Our People
Director & Co-Directors
Prof Michelle Butler
Michelle Butler is the Director of DCU REACH. She was previously Executive Dean for Science and Health. She joined DCU in January 2017, having previously held leadership appointments at the University of British Columbia and University College Dublin. She has extensive research, teaching, assessment and curriculum development experience.
Her particular expertise is in midwifery competence, midwifery-led care, woman-centred care, nurse staffing, health systems, health service evaluation, research methodologies and research methods.
Prof Veronica Lambert
Prof. Veronica Lambert (PhD, BNS (Hons), RGN, RCN) is Co-Director of DCU REACH. She is Full Professor of Children and Family Nursing at Dublin City University. Veronica leads on children and family focused research and has a specific interest in understanding the experiences of children and families living with childhood long-term health conditions including child and family communication, shared self-management responsibilities, and psychosocial wellbeing and illness impact on child and family. More recently, Veronica’s interests have expanded into children’s palliative care. She is currently principal investigator on a Higher Education Authority North South funded study to co-produce a decision-making framework for planning the place of end-of-life care for children, young people and their families on the island of Ireland. She is also principal investigator on a Health Research Board Applied Partnership Award, in partnership with Barretstown Children’s Charity, for a study entitled ‘Memory-making through therapeutic recreation for families of children with life-threatening conditions receiving palliative care at home: Adaptation of a digital storytelling legacy intervention.’ Other research interests include; paediatric early warning systems, clinical research capacity in children's nursing, patient/person/family centered care, virtual reality and public and patient involvement in health care and research. Veronica is the Health Research Board- Irish Research Council Public and Patient Involvement Ignite Network Lead for DCU.
Dr Austin Warters
Dr Austin Warters is a co-director of DCU REACH. He is the research lead for HSE Dublin North City and County Community Care Organisation (CHO9). He is either directly or indirectly involved in a wide range or research projects across the age spectrum. The focus being community care, primary care, transitions of care.
Steering Group
Prof Paul Downes
Professor Paul Downes is Professor of Psychology of Education, Director of the Educational Disadvantage Centre, Institute of Education, Dublin City University, Ireland and Affiliate Professor, University of Malta, Centre for Resilience & Socio-Emotional Health. A Trinity College Dublin Scholar of Law awarded through the Foundation Scholarship Exam, he also received his B.A (1st class Hons.) in Psychology and Ph.D at Trinity College Dublin. He has been involved in various expert advisory roles for the European Commission, including for its Pathways to School Success 2022 and School Policy Working Groups, and was a member of the Irish Senate and Parliament Expert Advisory Group on early school leaving. A Visiting Research Fellow at University of British Columbia, Vancouver 2017 and University of Cambridge, Lauterpacht Centre 2011, he was one of three experts selected by the EU Commission under the theme Inclusion and Citizenship from an open call across Europe to become members of the PostET2020 Expert Panel to inform future EU strategy in education.
Dr Maura Coulter
Dr Maura Coulter is the Associate Dean for Research at DCU Institute of Education and Associate Professor in primary physical education in the School of Arts Education and Movement. Dr Coulter is the staff representative on the DCU Executive Committee (2023-2025). She is Chair of the DCU Open Research Steering Group.
She completed her PhD in physical education professional development at Dublin City University in 2012. She is a graduate of Ulster University where she completed her undergraduate degree, BA (Hons) Sport and Leisure Studies, and postgraduate degrees, PGCE - Physical Education, and MSc - Sport Science and Health. Before the formation of the DCU Institute of Education, she was a member of the Education Department at St Patrick’s College (2000-2016). Prior to relocating to Dublin, Maura was a secondary school teacher at St Patrick's Girls Academy, Dungannon where she taught GCSE and A-Level physical education and GCSE religious education for seven years.
Dr Claire Timon
Dr. Claire Timon is an accomplished academic and educator at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). Her research focuses on utilising digital health and artificial intelligence (AI) to support lifestyle behaviour change and deliver targeted health interventions. Her teaching expertise spans research methods in population health, public health, public health nutrition, and case-based learning, tackling key population health challenges across the lifecourse. Claire has made a significant contribution to the development and accreditation of the MSc in Population Health Leadership programme offered by the School of Population Health at RCSI.
Ms Ellen O'Dea (HSE)
Ellen O'Dea has over 22 years’ experience in Acute and Community healthcare settings in the UK, Australia and Ireland. Self-motivated and organised manager with extensive experience in clinical, human resources, finance and project management. She has a proven record of team leadership and project delivery within primary care and disability settings.
Members
Dr Brendan Egan
Brendan is an Associate Professor of Sport and Exercise Physiology, and currently Head of School for the School of Health and Human Performance at DCU. His current research investigates skeletal muscle function and adaptation across the life course, with special interest in the synergy between nutrition and exercise interventions ranging from athletes to older adults. His research group performs human trials involving both acute and chronic interventions for outcomes around performance (physical and cognitive), recovery and adaptation, and have employed a wide range of experimental designs, and have been complimented by molecular analysis tools include transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics. Nutrients recently and presently under investigation include caffeine, creatine, omega-3 fatty acids, resveratrol, leucine, protein hydrolysates, beetroot juice, and exogenous ketones.
Dr Anne Matthews
Anne is a Full Professor of Nursing at the School of Nursing, Psychotherapy & Community Health and Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning at the Faculty of Science and Health at Dublin City University. She is a Registered General Nurse and Registered Midwife and holds a B.Soc.Sc. from University College Dublin, an MSc Social Policy & Planning from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a PhD from Dublin City University. She has worked in nursing, midwifery, health and social research, education, policy and practice in Ireland, England and Malawi. She has supervised and examined PhD students in areas of midwifery, health workforce planning, nursing, healthcare and social policy areas.
Dr Pamela Gallagher
Professor Pamela Gallagher (BA Mod (Psychology), DipStat, PhD, PGCE, GDipE, C. Psychol. Ps.S.I.) is a Full Professor of Psychology and Head of the School of Psychology at Dublin City University. Professor Gallagher is a respected international expert and leader in her research field of living well with illness, disability and technology. She has particular expertise in the area of cancer survivorship, psychoprosthetics and assistive technology.
Dr Catriona Murphy
I qualified as a general nurse and midwife and worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia and Africa before returning to Ireland to complete a Higher Diploma in Public Health Nursing and an MSc in Community Health. In line with my interests in community health and ageing I subsequently undertook a PhD in Health Services and Population Health Research funded by the HRB (2007-2011). This work focused on formal home care provision for older adults and was followed by a postdoctoral research fellowship in cardiovascular epidemiology (2013-2016) at the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) at Trinity College.
My current role is focused on ageing with a particular emphasis on technology to support older adults to live independently at home. I am a funded investigator at the Centre for eIntegrated Care at DCU and PI on the NEX project funded under the Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund (https://www.dcu.ie/ceic/nex).
