Academic biography

Hannah is an Assistant Professor in Physical Activity Behaviour Change in the School of Health and Human Performance at Dublin City University, and the principal investigator of LifeLab Dublin.

Her primary research interests focus on participatory research methods and the promotion of health and physical activity in children and young people. As an international expert, Hannah was leading figure in research teams that developed the All Island Physical Literacy Consensus Statement, and the Physical Literacy Consensus Statement for England. Within the health literacy field, most recently, Hannah was the lead author of the Sláintecare Healthy Communities health literacy report.

Having graduated with a BSc in Sport and Exercise Sciences from the University of Birmingham in 2013, Hannah completed an MSc in Applied Sport Psychology at Cardiff Metropolitan University, whilst also working in primary school physical education. Between 2016 and 2019, she completed her doctoral studies at Liverpool John Moores University, focusing in the assessment of physical literacy in young children. Hannah then joined DCU as a postdoctoral researcher, working on LifeLab Dublin, a co-designed health literacy intervention, before becoming an Assistant Professor in 2021. Hannah now co-ordinates a range of modules that focus on understanding and empowering people to make better health choices. In addition, she supervises a number of postgraduate students researching in this area, as well as leading and contributing to a number of local, national and international projects.