TRiCC Doctoral Researchers

Lorraine Dillon

PhD Title: Parents and Primary Caregivers Experiences of Cancer Survivorship in Children with Developmental Disabilities

Associate Supervisor: Dr Carmel Doyle

Graham Kelly

The hypothesis of Graham’s project is that merging the motivational benefit of gamification with the clinical benefit of patient reported outcome measures (PROMS) can improve side effects reporting in paediatric cancer patients aged 8-12 undergoing treatment. The project will transform a PROMS questionnaire for oncology into a child-friendly game and carer educational platform shared with clinicians.

The side effect communication needs of paediatric oncology patients and their families are currently insufficiently met. Traditionally, parents act as proxies for children and relay symptom information, imparting their interpretation of how their child is feeling. Depending on age, the child may also be questioned. Gamification adds video game elements to non-gaming contexts and is in line with the play-based principles routinely used in paediatric medicine.  The project aims to prove the concept that introducing gamified PROMS during clinical management of children addresses their side-effect communication needs, supports their families, and assists clinicians.

Graham's research is funded by Research Ireland.

Contact Graham at kellyg10@tcd.ie

Maeve Kearney

Maeve's PhD project aims to develop a co-designed knowledge resource for Adolescents and Young Adults (16–24 yeas) who have received radiotherapy for a Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis. It addresses the current lack of age-appropriate, relevant survivorship information, supporting AYAs in building self-management skills after treatment. The project identifies their unique information needs, explores effective formats and delivery methods, and incorporates insights from healthcare professionals and AYAs themselves through nominal group techniques to ensure the resource is accurate, accessible, and meaningful.

Contact Maeve at mkearne@tcd.ie

Philip James

Currently supervised by Professor Catherine Comiskey and Dr. Michael Nash, his PhD research is entitled 'Improving access and uptake of treatment services for substance using adolescents'. This explanatory mixed methods study examines the barriers and facilitators to adolescents who use substances accessing treatment as the majority of young people who have a problem to not access treatment.

Contact Philip at jamesp1@tcd.ie

Rodolfo Pezzi

Rodolfo is a third-year PhD candidate in Sociology at the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy. His research focuses on the sociology of education, social stratification, quantitative methods, the school-to-work transition, social class, inequality, and social exclusion.
He holds a double MSc in Sociology and Social Research from the University of Trento and the University of Bamberg. Previously, he worked on how social origins shape unequal educational opportunities, challenging the myth of meritocracy.
Currently supervised by Dr. Yekaterina Chzhen, his PhD research explores the profound inequalities stemming from the COVID-19 crisis, with a particular focus on its impact on children's and youth's education, economic well-being, and mental health.

Contact Rodolfo at pezzir@tcd.ie

Katie E Deevy

Katie is a second-year PhD researcher in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, specialising in health inequalities and cultural studies focusing on marginalised communities. Her research employs Foucauldian Critical Discourse Analysis to investigate how sexual health discourses shape knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours among young adult Travellers. The study benefits from a partnership with Pavee Point, who assists with recruitment and guidance. As part of this collaboration, Katie works with Pavee Point for 4-6 months, contributing to their initiatives. This ethical partnership ensures cultural sensitivity and mutual benefit while the research remains independently funded and academically driven. A recipient of the 2020-2030 School of Nursing and Midwifery PhD Scholarship, Katie is a registered general nurse, children’s nurse, and nurse prescriber (RGN, RCN, RNP). She also holds a Master of Science in Global Health from Karolinska Institute, where she defended her thesis on domestic violence injuries against children in Maputo, Mozambique. Her current work critically explores power dynamics, cultural norms, and access to health resources, aiming to identify barriers and inform culturally sensitive interventions.

Contact Katie at deevyk@tcd.ie

Tracey O Neill

Tracey O' Neill is a PhD student in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. Tracey is a registered children’s nurse and a registered nurse in intellectual disability. Tracey is a clinical nurse tutor in children’s nursing in the School of Nursing and Midwifery in TCD. Tracey’s experiences include teaching and assessing children’s and general nursing skills, lecturing on the CGIDP and Higher Diploma in children’s nursing programmes and engaging in teaching activity using high fidelity simulation. Tracey also supports undergraduate children’s nursing students in the clinical practice setting.

Tracey’s PhD project title is The use of technology in the management of Type 1 Diabetes in the primary school environment: the experiences of Irish school-aged children and their parents.

Contact Tracey at toneill@tcd.ie

Sarah Parker

Sarah is a doctoral candidate in the School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Prior to undertaking her PhD, Sarah worked for several years as a researcher at the Children’s Research Centre (TCD) and has co-authored a number of publications arising from a range of commissioned research projects including a biographical study of homeless women, a qualitative longitudinal study of homeless youth and a survey-based project that ‘mapped’ homeless services for women in the Dublin Region. Her most recent publication was a book she co-authored with Dr Paula Mayock entitled Living in Limbo – Homeless Young People’s Paths to Housing, which was launched by former President Mary McAleese in May 2017.

Her current research is a mixed methods longitudinal study that was supported by a Government of Ireland Scholarship awarded by the Irish Research Council in 2017. A core goal of the project is to advance understanding of family homelessness and help bridge the gap between theory, research and practice in homelessness prevention, policy planning and service delivery for families experiencing housing exclusion.

Contact Sarah at parkers1@tcd.ie

View Sarah’s publications

Sinéad Whiting

Sinéad Whiting is a doctoral researcher in the School of Social Work and Social Policy, She graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1998 with a BA in History and went on to complete a Masters in Social Work. Sinéad been employed as a professional social worker since 2001. This work has spanned the areas of families in crisis, children-in-care, crisis pregnancy and adoption. The knowledge gained from this professional experience has informed her PhD topic and will inform her research as it progresses.

Her research interests relate to identity development for children and young adults who are adopted and who have been in state care. Her PhD research will investigate how being adopted during late teenage years by long-term foster careers impacts identity development, focusing, in particular, on the transition to early adulthood.

Contact Sinéad at whitings@tcd.ie