DCU SNPCH EDI Committee Members
Anne Matthews
Anne Matthews is a nurse and midwife and studied social policy after that. She has worked at DCU since 2001 and works on maternal and child health issues and on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Her EDI interests relate to gender equality and she is committed to supporting and promoting anti-oppressive working and learning environments.
Dr Ray O'Neill
Ray O Neill has been passionately involved in EDI work longer than the acronym has existed, initially as a gay man around gender and LGBT recognition with Gay Switchboard Dublin and LGBT Ireland, and with the Centre for Gender and Women studies at TCD, then around socio economic inclusion within education for ten years with the Trinity Access Programmes, and currently around my DCU initiatives on racial awarenesses and practices with the ‘Race for Mental Health’ platforms, and ‘Queer and Here’ migrant/refugee support work, always focused around cultural humility and intersectionality. My EDI teaching, community and research work champions that EDI is a set of life experiences and not a one-off taught workshop, something SNPCH staff and students have consistently fed back in their reviews of the current EDI discourses and interventions I have been involved with to date.
Anne Burke
Anne Burke has worked with the administration team in the SNPCH for over 15 years. She looks forward to supporting the EDI committee as it oversees the implementation of the Athena Swan action plan and identifies any other ways we can promote EDI and foster a culture of welcome and inclusion. She is particularly interested in the University of Sanctuary initiative and in looking at socio-economic barriers to education.
Sean Duffy
Sean Duffy is a nurse who has worked at SNPCH in its various guises for 20 years. I have worked internationally and moved into education from a clinical setting. Interested in all aspects of student and staff welfare. Inclusion and diversity are fundamental to the learning experience and anything that enhances that is welcome.
Michelle Gibbons
Michelle Gibbons is a dedicated nursing professional and educator whose journey has been shaped by an unyielding commitment to the principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). I champion an environment where staff and students from all backgrounds can thrive, feel respected and valued. I advocate the importance of promoting EDI as a core value that enriches SNPCH for everyone.
Zahra Farahani
Zahra Farahani is a psychologist and a postdoctoral researcher working on a project on strengthening cultural humility in Irish mental health services. She completed her PhD in UCD school of psychology on experience of inclusion of Muslim migrant women and their children in Ireland and her master’s degree in clinical psychology in her home country, Iran. Before joining DCU, Zahra was a postdoctoral researcher in the area of student mental health in UCD where she also served as a member of EDI committee in the school of psychology. Zahra’s interest in EDI comes from her experience as a Muslim migrant woman as well as her research on inclusion and mental health of ethnic minoritized, migrants and youth population.
Kumar Cithambaram
Kumaresan Cithambaram has 15 years of expertise in nursing individuals with intellectual disabilities and presently works as an Assistant Professor. Embracing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) principles is inherent to his role in intellectual disability nursing, where he actively strives to champion inclusive practices within the system. Personally impacted by the drawbacks of insufficient EDI implementation, he engages in this committee to effect genuine change for disadvantaged groups.
Hazel Ní Chonchubhair
Hazel Ní Chonchubhair is a perioperative nurse and has joined the team in DCU SNPCH as Assistant Professor in General Nursing, in June 2023. As a nurse, educator, researcher, and mother, she strongly believes that it is all our duties, to build cultures and environments that are inclusive, where all feel valued, and are treated equally. This is paramount in building sustainable, enjoyable, and progressive working conditions, where all people enjoy a sense of belonging. Her aspirations are to drive the EDI agenda authentically, progressively and proactively within the School.
Justin Dawson
Anne Kirwan
Anne Kirwan is a general nurse and midwife who has been involved in nurse education both in clinical practice and in academia for over 25 years. EDI fosters a culture of welcome and inclusion in which she passionately believes enriches the lives of both students and staff and potentially the lives of those who will be cared for by the future generations of nurses.