Medicine

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Dr. Belinda Hernández

Dr. Belinda Hernández

Senior Research Fellow, Medical Gerontology


Biography

Dr Belinda Hernandez is a Senior Research Fellow and bio-informatician for TILDA (The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing) in Trinity College Dublin. Belinda"s current research interests are focused on using advanced statistical and machine learning methods to develop physiological and epigenetic biomarkers for healthy ageing and multimorbidity prevention. Previous to this, she was an Assistant Professor in Statistics in the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University College Dublin where she developed proteomic and genomic biomarkers for various diseases such as prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease and arthritis. She holds a PhD in "Bayesian Machine Learning for Proteomic Discovery and Validation" from University College Dublin. Although focused primarily on biomarker development her research is multidisciplinary, and she has conducted comparative research of multimorbidity clusters and epigenetic markers of health outcomes across multiple international studies of ageing. She has also published research in a number of other areas including the investigation of high dimensional cardiovascular and neurovascular hemodynamic signals; the development of statistical machine learning methods as well as research in areas such as multisensory integration, frailty and cognition.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

  • Ademowo OS, Hernandez B, Collins E, Rooney C, Fearon U, van Kuijk AW, Tak PP, Gerlag DM, FitzGerald O, Pennington SR, Discovery and confirmation of a protein biomarker panel with potential to predict response to biological therapy in psoriatic arthritis., 2016Journal Article, 2016
  • Hernández B, Reilly R, Kenny RA, Treat people not diseases: A pattern analysis of disease interactions in multimorbidities. Results from The Irish Longitudinal study in Ageing, Scientific Reports, 9, (1), 2019, p1 - 12Journal Article, 2019
  • Belinda Hernández, Annalisa Setti, Rose Anne Kenny, Fiona N Newell, Individual differences in ageing, cognitive status, and sex on susceptibility to the sound-induced flash illusion: A large-scale study., American Psychological Association, 34, (7), 2019, p978Journal Article, 2019
  • BA McGivney, B Hernandez, LM Katz, DE MacHugh, SP McGovern, AC Parnell, HL Wiencko, EW Hill, A genomic prediction model for racecourse starts in the Thoroughbred horse, Animal genetics, 50, (4), 2019, p347 - 357Journal Article, 2019
  • Faekah Gohar, Angela McArdle, Melissa Jones, Niamh Callan, Belinda Hernandez, Christoph Kessel, Maria Miranda-Garcia, Miha Lavric, Dirk Holzinger, Carolin Pretzer, Elke Lainka, Sebastiaan J Vastert, Sytze de Roock, Oliver FitzGerald, Stephen R Pennington, Dirk Foell, Molecular signature characterisation of different inflammatory phenotypes of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 78, (8), 2019, p1107 - 1113Journal Article, 2019
  • IM Oliveira, B Hernández, RA Kenny, RB Reilly, Automatic Disability Categorisation based on ADLs among Older Adults in a Nationally Representative Population using Data Mining Methods, 2019 41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2019, p2466-2469Journal Article, 2019
  • Darragh Whelan, Eamonn Delahunt, Martin O'Reilly, Belinda Hernandez, Brian Caulfield, Determining Interrater and Intrarater Levels of Agreement in Students and Clinicians When Visually Evaluating Movement Proficiency During Screening Assessments, Physical therapy, 99, (4), 2019, p478-486Journal Article, 2019
  • Belinda Hernández, Adrian E Raftery, Stephen R Pennington, Andrew C Parnell, Bayesian additive regression trees using Bayesian model averaging, Statistics and computing, 28, (4), 2018, p869-890Journal Article, 2018
  • Kévin Rue-Albrecht, Paul A McGettigan, Belinda Hernández, Nicolas C Nalpas, David A Magee, Andrew C Parnell, Stephen V Gordon, David E MacHugh, GOexpress: an R/Bioconductor package for the identification and visualisation of robust gene ontology signatures through supervised learning of gene expression data, BMC bioinformatics, 17, (1), 2016, p126Journal Article, 2016
  • S Ramm, B Morissey, B Hernandez, C Rooney, SR Pennington, A Mally, Application of a discovery to targeted LC-MS proteomics approach to identify deregulated proteins associated with idiosyncratic liver toxicity in a rat model of LPS/diclofenac co-administration, Toxicology, 331, 2015, p100-111Journal Article, 2015
  • Belinda Hernández, Andrew Parnell, Stephen R Pennington, Why have so few proteomic biomarkers "survived" validation?(Sample size and independent validation considerations), Proteomics, 14, (13), 2014, p1587-1592Journal Article, 2014
  • Protein Quantification by MRM for Biomarker Validation in, New Developments in Mass Spectrometry: Quantative Proteomics, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013, pp279-315 , [L. Staunton, T. Clancy, C. Tonry, S. Ademowo, M. Dharsee, B. Hernandez, K. Evans, Parnell A, R.W. Watson, S.R. Pennington]Book Chapter, 2013
  • Doubly Robust Missing Data in Clinical Trials in, Clinical Trials with Missing Data: A Guide for Practitioners, pp 370-407, London, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2014, pp279-315 , [Belinda Hernández, Ilya Lipkovich, Michael O'Kelly]Book Chapter, 2014
  • Hernández B, Parnell A.C. and Pennington S.R. , Bayesian methods for the discovery of proteomic biomarkers, EUPA Open Proteomics, 9, 2015, p54-64Journal Article, 2015
  • O'Connor JD, O'Connell MD, Romero-Ortuno R, Hernandez B, Newman L, Reilly R, Kenny RA, Knight SP, Functional Analysis of Continuous, High-Resolution Measures in Ageing Research: A Demonstration using Cerebral Oxygenation Data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, section Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, (261), 2020Journal Article, 2020, DOI , URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Moloney D, O'Connor J, Newman L, Scarlett S, Hernandez B, Kenny RA, Romero-Ortuno R, Clinical clustering of eight orthostatic haemodynamic patterns in The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), Age and Ageing, 50, (3), 2021, p854 - 860Journal Article, 2021, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • McCrory C, Fiorito G, Hernandez B, Polidoro S, O'Halloran AM, Hever A, Ni Cheallaigh C, Lu AT, Horvath S, Vineis P, Kenny RA., GrimAge outperforms other epigenetic clocks in the prediction of age-related clinical phenotypes and all-cause mortality., The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 76, (5), 2021, p741 - 749Journal Article, 2021, DOI
  • Roman Romero-Ortuno, Peter Hartley, James Davis, Silvin P. Knight, Rossella Rizzo, Belinda Hernández, Rose Anne Kenny, Aisling M. O'Halloran, Transitions in frailty phenotype states and components over 8 years: evidence from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI , TARA - Full Text
  • Claire Tonry, Ken McDonald, Mark Ledwidge, Belinda Hernandez, Nadezhda Glezeva, Cathy Rooney, Brian Morrissey, Stephen R Pennington, John A Baugh, Chris J Watson, Multiplexed measurement of candidate blood protein biomarkers of heart failure, ESC heart failure, 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI
  • Prado EB, O'Neill E, Hernandez B, Parnell AC, Moral RA, Discussion: Bayesian Regression Tree Models for Causal Inference: Regularization, Confounding and Heterogeneous Effects, Bayesian Analysis, 15, (3), 2020, p955 - 1056Journal Article, 2020
  • Mc Ardle A, Kwasnik A, Szenpetery A, Jones M, Hernandez B, Meenagh M, Parnell A, de Jager W, de Roock S, Fitzgerald O, Pennington S , Identification and Evaluation of Serum Protein Biomarkers Which Differentiate Psoriatic from Rheumatoid Arthritis., Arthritis & Rheumatology, 74, (1), 2022, p81 - 91Journal Article, 2022, URL
  • Hernández B, Voll S, Lewis NA, McCrory C, White A, Stirland L, Kenny RA, Reilly R, Hutton CP, Griffith LE, Kirkland SA, Terrera GM, Hofer SM., Comparisons of disease cluster patterns, prevalence and health factors in the USA, Canada, England and Ireland., BMC Public Health, 21, (1), 2021, p1674Journal Article, 2021, DOI
  • James R. Davis, Silvin P. Knight, Orna A. Donoghue, Belinda Hernández, Rossella Rizzo, Rose Anne Kenny, Roman Romero-Ortuno, Comparison of gait speed reserve, usual gait speed, and maximum gait speed of adults aged 50+ in Ireland using explainable machine learning, Frontiers in Network Physiology: Networks in Aging and Frailty, 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI , URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Céline De Looze, PhD, Wilby Williamson, PhD, Naiara Demnitz, PhD, Deirdre O'Connor, MPH, Belinda Hernández, PhD, Rose Anne Kenny, MD, Physical Function, An Adjunct to Brain Health Score for Phenotyping Cognitive Function Trajectories in Older Age: Findings From The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), The Journals of Gerontology: Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
  • Eamon Laird and Aisling M. O'Halloran and Anne M Molloy and Martin Healy and Belinda Hernandez and Deirdre O'Connor and Rose Anne Kenny and Robert Briggs, Low vitamin B12 but not folate is associated with incident depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults: a 4 year longitudinal study, British Journal of Nutrition, 2021, p1--22Journal Article, 2021, DOI
  • De Looze C, Dehsarvi A, Suleyman N, Crosby L, Hernández B, Coen RF, Lawlor BA, Reilly RB., Structural Correlates of Overt Sentence Reading in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild-to-Moderate Alzheimer's Disease., Current Alzheimer research, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
  • Belinda Hernandz, Siobhan Scarlett, Frank Moriarty, Roman Romero Ortuno, Rose Anne Kenny, Richard Reilly, Investigation of the role of sleep and physical activity for chronic disease prevalence and incidence in older Irish adults, BMC Public Health, 22, (1), 2022, p1 - 11Journal Article, 2022, DOI
  • Kevin McCarthy, Eamon Laird, Aisling M. O"Halloran, Cathal Walsh, Martin Healy, Annette L. Fitzpatrick, James B. Walsh, Belinda Hernandez, Padraic Fallon, Anne Molloy, Rose Anne Kenny, Association between vitamin D deficiency and the risk of prevalent type 2 diabetes and incident prediabetes: A prospective cohort study using data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), eClinical Medicine, 53, 2022, p101654Journal Article, 2022
  • Orna A Donoghue, Belinda Hernandez, Matthew DL O"Connell, Rose Anne Kenny, Using Conditional Inference Forests to Examine Predictive Ability for Future Falls and Syncope in Older Adults: Results from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
  • A Setti and B Hernández, RJ Hirst, OA Donoghue, RA Kenny, FN Newell, Susceptibility to the sound-induced flash illusion is associated with gait speed in a large sample of middle-aged and older adults, EXPERIMENTAL GERONTOLOGY, 174, (112113), 2023Journal Article, 2023
  • Belinda Hernández, Adam H Dyer, Ciaran Finucane, Bernardo Nipoti, Roman Romero-Ortuno, Richard Reilly, Rose Anne Kenny, The Impact of Type 2 Diabetes on Peripheral and Cerebral Haemodynamic Responses to Active Stand, The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, 2024Journal Article, 2024, DOI
  • A" Shirsath M., O'Connor J.D., Boyle R., Newman L., Knight S.P., Hernandez B., Whelan R., Meaney J.F., Kenny R.A., Slower speed of blood pressure recovery after standing is associated with accelerated brain aging: Evidence from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), Cerebral Circulation - Cognition and Behavior, 6, 2024Journal Article, 2024, DOI
  • Kenny, R.A., Hernandez, B., O'Halloran, A., Moriarty, F., McGarrigle, C., TILDA report to inform demographics for over 50s in Ireland for COVID-19 crisis, Dublin, The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin, March, 2020Report, DOI
  • Belinda Hernández, Donal Sexton, Frank Moriarty, Niall Cosgrave, Aisling O'Halloran, Christine McGarrigle, Siobhan Scarlett and Rose Anne Kenny, HIGH-RISK CATEGORIES FOR COVID-19 AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION BY COUNTY IN REPUBLIC OF IRELAND-EVIDENCE FROM THE TILDA STUDY, 2020Report
  • Lorna Roe, Christine McGarrigle, Belinda Hernández, Aisling O'Halloran, Siobhan Scarlett, Mark Ward, Charles Normand, Rose Anne Kenny, PATTERNS IN HEALTHCARE UTILISATION: RESULTS FROM WAVE 5 OF THE IRISH LONGITUDINAL STUDY ON AGEING., 2020Report

Research Expertise

  • Title
    High Dimensional Forest Models for Genetic Performance Evaluation
    Summary
    Role Co-Applicant Awarded 135,000eur for the development and commercialisation of proprietary algorithms and software solutions for creating and improving genomic tests and breeding programmes for thoroughbred animals. This resulted in being awarded the "Venture Launch Start Up of the Year Award" for our commercialisaton venture Prolego Scientific.
    Funding Agency
    Enterprise Ireland
    Date From
    22/2/17
    Date To
    22/2/19
  • Title
    'Investigating novel biomarkers of cardiac arrhythmia and associated risk of stroke and heart failure
    Summary
    Role: Coapplicant Amount: 60,000 GBP
    Funding Agency
    Northern Ireland Chest
    Date From
    1/9/2020
    Date To
    1/3/2022
  • Title
    FRAILMatics: Mathematical research and big data analytics towards the development of the next generation of transdisciplinary diagnostics for the assessment of physiological vulnerability in older adults: challenge-based disruptive technology initiative
    Summary
    Role: Coapplicant, 1,200,000eur Summary: Increasing numbers of older people are living with frailty. Frailty is defined as dysregulation in multiple physiological systems andconsequent reduction in physiological reserve. A frail person is vulnerable to decompensate and experience adverse healthoutcomes in the face of stressors. The higher the number of physiological systems that are dysregulated, the less physiologicalreserve. Despite consensus in the concept, frailty operationalisations in clinical practice are limited and a universally accepteddiagnostic method does not exist. However, there is evidence that early recognition of frailty could prevent or delay adverseoutcomes. The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) has collected detailed information on real-time functioning ofphysiological systems, with and without challenge: neurological (choice reaction time, sustained attention to response task,cerebral blood flow before and after standing), cardiovascular (continuous blood pressure and heart rate, before and afterstanding), and locomotor (gait with and without cognitive challenges). For this research, TILDA will offer the opportunity to hostinfrastructure and capacity in mining, processing and modelling its largely unexplored complex and computationally expensive "bigdata". We aim to discover new frailty signals and models, validate them in clinical cohorts, and lead towards new diagnostic toolsto help tackle the ageing challenge.
    Funding Agency
    SFI
    Date From
    01/12/2019
    Date To
    01/12/2024
  • Title
    Unravelling the effects of ageing on the type I interferon anti-viral response
    Summary
    Role: Collaborator Amount: 2,016,915eur
    Funding Agency
    Wellcome Trust
  • Title
    Developing novel early physiological biomarkers of autonomic dysregulation contributing to mortality risk.
    Summary
    Role: PI Amount: $23328
    Funding Agency
    NIA
  • Title
    CLEC3B - a novel biomarker for heart failure: cohort evaluation and development of a point of care prototype
    Summary
    Role: Co-Applicant Amount: £85525
    Funding Agency
    Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke Project

Recognition

  • Venture Launch Start Up of the Year Award (20,000eur) 2017
  • Finalist European Data Science and AI Awards 2018