Staff
Principal Investigator
Dr Sinéad McGilloway (BSSc, PhD, CPsychol, CSci, AFBPS)
Sinead is Principal Investigator of the Incredible Years Ireland Study, and is a senior academic and community/public health psychologist based in the Department of Psychology at NUI Maynooth. She has almost 20 years' experience in undertaking applied policy-relevant health and social care research and she has been involved in a wide range of research programmes and studies based on mixed methodologies.
Dr McGilloway's specialist interests lie mainly in the area of child and adult mental health and research evaluation, although she is developing a complementary strand of research in palliative care. She has a current team of 12 full- and part-time researchers and doctoral students. She has researched, secured grants and published widely on a broad range of health and social care topics, with a special focus on vulnerable, marginalised or socially disadvantaged groups including children and young people. In addition, she has authored and co-authored numerous publications including peer-reviewed papers, books/volumes, book chapters, research reports, articles of professional interest and conference proceedings papers/abstracts.
The Project Team
Yvonne Leckey
Yvonne is the Project Co-ordinator and Senior Fieldworker with the study. Yvonne holds a BA and MA in Anthropology from DBS School of Arts, Dublin. Previously, Yvonne worked for the ROSIE study (a longitudinal study to evaluate the effectiveness of drug treatment in Ireland for opiate users) as an administrator and fieldworker based in NUI, Maynooth. Yvonne also achieved a Distinction in Local and Community Development (Certificate from NCI, Dublin) and has extensive office administration experience. She is a trained DPICS and T-POT coder.
Lynda Hyland
Lynda joined the Incredible Years Study team in January 2008 as a doctoral fellow/ fieldworker. Lynda graduated with a BA (First Class Honours) in Psychology from DBS School of Arts in 2006. She was awarded an M.Sc. in Health Psychology from University College London/ Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London in 2007. At UCL, she worked as a research assistant at the Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness (Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology) on a Department of Health commissioned project, looking into Health Trainer initiatives in England. Lynda has also worked on an evaluation of a public health intervention aimed at changing health behaviour in ‘hard to reach' and disadvantaged groups in Camden, London. Lynda is the project lead on the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (TCM) trial. She is a trained DPICS and T-POT coder. Her PhD research is focused on the Incredible Years TCM programme, researching the experiences of key stakeholders, and evaluating the fidelity of programme implementation.
Mairéad Furlong
Mairéad achieved a BA (First Class Honours) degree in Psychology from NUI Maynooth. She went on to receive a Masters in Counselling Psychology (First Class Honours) from UCC and recently secured (through open competition) a Doctoral Fellowship as part of the Incredible Years Ireland Study. Mairéad is a qualified Counselling Psychologist, whose clinical experience includes working with family, child and adolescent clients. Her doctorate constitutes an important sub-study within the larger, national evaluation of the Incredible Years parent, teacher and child training programme in Ireland. Her PhD aims to provide an in-depth and contextual understanding of the ‘on the ground’ implementation of the IY parent training programme in Ireland. The qualitative analysis will aim to assess the experiences of key stakeholders (e.g. parents, group facilitators and service providers) involved in the intervention process with a view to addressing how and why the intervention worked, or did not work. The quantitative assessment, on the other hand, will aim to assess all aspects of implementation fidelity of the BASIC IY parent training intervention; that is, the extent to which this element of the programme is delivered exactly as was intended.
Mairéad also works as a fieldworker on the study in collecting quantitative baseline and follow-up data from participants. She is a trained DPICS and T-POT observational coder. Furthermore, Mairéad is currently conducting a Cochrane Review in the area of parent-training interventions. The title of her review is ‘Behavioural, group-based parenting interventions for children aged 3-12 with early onset conduct problems’. This Cochrane review was successful in securing funding as part of the Cochrane Fellowship scheme offered by the Health Research Board (HRB) (http://www.hrb.ie/research-strategy-funding/strategic-initiatives/cochrane-collaboration/).
Paul Kelly
Paul is the Data Manager with the study and holds a B.Sc. (First Class Honours) degree in Science and Higher Diploma in Statistics from NUI Maynooth. As a Data Manager/Analyst with the ROSIE study since 2005, Paul brings with him a wealth of data management and analysis experience to the study. Paul has taught at NUI, Maynooth on Data Analysis and also has extensive experience working as a programmer.
Dr Gráinne Ní Mháille
Gráinne joined the Incredible Years Ireland Study in August 2008 as a research assistant/postdoctoral researcher. Gráinne graduated with a B.A. Mod (First Class Honours) in Psychology from the University of Dublin, Trinity College in 2005 and subsequently pursued a PhD by research degree. This research was funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and the Social Sciences and explored the experience of chronic illness and medical treatment through face-to-face interviews. Gráinne has also worked on research that examined the beliefs of special education support staff towards augmentative and alternative communication for children with learning and language difficulties. She is a trained T-POT coder. Her research interests include the social psychological aspects of health and illness, the social and psychological factors in childhood development, critical psychology and qualitative methodology. Her present research activities focus on the evaluation of the efficacy of the Incredible Years Parent and Teacher Classroom Management in an Irish context.
Miriam Carroll
Miriam joined the Incredible Years Ireland Study in June 2008 as a part-time Fieldworker. Miriam graduated with a First Class Honours B.A. in Psychology from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth in 2007 and after graduating she tutored children with autism at the Cork CABAS School. Miriam also worked on an after-school home support programme for an autistic child attending a mainstream school. After a year, she trained with the Dyslexic Support Services (Limerick) and currently tutors children with dyslexia three afternoons a week. Miriam is also studying part-time for the Advanced Diploma in Inclusive Education with Queens University Belfast and is a trained DPICS and T-POT coder. Miriam enjoys the diversity of working and studying and thoroughly enjoys the hands-on fieldwork with the Incredible Years Ireland Study.
Emma Cassidy
Emma assists on a temporary basis with data input for all strands of the research study. Emma is currently on a study break from an undergraduate degree in Statistics and Applied Mathematics, with intent to continue on to do a PhD in Statistics. She has had an interest in Statistics from a young age, which lead to a course in Probability and Chaos Theory in DCU aged 13, a Young Scientist project on Benfords Law and a second entitled "Doodlology" which got her to the British Science Fair during her years in secondary school. She spent a summer working in the RCSI to get a feel for epidemiology, which is where her passion now lies.
The Senior Academic Team
Dr Tracey Bywater
(UWB) is an applied child psychologist who brings to this project considerable ‘hands-on’ RCT experience, having worked closely with Dr Judy Hutchings as Project Trials Co-ordinator on the recently published RCT-based evaluation of the IY parenting programme in Wales (Hutchings et al., 2007). She is also currently Principal investigator (and grant holder), leading a team on a WORD funded project implementing a trial platform with the Incredible Years BASIC Parent Programme with foster carers in three authorities in North Wales. Dr Bywater will act as external collaborator and consultant to the project and her ‘on-the-ground’ experience will be a considerable asset to the team. She will provide general support and advice throughout all stages of the research. More specifically, she will advise on research design and data analysis, database design and supervision, coder training, and general trouble shooting.
Dr Anne Lodge (NUIM)
Anne is a highly experienced educational researcher, teacher educator and former primary school teacher with a particular interest in the inclusion of young learners with special educational needs. She has an extensive network of contacts in third level educational institutions including Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, and with a range of educational support organisations including the Inspectorate of the Department of Education and Science. She has extensive experience of working with school personnel (teachers and management) and with learners and parents through her education research work, her engagement in continuing professional development work with education personnel and her public service work. She also has experience in leading collaborative, cross-institutional research projects. Dr Lodge is currently president of the (professional) all-Ireland Educational Studies Association of Ireland. She will play a key role in this project in helping to manage the school- and teacher-related components of the study and in particular, liaising and building trusting relationships with schools and teachers (and parents). She will also deputise, with support from other team members, in the (unlikely) unavailability of Dr McGilloway to oversee the project.
Professor Catherine Comiskey
Catherine is Associate Professor of Health Care Statistics in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Trinity College Dublin. As an applied biostatistician and epidemiologist, she is currently Principal Investigator (PI) on the evaluation of the Healthy Schools Initiative being implemented by CDITW. Prof. Comiskey was responsible for the recruitment and follow up at 6, 12 and 36 months of over 400 clients at 50 medical treatment sites nationwide. She is also the Principal Investigator on the national HSE-funded randomised evaluation of services for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis sufferers. Prof. Comiskey will bring a wealth of experience to the current project and will contribute to all stages of the study including project planning, data management, statistical analysis, project execution and report writing. Having previously worked as Head of Statistics within a clinical trials company, she will lead on the statistical analysis and management of all (quantitative) data gathered for each trial.
Dr Yvonne Barnes-Holmes (NUIM)
Yvonne is a child development expert and qualified therapist with particular expertise in child psychology and experimental and abnormal behavioural psychology (including work with young children with EBD). She is currently involved in several experimental evaluations of clinical interventions whilst she also has extensive knowledge of, and experience with, observational methods. She is currently co-director of the new (fully accredited) Doctorate in Psychological Science at NUIM which is the only doctoral level training in Ireland or the UK that is specifically directed toward behavioural assessment and intervention. Dr Barnes-Holmes is an international clinical trainer and consultant in behaviour therapy, much of which involves observational assessments of children and adults with a range of behavioural and psychological difficulties. She will lead, in collaboration with Dr Bywater, on the training of observers in the parent-child and teacher-classroom interaction that forms part of the methodology of this project (see p.15). She will also advise the team on child (or parent) welfare and other related child development and ethical issues (eg. how any parent or child-related problems should be managed without impacting directly on the research).
Dr Michael Donnelly (QUB)
Michael is a senior academic with over 20 years’ experience of undertaking applied, policy-relevant health and social care research including teenage mental health services research and a number of experimental evaluations in a range of areas including secondary prevention of heart disease, stroke rehabilitation, social care of older people and cancer care. In addition, he has undertaken studies of the psychosocial needs, health and well-being of children with cerebal palsy or cystic fibrosis and currently, he is advisor to an EU study on the Quality of Life of children with cerebral palsy. Most of these studies have also included the use of qualitative methods and/or economic appraisal. Dr Donnelly has a long–standing collaborative relationship with Dr Sinéad McGilloway and he will act as external expert collaborator/advisor on all aspects of the research. He will be available to the evaluation team as and when required throughout the study period including, in particular, at the proposal/pilot stage and at the analysis and interpretation of the results. Dr Donnelly has substantive experience of managing numerous large and diverse projects with a wide range of client groups and his input and support will be invaluable in guiding the study to successful completion.
Professor Donal O’Neill (NUIM)
Donal is a labour economist (and head of the NUIM Department of Economics) whose research focuses on the measurement and causes of childhood disadvantage and programme evaluation. He is one of the few economists in Europe to have engaged in a large scale (5-year) randomised controlled evaluation of labour market interventions. His heavily cited work on the ‘Restart’ welfare reform programme in the UK is one of the leading examples of randomised evaluation of labour market interventions in Europe. He has also written a number of papers which have examined the extent to which parental economic status affects a child’s future outcomes, the reasons why this relationship exists and the pitfalls in measuring this relationship. He received the Barrington Medal in 1999/2000 - this prize is awarded annually to a researcher in the social sciences by the Council of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. Professor O’Neill will lead on the cost-effectiveness component of the study, but will also collaborate with other members of the team on specific aspects of the evaluation design.
