms. Damilola Awobiyi, Ms. Aisling Beckwith, Ms. Sarah Bergin, Ms. Catriona Boyle, Ms. Ailish Brick, Ms. Patricia Brien, Ms. Róisín Cannon, Ms. Nathália Cerca, Ms. Colleen Cicci, Ms. Clare Conte, Ms. Lydia Courtney, Ms Sarah Courtney, Ms. Megan Curran, Ms. Roisin D’Arcy, Ms. Marley Denierio, Mr. Eoin Dennehy, Ms. Marley Denierio, Ms. Eadaoin Farragher, Ms. Hannah Ferguson, Ms Kiah Finnegan, Ms. Ciara Forde, Ms. Diana Frasquilho Guerreiro, Ms. Sonja-Mareike Freiling, Ms. Aoife Gavin, Mr. Jakub Gajewski, Ms. Patricia Harte, Ms. Tania Jahir, Mr. Huthaifa Kazim, Ms. Sarah Keenan, Ms. Skye Keene-Babcock, Ms. Helena Keller, Ms. Samantha Loughrey, Ms. Lisa Lyons, Ms. Julia MacAulay, Ms. Rachael Maloney, Mr. Peter Manley, Ms Laura Mannix, Ms. Geraldine Martyn, Ms. Laura Mullally, Ms. Brenda Murphy, Ms. Onyenankeya Nnenna, Ms. Margaret O'Donnell, Ms. Linda O'Keefe, Ms. Lilly O'Toole, Ms. Laura Ronayne, Dr. Ailbhe Spillane, Ms. Susan Spillane, Ms. Ellen Stafford, Ms. Ciana Staunton, Dr. Lindsay Sullivan.