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Dr. Ann Nolan
Assistant Professor, Sch Office - Social Work & Social Policy

Biography

Ann Nolan is an Assistant Professor in Social Policy with a research and teaching portfolio in global health. She is a technical specialist in HIV and sexual health with research in sexual and reproductive health and rights; the politics of health; inclusion health, and the regulation of sexuality and other contested policy domains. Ann is a former Executive Director and Chairperson of HIV Ireland Ltd and an advocate for the rights of sexual minorities and people living with HIV. She has led the development of global policy frameworks for adolescents and most-at-risk young people with UNICEF and UNAIDS, and has been an advisor to Ireland's International Development Cooperation programme at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Irish Aid. As team lead for social science research in the Houses of the Oireachtas she supported dialogue and debate with evidence around the Termination of Pregnancy Bill, safe access zones, school-based sex education and good governance for health through the Dáil and Seanad. Ann brings to academia a lengthy professional career that has emphasised the relationship between evidence and policy at national, bilateral and multilateral levels. She was among the first mature-student graduates of the B.A. modular night-degree in University College Dublin in 1991 from which she commenced an MSc in Social Policy funded by the European Commission. She was awarded a Postgraduate Research Studentship by the School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College, Dublin, to undertake doctoral research in HIV and sexual health in Ireland from which she graduated in 2014.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Irina Kinchin, Sharon Walsh, Rachel Dinh, Margaret Kapuwa, Sean P Kennelly, Ann-Marie Miller, Ann Nolan, Sean O"Dowd, Laura O"Philbin, Suzanne Timmons, Iracema Leroi, Dissonance in the face of Alzheimer's breakthroughs: Clinician and lay stakeholder acceptance, concerns and willingness to pay for emerging disease-modifying therapies, The British Journal of Psychiatry, 2024 Journal Article, 2024

PLOS ONE Global Public Health, San Francisco, California, Public Library of Science, [eds.], 2022 Editorial Board, 2022

Camille Rich, Webster Mavhu, Nadine Ferris France, Vongai Munatsi, Elaine Byrne, Nicola Willis, Ann Nolan, Exploring the beliefs, experiences and impacts of HIV-related self-stigma amongst adolescents and young adults living with HIV in Harare, Zimbabwe: A qualitative study, PLOS ONE, 10, (1371), 2022 Journal Article, 2022

Vallières F, Murphy J, McBride O, Shevlin M, Gilmore B, Travers Á, Nolan A, Butter S, Karatzias T, Bentall R, Hyland P., The role of psychosocial factors in explaining sex differences in major depression and generalized anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic., BMC Public Health, 17, (22 (1)), 2022 Journal Article, 2022

Martin Dempster, Nicola O'Connell, Christopher D. Graham, Cliodhna O'Connor, Lina Zgaga, Emma Burke, Luke Mather, Gail Nicolson, Joe Barry, Gabriel Scally, Ann Nolan. Katy Tobin, Philip Crowley and Catherine D. Darker, Non-adherence to COVID-19 containment behaviours: results from an all-Ireland telephone surv, BMC Public Health, 22, (898), 2022 Journal Article, 2022 DOI TARA - Full Text

Cliodhna O'Connor, Nicola O'Connell, Emma Burke, Martin Dempster, Christopher D. Graham, Gabriel Scally, Lina Zgaga, Ann Nolan, Gail Nicolson, Luke Mather, Joseph Barry, Philip Crowley, Catherine D. Darker,, Bordering on crisis: A qualitative analysis of focus group, social media, and news media perspectives on the Republic of Ireland-Northern Ireland border during the 'first wave' of the COVID-19 pandemic, Social Science and Medicine, 282, 2021 Journal Article, 2021 TARA - Full Text DOI

A Nolan, S Burke, E Burke, C Darker, J Barry, M Dempster, C Graham, P Crowley, N O'Connell, G Scally, The politics of COVID-19 on the island of Ireland, European Journal of Public Health, European Public Health Association (EUPHA), Utrecht/Virtual, 10th-12th November 2, 31, (Issue Supplement_3), Oxford Academic, 2021 Oral Presentation, 2021

Nolan Ann, Burke Sara, Burke Emma, Darker Catherine, Barry Joe, O'Connell Nicola, Zgaga Lina, Mather Luke, Nicolson Gail, Dempster Martin, Graham Christopher, Crowley Philip, O'Connor Cliodhna, Tobin Katy, Scally Gabriel, Obstacles to Public Health that even Pandemics cannot Overcome: The , Irish Studies in International Affairs , 32 , (2 ), 2021, p225 - 246 Journal Article, 2021 URL DOI

Daly M, MacLachlan M, Maguire FR, McHugh J, Nolan A, Shevlin M, Spikol E, Vallières F, Hyland P., Changes in PTSD, depression, and generalized anxiety before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland, Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 5, (100184), 2021 Journal Article, 2021

"They have their bailiwick and I have mine": the leadership of Mary O'Rouke in the transformation of policy for school-based sex education in the era of AIDS in Ireland in, editor(s)Rosemary Morgan, Sulzan Bali, Roopa Dhatt, Kate Hawkins, Mehr Manzoor , Women in Global Health Leadership: Power and Transformation, Geneva, Springer Nature, 2021, [Ann Nolan] Book Chapter, 2021

Salla Atkins, Ananya Tina Banerjee, Kathleen Bachynski, Amrita Daftary, Gauri Desai, Aeyal Gross, Bethany Hedt-Gauthier, Emily Mendenhall, Benjamin Mason Meier, Stephanie A Nixon, Ann Nolan, Tia M Palermo, Alexandra Phelan, Oksana Pyzik, Pamela Roach, Thurka Sangaramoorthy, Claire J. Standley, Gavin Yamey, Seye Abimbola, Madhukar Pai, Using the COVID-19 pandemic to reimagine global health teaching in high-income countries, BMJ Global Health, 6, (e005649), 2021 Journal Article, 2021

O'Connor, C., O'Connell, N., Burke, E., Nolan, A., Dempster, M., Graham, C.D., Nicolson, G., Barry. J., Scally, G., Crowley, P., Zgaga, L., Mather,L., & Darker, C.D, Media Representations of Science during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis of News and Social Media on the Island of Ireland, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, (9542), 2021 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

Christopher Graham and Ann Nolan, Calamitous Failure: A Reply to Ivan J. Perry, Irish Studies in International Affairs, 32, (2), 2021, p275- Journal Article, 2021

Ryan, M., Nolan, A., & Vallières, F., Lifting the cloak of secrecy: Experiences of providing crisis pregnancy counselling in a changing legislative context in Ireland, Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 22, (1), 2021, p22 - 31 Journal Article, 2021

Darker CD, Mullin M, Doyle L, Tanner M, McGrath D, Doherty L, Dreyer-Gibney K, Barrett EM, Flynn D, Murphy P, Ivers JH, Burke E, Ryan M, McCarron M, Murphy P, Sheils O, Hevey D, Leen A, Keogh L, Walls B, Bennett AE, Petersen F, Nolan A, Barry JM., Developing a health promoting university in Trinity College Dublin-overview and outline process evaluation, Health Promotion International, 38, (4), 2021, p1 - 14, p1-14 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

Darker, C., O'Connell, N., Dempster, M., Graham, C., O'Connor, C., Zgaga, L., Nolan, A., Tobin, K., Brennan, N., Nicolson, G., Burke, E., Mather, L., Crowley, P., Scally, G., Barry, J., Study protocol for the COvid-19 Toolbox for All IslaNd (CONTAIN) project: A cross-border analysis in Ireland to disentangle psychological, behavioural, media and governmental responses to COVID-19, HRB Open Research, 2020, p10.12688/hrbopenres.13105.1 Journal Article, 2020

Vallières F, Gilmore B, Nolan A, Maguire P, Bondjerfs K, McBride O, Murphy J, Shevlin M, Karatzius T, Hyland P., Sexual Violence and Its Associated Psychosocial Effects in Ireland, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, December, 2020 Journal Article, 2020

Finn, M., Nolan, A., Vallieres, F., Murphy, R, Complex Adaptive Systems and Capacity Strengthening: A Conceptual Framework for Health Systems Strengthening Consortia, Health Research, Policy and Systems , 2020 Journal Article, 2020

Ann Nolan, AIDS, Sexual Health, and the Catholic Church in 1980s Ireland: A Public Health Paradox? , American Journal of Public Health, 108, (7), 2018, p908 - 913 Journal Article, 2018

Ann Nolan, Transforming school-based sex education policy in the initial era of AIDS in Ireland, Irish Educational Studies, 38, (3), 2018, p295 - 309 Journal Article, 2018

Ann Nolan, The Gay Community Response to the Emergence of AIDS in Ireland: Activism, Covert Policy, and the Significance of an "Invisible Minority", Journal of Policy History, 30, (1), 2018, p105 - 127 Journal Article, 2018

Ann Nolan, John Walsh, 'In what orbit we shall find ourselves, no one could predict': Institutional reform, the university merger and ecclesiastical influence on Irish higher education in the 1960s, Irish Historical Studies, 41, (159), 2017, p77 - 96 Journal Article, 2017

Ann Nolan, Fiona Larkan, Vectors of transnationality in the adoption of a liberal public health response to HIV and AIDS in Ireland. Global Social Policy, Global Social Policy, 16, (3), 2015, p253 - 267 Journal Article, 2015

Social Protection in the context of HIV and AIDS in, editor(s)Ruediger Krech and Pierre Jacquet, OECD POVNET Task Team on Social Protection , Promoting Pro-Poor Growth: Social Protection, Paris, France, OECD, 2009, [Ann Nolan] Book Chapter, 2009

Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications

Whitney Mphangwe, Ann Nolan, Frédérique Vallieres, Mairéad Finn, How do gender norms contribute to stunting in Ntchisi District, Malawi? A qualitative study, medRxiv, doi: https://doi.org, 2023 Journal Article, 2023

Economic and Social Research Institute with the Shared Island Unit, Department of An Taoiseach, The Politics of COVID-19 on the Island of Ireland Launch of the Shared Island Initiative funded project on primary care in Ireland and Northern Ireland on Thursday, 10th March., Launch of the Shared Island Initiative funded project on primary care in Ireland and Northern Ireland , 10th March , 2022, ESRI and the Shared Island Unit Invited Talk, 2022

Ann Nolan, The Gay Community Response to HIV and AIDS in Ireland, Pride in Research, TBSI, 16th June , 2022, TCD LGBTQI+ Society Invited Talk, 2022

Centre for Cross Border Studies, The Politics of Covid-19 on the island of Ireland, CCBS 22nd Annual Conference, Belfast, 24th September , 2021, CCBS Invited Talk, 2021

Professor Luke O'Neill, Professor Ian Young, Ass. Professor Ann Nolan and Pat Kenny, What Has the Science Taught Us? The last 18 months of pandemic and the state of global health, scientific advance, social awareness & medical advance. Moving toward new understandings of the previous months and how social realities aid understandings of advance in scientific development?, The Good Summit 2021, Trinity College Dublin, 27th October , 2021, The Good Summit Invited Talk, 2021

Ann Nolan, The politics of COVID-19 on the Island of Ireland, RCPI Lecture Hour, Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, 24th September , 2021, RCPI Invited Talk, 2021

Dr Ann Nolan, Dr Samuel Egyeigh, Jeremy Whitty, Dr Mirgissa Kaba, Decolonizing Global Health, Global Health Education Symposium, Virtual, 22nd October, 2021, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Irish Council of General Practitioners Invited Talk, 2021

United Nations Population Fund, State of the World's Population 2021, Launch of the State of the World's Population Report, Virtual, 2021, UNFPA and the IFPA Invited Talk, 2021

HIV Ireland Ltd and the Gay Health Network, The role of the gay community in the response to HIV and AIDS in Ireland, Irish AIDS Day 2021, Virtual, 15th June , 2021, HIV Ireland Ltd Invited Talk, 2021

Thomas S, Darker C, Nolan A, Burke S., HEPL blog series: Covid19 Pandemic - Ireland's Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic, Blog, Health Economic Policy and Law, Cambridge Core Blog, April, 2020 Report, 2020

Maeve Scally and Ann Nolan, Report to World Vision Ireland on a Community Development intervention for gender-based violence in a humanitarian setting in South-Sudan during the COVID-19 pandemic. , Dublin, December, 2020 Report, 2020

Ann Nolan, Lianne Reddy, The Impact of Anti-abortion Protest on Women Accessing Abortion Services: A Rapid Evidence Assessment, Dublin, Houses of the Oireachtas, November, 2019 Report, 2019

Ann Nolan, Sexual and reproductive health and rights: A framework for the introduction of abortion services in Ireland, Dublin, Houses of the Oireachtas, October, 2018 Report, 2018

Ann Nolan, Spotlight on Policy & Practice for School-based Sex Education, Dublin, Houses of the Oireachtas, September , 2018 Report, 2018

Ann Nolan, All set for PrEP: Policy options for the introduction of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in the Republic of Ireland , Dublin, HIV Ireland Ltd and Gay Health Network, June, 2017 Report, 2017

Ann Nolan, Policy Framework for Global Health and HIV in Ireland's Programme for International Development Co-operation, Dublin, Irish Aid, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, January, 2017 Report, 2017

Ann Nolan, Meta-analysis of Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church in Ireland from 1975 to 2013, Dublin, National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, 2015 Report, 2015

UNICEF, Taking Evidence to Impact: Making a Difference for Vulnerable Children Living in a World with HIV and AIDS, New York, UNICEF HQ , 2011 Report, 2011

Research Expertise

Projects

  • Title
    • Engaging Adolescents in Sexual Health Services in Ethiopia (EASE)
  • Summary
    • Engaging Adolescents in Sexual Health Services in Ethiopia (EASE) is a research collaboration between the Trinity Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin; the School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, with the support and guidance of the Embassy of Ireland's, Overseas Development Assistance programme in Addis Ababa. Aligned with Ireland and Ethiopia's high-level commitments to engage youth and adolescents in the development and delivery of SRH, as enshrined in the Nairobi Statement on ICPD25: Accelerating the Promise, EASE uses gender transformative, participatory action research methods to (i) determine what adolescents consider to be their meaningful engagement within SRH service delivery and programming in the Afar region of Ethiopia and (ii) describe a model of good practice for how to meaningfully involve adolescents in SRH programming within pastoralist regions. Achieved through a civil society partnership with Engender Health, a Norwegian Government-funded civil society organisation working in Afar to support and provide SRH services to adolescents and youth, findings arising from EASE will inform policy and decision-making at bilateral, federal, regional, and district levels to ensure that adolescents are more meaningfully engaged within the design and delivery of SRH services. EASE will further identify potential entry-points for Irish Aid and the Embassy of Ireland to add value to bilateral policy priorities in this sphere and to complement existing Irish Aid-funded programming in the Afar region.
  • Funding Agency
    • Irish Research Council
  • Date From
    • 01.09.2021
  • Date To
    • 30.08.2024
  • Title
    • The Political Economy of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in LMICs
  • Summary
    • Despite increasing interest in global sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) the political economy of SRHR interventions in LMICS is poorly understood. This desk-based study will review the international evidence in order to shed light on the political and economic enablers and barriers to SRHR in developing contexts.
  • Funding Agency
    • TCD Dean of Research Office
  • Date From
    • 01.12.2021
  • Date To
    • 30.08.2023
  • Title
    • COVID-19 Toolbox for an 'all island' (CONTAIN) project: A cross border analysis in Ireland to disentangle psychological, behavioural, media and Governmental responses to COVID-19
  • Summary
    • The CONTAIN project aims to identify relevant, feasible and effective approaches that ensure acceptance and adherence to public health messages and measures. The study led by Dr Ann Nolan is undertaking a political economy analysis of COVID-19 and mapping the policy transfer pathway from multilateral actors to policy communities responding to COVID-19 in the ROI and NI. This data will be mapped alongside epidemiological data of incidence and mortality to develop a toolbox for national and global public health leadership in the immediate term and the predicted second COVID-19 wave. This research aligns with two thematic research priorities in the WHO's Coordinated Global Research COVID-19 Roadmap 2020: 'public health' and 'media communications'.
  • Funding Agency
    • Health Research Board and the Irish Research Council
  • Date From
    • 06.06.2020
  • Date To
    • 06.12.2020
  • Title
    • SASA! Raising Voices in South Sudan
  • Summary
    • The SASA! framework has been adapted by World Vision Ireland to address the link between gender-based violence in the Upper Nile Region of South Sudan. The TCGH is providing the research and evaluation component as part of a humanitarian intervention funded by Irish Aid entitled, "Building the resilience of women and children through increased access to education and protection services." (Irish Aid, Humanitarian Programme Plan 2019-2020)
  • Funding Agency
    • Irish Aid/World Vision Ireland
  • Date From
    • 30.11.2019
  • Date To
    • 31.12.2020
  • Title
    • Period Poverty in Ireland
  • Summary
    • The World Bank estimates that 500 million women and girls globally do not have access to menstrual hygiene products. While 50% of school-aged girls living in Ireland cite affordability as a barrier to accessing sanitary products and 61% of those report missing school while menstruating, we know surprisingly little about 'period poverty' in Ireland. This qualitative study, undertaken through the Trinity Access Programme, will add to our understanding of the ways in which lack of access to menstrual hygiene products impacts on second and third level education in Ireland.
  • Funding Agency
    • Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Programme
  • Date From
    • 01.06.2021
  • Date To
    • 30.09.2021

Keywords

ABORTION; Health policy analysis; HIV AND AIDS; Reproductive health; Sexuality and sexual health; SOCIAL POLICY

Recognition

Representations

Academic research representative on the Health Service Executive National Sexual Health Strategy implementation group 2020

Trinity representative on the European Global Health Research and Innovation Network (EGHRIN) as part of LERU January

Editorial Board of PLOS One Global Public Health August 2021