Congratulations to the winners of the Trinity Research Doctorate Awards 2025-26

Project 1 Abstract:

Supported by a growing body of literature suggesting that community-based models of care are associated with better clinical outcomes and service user satisfaction, Ukraine launched their national community mental health programming in 2021. However, current mental health care and its measures of ‘effectiveness’ in Ukraine rely mostly on clinical improvement and are at odds with more person-centred approaches, whereby individuals set their personal indicators of success. Furthermore, clinical and individually defined outcomes are seldom targeted or assessed in tandem. The concept of ‘recovery’ aims to fill this gap bringing a person-centered approach to mental health care, promoting empowerment and helping people stay in control of their lives, having meaning and purpose which may or may not involve treatment of symptoms. 

The promising development of more recent conceptual frameworks (like CHIME) and evidence-based interventions (e.g. REFOCUS) to support recovery requires the development of both outcome-oriented service planning and evaluation packages which would reflect the comprehensive essence of recovery while also allowing for comparability of effectiveness across programmes. This includes learning from traditional clinical assessment and service evaluation measures, new conceptual frameworks, incorporating perspective of service users, and considerations around environmental factors. 

The goal of this thesis is thus to advance our understanding of ‘mental health recovery’, as well as uncover what recovery models look like in the context of community mental health programming in Ukraine.  

This overall goal will be achieved through answering the following research questions: How have models of ‘recovery’ of individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) evolved over time? What measurement tools are currently used within community mental health programming to measure ‘recovery’? How do individuals with SMI in Ukraine understand ‘recovery’ and what support do they expect from service providers? What characteristics of individuals differentially predict clinical and/or functional stabilisation or improvement? And how do indicators of ‘recovery’ correlate with clinical measures? The Mental Health Recovery Assessment Tool will be developed and piloted to better evaluate Ukraine’s Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs) programming. This research will involve up to N=500 people with SMI currently involved in Ukraine’s community mental health programming. 

The research outputs will contribute to development of community-based mental health services in Ukraine, as recommended by The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Mental Health in Ukraine; The Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health and Sustainable Development; National Mental Health Policy Framework; and the World Health Organization's Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan (2013-2030). 

Project 2 Abstract:

This project delves into the untold history of uranium extraction in Central Asia, reconsidering Soviet nuclear history through a focus on the people and environments of the Fergana Valley and the Central Asian steppe. Considering that this is where the Soviet nuclear project began and that today half of the world’s uranium comes from Central Asia (45% from Kazakhstan alone), it is striking that a comprehensive study of the region’s nuclear history is missing. While historians have written extensively about resource extractivism in Africa, Australia, and the Americas, often within the lens of Western postcolonial studies, energy colonialism and nuclear extractivism in Central Asia have not been studied in this vein. This project focuses on two key regions, the Fergana Valley and the Syr Darya River. The former provides historical insights into Soviet colonialism, while the latter epitomizes present-day environmental challenges posed by uranium mining. This interdisciplinary project draws on the theories and methods of environmental history and environmental sciences to analyse a wide-ranging corpus of sources, including historical records, oral histories, economic and political reports, and ecological data. 

Project 3 Abstract:

Project 4 Abstract:

Vaccines represent one of the most effective medical interventions to protect against communicable diseases, particularly those caused by highly transmissible respiratory viruses such as Influenza. Despite this, current seasonal Influenza vaccines are sub-optimal, offering limited protection against newly emerging strains or variants, which can evade vaccine-induced antibodies. Unlike antibodies, long-lived memory T cells (TMEM) recognise highly conserved viral proteins and can protect against subsequent reinfections, even when protective antibodies are absent. The inability of current Influenza vaccines to induce a TMEM response is thought to underpin their variable efficacy. Immune responses elicited by vaccines can be greatly enhanced by including additional immune-stimulatory compounds called adjuvants, in the vaccine formulation. Yet, despite their widespread use, the mode(s) of action of many licensed adjuvants, including aluminium salts and oil-in-water emulsions, remain incompletely understood. Uncovering such mechanisms is fundamental to the development of next-generation vaccines and to overcome limitations of current formulations.

Injecting adjuvants induces local inflammation by releasing immune-stimulatory damage-associated factors, including vaccine recipient (host)-derived DNA. There is a growing interest in the role(s) such factors play in vaccine-induced immune responses. This DNA can be sensed by several proteins, including certain members of the PYHIN family. In addition to DNA sensing, PYHINs also orchestrate early immune responses by regulating the production of inflammatory mediators. It is known that the magnitude of this early response dictates TMEM formation. However, despite these functions, the role(s) PYHINs play in vaccine adjuvant-induced responses are completely unknown and will be investigated in this project, which represents an entirely novel research area.

To achieve this project’s aim(s), we will vaccinate wild-type and PYHIN-deficient mice using clinically relevant aluminium- or emulsion-based adjuvants and compare the immune responses induced, paying particular attention to the contribution of host DNA. We will also determine how DNA-sensing PYHINs contribute to responses elicited by a novel candidate Influenza vaccine comprising next-generation nanoparticulate and polymer-based adjuvants and will test the efficacy of this candidate vaccine using a live Influenza challenge model. We champion sustainable research practices, including energy conservation, recycling, and statistically informed experimental design aligned with the 3Rs of animal research (Reduction; Replacement; Refinement). 

Overall, this project will, for the first time, determine the role(s) of PYHIN proteins in vaccine adjuvant-induced responses, enhancing our understanding of adjuvant’s mode(s) of action, and thus contributing to improved vaccine design in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #3 – Good Health and Well-being.  

Project 5 Abstract:

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD is a serious lung condition that makes it hard to breathe and gets worse over time. It happens when the airways become damaged and inflamed, leading to permanent changes in the lungs. In Ireland and around the world, it's the fourth leading cause of death. 

Most people who develop COPD have been exposed to harmful substances in the air—like cigarette smoke, pollution, or fumes from burning fuels. Smoking is by far the biggest risk factor. But here's the puzzling part: even after someone quits smoking or avoids these exposures, their risk of developing COPD stays high. Why does that happen? And why do so many people with COPD also suffer from other health problems that affect more than just their lungs?  

This TRDA project will try to address these questions by exploring the idea that the immune system retains a memory of this smoke for many years after smoking cessation. We will assess smoking memory in immune cells isolated from patients enrolled in our Tallaght University Hospital COPD research study, as well as in former smokers or e-cigarette users. We will use cutting edge experimental models of exposures (cigarettes or e-cigarettes) and disease in lab to assess if the immune system, particularly the innate immune system ever recovers from smoke; if we can correct this memory, we may be able to develop new therapies to treat COPD.  

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