Shaakya Anand-Vembar
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Affiliation(s): Trinity College Dublin
Research Interests:
- Mental Health
- Healthcare Equity
- Lived Experience Involvement
- FGM, DSGBV
Shaakya is a social science researcher specialising in public and patient involvement, trauma, and mental health. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychiatry from Trinity College Dublin, during which she conducted a mixed-methods study into the experiences of shame in survivors of childhood sexual abuse. She currently works as a postdoctoral research fellow on the PPI and IMPIC work packages at VISTA, and holds a seed funding grant from the TCD School of Nursing and Midwifery to research the educational/training needs of Irish nursing and midwifery students/professionals in relation to female genital mutilation.
A seasoned nomad, she has previously lived in India, Indonesia, the United States, and the Netherlands, gaining extensive experience across the research and NGO sectors internationally. In Ireland, Shaakya has continued working in research and with nonprofits. As research project officer at AkiDwA: Network of Migrant Women, in addition to fundraising, she led a mixed-methods study on barriers and enablers to migrant women’s labour market participation (as part of an Ireland Against Racism grant).
She has also been closely involved in a range of grassroots social justice campaigns such as the Postgraduate Workers’ Organisation Ireland, and is currently a board member of Beyond Surviving, Ireland’s first survivor-led DSGBV peer support service.
Publications:
Anand-Vembar S, Keogh B, Higgins A et al. Content, implementation, and evaluation of capacity-strengthening initiatives for public and patient involvement in mental health research: a scoping review protocol informed by implementation science [version 3; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] HRB Open Res 2026, 8:123 (https://doi.org/10.12688/hrbopenres.14287.3)
Nandy, A., Anand-Vembar, S., & Kelly, L. (2026). A cultural–developmental model of social and emotional learning (SEL) in South Asian early childhood. Early Child Development and Care, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2026.2715520
Nandy, A., & Anand-Vembar, S. (2026). Can caste shape who plays where? Segregated play spaces and unequal childhood in India. Children’s Geographies, 24(3), 337–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2026.2625126
Gallant, A.J., O’Connor, K., Lyne, J.P. et al. Implementing shared care models for young people with mental health difficulties: a consolidated framework for implementation research- informed scoping review of service integration across physical, sexual and mental health domains. BMC Health Serv Res 26, 415 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-14178-x
McEvoy, D., Sweeney, C., Ryan, L., Wilson, C., Healy, C., Mongan, D., Sheaf, G., Higgins, A., Gallant, A. J., Doyle, L., Darker, C. D., Keogh, B., Kartalova-O’Doherty, Y., Murphy, R., Fitzgerald, C., Staines, L., Lyne, J. P., O’Connor, K., Anand-Vembar, S., … Cotter, D. (2026). A systematic review identifying personally modifiable factors for self-harm recovery in young people and the barriers and facilitators to their implementation. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 196, 210–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2026.02.027