Professor Keelin ODonoghue

INFANT PI, Prof Keelin O’Donoghue awarded Distinguished Researcher Award

INFANT PI, Prof Keelin O’Donoghue awarded Distinguished Researcher Award

By Comms|2023-08-01T13:15:38+01:00July 6th, 2023|

INFANT PI, Professor Keelin O’Donoghue was awarded the International Stillbirth Alliance (ISA) Distinguished Researcher Award for her contribution or her contribution to research on stillbirth/newborn death. The award was conferred at the closing ceremony of the 2023 conference, hosted at the University of Sheffield from 30 June to 02 July.

Announcing the award, Professor Adrienne Gordon said: “She has been awarded this on the unanimous decision by the Board to reflect her years of significant research around stillbirth, most particularly in Ireland where she is continuing to strive for best practice care for families and high quality evidence, particularly in terms of the national standards, so we thank you Keelin for all that you do.”

Professor O’Donoghue, along with 11 other members of the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, attended the International Stillbirth Alliance (ISA) Conference 2023 at The University of Sheffield from 30 June to 02 July, showcasing a variety of work undertaken by the Group in the areas of:

Source: News and media | University College Cork (ucc.ie)

PhD Profile: Tamara Escañuela Sánchez’s Study to Raise Awareness of and Reduce the Risk Factors Connected with Stillbirth

PhD Profile: Tamara Escañuela Sánchez’s Study to Raise Awareness of and Reduce the Risk Factors Connected with Stillbirth

By Comms|2022-03-30T15:09:53+01:00March 30th, 2022|

A graduate of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, INFANT PhD candidate, Tamara Escañuela Sánchez came to University College Cork to study under Professor Keelin O’Donoghue and develop a behaviour change intervention model that will raise awareness of and reduce the risk factors associated with stillbirth in Ireland.

Tamara’s multidisciplinary supervisory team is composed by Dr. Karen Matvienko-Sikar from the School of Public Health in UCC; Dr. Sarah Meaney, from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre; Professor Molly Byrne lead of the Health Behaviour Change Research Group, School of Psychology at NUI Galway and Professor Keelin O’Donoghue lead of the Pregnancy Loss Research Group at Cork University Maternity Hospital.

Funded by Science Foundation Ireland, Tamara’s research, titled The Relevant Study, examines the risk factors connected with stillbirth and ill health in babies such as substance abuse, sleep position, weight management and engagement with antenatal care.

Ultimately, Tamara hopes that her study might one day lead to the introduction of an initiative, similar to the Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle introduced by the NHS in the UK, that targets the modifiable risk factors for stillbirth in Ireland.

I have been looking at various studies that examine the different risk factors associated with still births.

The factors that I’m focussing on are substance abuse, sleep position, weight management and engagement with antenatal care services.

Changing behaviours associated with those factors could have a very real impact for women and their children.

My research looks at ways in which we might change those behaviours, the idea would be that we’d eventually create a care bundle like they have in the UK and Australia.

As part of her study, Tamara also reviewed pregnancy-related websites to assess the reliability of information connecting risk factors to stillbirths or ill health in babies.

Her findings, published in the Journal of Communication in Healthcare, highlighted the scarcity of information online and the need for greater communication so that women can identify the risk factors associated with stillbirths.

We looked at pregnancy related websites in the UK and Ireland and found that only one contained information relevant to the risk factors connected with stillbirths.

We also found that websites hosted by charities were more likely to contain basic information related to stillbirth, whereas commercial sites were more likely to contain information about modifiable risk factors.

It really illustrated the need for reliable sources of information so that women can make informed decisions.

As Tamara comes to the end of her study, she hopes to conclude her PhD research by summarising the challenges facing women who are looking to access relevant information on the risk factors associated with stillbirth.

By developing a list of recommendations, she also hopes that future researchers will be able to build on her study and develop a pilot intervention strategy that allows health authorities to target behaviours that contribute to stillbirth.

IWD 2022: Celebrating The Achievements of Our Female Research Team

IWD 2022: Celebrating The Achievements of Our Female Research Team

By Comms|2022-03-08T10:56:18+00:00March 8th, 2022|

On this International Women’s Day, we are delighted to celebrate the achievements of UCC female researchers based at the INFANT Research Centre, by demonstrating leadership in research that is transforming the future of maternal and child healthcare.

Led by Director Professor Geraldine Boylan, INFANT is answering the international need for research and innovation to improve health outcomes across the continuum of pregnancy, infancy and childhood.

Here are just examples of their work:

INFANT spin out company, Liltoda, led by Professor Deirdre Murray in collaboration with Hello Games, a global gaming company, is harnessing the power of innovative gaming technology to assess cognitive function in young children. This technology was developed by the team at INFANT and is now being rolled out across the world.

Dr. Jane English is leading a transformative study that aims to identify biomarkers in the blood (e.g. proteins or metabolites) that predict the onset of severe childhood autism. Early prediction will help support early intervention, improvements in health outcomes and enhance the quality of life of children with severe autism, and their families.

Professor Geraldine Boylan has led the world’s first clinical trial of an automated seizure detection device for newborn infants, a device which was developed by researchers at INFANT in UCC. This technology was recently commercialised and launched in Ireland and Japan by industry partner Nihon Kohden, a Tokyo based global leader in patient monitoring technology.

Prof Mairead Kiely, Dr. Elaine McCarthy and Dr. Áine Hennessy’s are the team of female researchers leading the way internationally in maternal and child nutrition research. This team are tackling problems such as iron deficiency in pregnancy and childhood, assessing iodine status in pregnancy and have developed novel technology to support a personalised nutrition approach for preterm infants in the intensive care unit.

Dr. Mairead O’Riordan, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, is leading recruitment to a clinical trial at Cork University Maternity Hospital that investigates the use of low-dose aspirin therapy for the improvement of pregnancy outcomes in women with diabetes.

Professor Keelin O’Donoghue leads pregnancy loss research at INFANT and is working closely with many stakeholders to increase awareness of pregnancy loss, to encourage more effective services/supports within the health care system and to ensure this research leads to the implementation of healthcare policy changes.

These are just some of the 53 female researchers based at INFANT who are dedicated to improving health outcomes for pregnant women, infants, and children.

Pregnancy Loss Research Group Secures IRC funding to Enhance the Translation of Pregnancy Loss Research into Policy and Practice

Pregnancy Loss Research Group Secures IRC funding to Enhance the Translation of Pregnancy Loss Research into Policy and Practice

By Comms|2022-01-17T10:32:03+00:00January 17th, 2022|

Professor Keelin O’Donoghue, Lead of the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, together with the Irish Hospice Foundation as civic society partner, has been awarded an Irish Research Council New Foundations Award 2021 to enhance the translation of pregnancy loss research into policy and practice through a project titled PLATFORM: Pregnancy Loss knowledge trAnslaTion FOR iMpact.

The project will bring researchers, key civil society partners and other knowledge users – including parent advocates – together to identify barriers and facilitators to knowledge translation, and develop activities and outputs in an effort to address the decades-long lack of progress in implementing change at policy and practice levels. PLATFORM will contribute to enhancing Irish public and policymaker awareness of pregnancy loss, provision of more effective services/supports within the health care system, community sector, and beyond, and influencing policymaking and healthcare funding. The project was developed in part following input from parent advocates on public and patient involvement group for an ongoing research project (RE:CURRENT); they voiced the need for parents to hear about pregnancy loss research that is being undertaken, as often they feel that it is a neglected area.

Announcing the New Foundations 2021 recipients, Director of the Irish Research Council, Peter Brown, said: “In addition to the 55 projects announced today that will collaborate with civic society partners, we are also delighted to renew our ongoing partnerships with government departments and agencies. This form of collaboration provides excellent opportunities for researchers to contribute to evidence-based policymaking, resulting in better outcomes for society and citizens in the face of many national and global challenges”.

The project is funded under Strand 1a: Enhancing Civic Society within a national context, which supports small, discrete collaborative projects between researchers and civic society groups in the community and voluntary sector.

Professor O’ Donoghue is a Consultant Obstetrician and Maternal-Fetal Medicine Sub-Specialist at Cork University Maternity Hospital and is actively engaged in impactful research, teaching and clinical practice. She leads the multi-disciplinary Pregnancy Loss Research Group, which comprises over 30 members, at all career stages.

The Irish Hospice Foundation, the national charity that addresses dying, death and bereavement in Ireland, by promoting awareness and developing programmes in education, research and bereavement services.

The Pregnancy Loss Research Group and the Irish Hospice Foundation have collaborated on several improvement projects to-date, including the implementation of the National Standards for Bereavement Care Following Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Death. One of the implementation activities involved the development of a national website (www.pregnancyandinfantloss.ie), a repository of information for bereaved parents and healthcare staff about pregnancy and infant loss. They have also worked together on national education programmes for hospital staff.

Follow updates on Twitter (@PregnancyLossIE #PLRG_PLATFORM ) and the PLRG and INFANT websites.

INFANT PI and Pregnancy Loss Research Group Lead, Professor Keelin O’Donoghue, wins Irish Research Council Research Ally Prize

INFANT PI and Pregnancy Loss Research Group Lead, Professor Keelin O’Donoghue, wins Irish Research Council Research Ally Prize

By Comms|2021-12-03T14:14:41+00:00December 3rd, 2021|

Professor Keelin O’Donoghue, has been awarded a Research Ally Prize as part of the Irish Research Council Researcher of the Year 2021 awards for the positive impact that she has made as a mentor.

Announcing this year’s winners, Director of the Irish Research Council, Peter Brown, said: “I would like to congratulate the awardees on their awards. The standard of nominations this year was extremely high, and each of the winners should be immensely proud of their achievements. It is great to see this year’s winners representing a diverse range of research interests, which reflects the creativity and dynamism of the research community here in Ireland.”

Professor O’ Donoghue is a Consultant Obstetrician and Maternal-Fetal Medicine Sub-Specialist at Cork University Maternity Hospital and is actively engaged in impactful research, teaching and clinical practice. She leads the multi-disciplinary Pregnancy Loss Research Group, which comprises over 30 members, at all career stages. She has extensive supervisory/mentorship experience, with numerous researchers having completed/ongoing studies with her support, under a variety of programmes: PhD, Masters by research, MSc Public Health, MD, MSc Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Diploma Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and postdoctoral.

Professor O’Donoghue is one of ten 10 UCC winners of the Irish Research Council Research Ally Prizes. The Research Ally Prizes celebrate the role of supervisors, mentors, and research officers in supporting and sustaining the Irish research community, and how they help to foster a positive academic culture based on equality, inclusivity, and respect.

INFANT PI, Prof Keelin O’Donoghue awarded Distinguished Researcher Award

PhD Profile: Tamara Escañuela Sánchez’s Study to Raise Awareness of and Reduce the Risk Factors Connected with Stillbirth

IWD 2022: Celebrating The Achievements of Our Female Research Team

Pregnancy Loss Research Group Secures IRC funding to Enhance the Translation of Pregnancy Loss Research into Policy and Practice

INFANT PI and Pregnancy Loss Research Group Lead, Professor Keelin O’Donoghue, wins Irish Research Council Research Ally Prize

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