Gillian graduated with a first-class honours degree in BSc Public Health Sciences from UCC in 2015 and with a first-class honours Master of Public Health from UCC in 2016.

In 2020, upon completion of her HRB-funded PhD within the SPHeRE Programme, Gillian established a role as a postdoctoral researcher/epidemiologist at INFANT.

Gillian’s research interests include the use of epidemiology and advanced statistical techniques to answer research questions with an overall aim of improving outcomes for mothers and babies.

Her most recent research roles include:

• Senior Postdoctoral Researcher on the Horizon Europe LINDA-FAMILIA project, the implementation of an integrated digital health system for infectious diseases in maternal and child health in East Africa.
• Postdoctoral Fellow on the IRC (Taighde Éireann) DATAMiNE project, the development of a standardised approach to harness maternal and newborn data from the National Maternal and Newborn Clinical Management System (MN-CMS).
• Postdoctoral Researcher on a HRB-SDAP project, the development and validation of risk stratification tools for assessment of maternal and neonatal morbidity using data from the MN-CMS.

Since 2016, Gillian has also been involved in tutoring, lecturing and supervision for classroom-based and online programmes on the BSc Public Health Sciences and Master of Public Health at UCC.

Career Profile:

• 2020-present: Postdoctoral Researcher, INFANT Research Centre.
• 2016-present: Lecturing on the BSc. Public Health Sciences and Master of Public Health programmes, School of Public Health, UCC.
• 2015-2016: Research Assistant, School of Public Health, UCC.

Education Profile:

• 2021-2023: Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning | University College Cork
• 2016-2020: PhD | University College Cork
• 2015-2016: MPH | University College Cork
• 2011-2015: BSc (Hons) | University College Cork

Professional Activities/Achievements: 

• 2023: Irish Research Council (Taighde Éireann) Postdoctoral Fellowship recipient.
• 2019: Society for Reproductive Investigation President’s Presenter Award.
• 2016: SPHeRE PhD Scholarship. SPHeRE is Ireland’s national research training programme for population health and health services research, funded by the HRB in Ireland.
• 2015: Sir Charles Cameron Prize. This award is presented to the student who achieves the highest marks in the final year examinations of the BSc Public Health Sciences Degree Programme at UCC.
• 2014: HRB Summer Studentship.
• 2012, 2013 & 2014: Quercus College Scholarships in three consecutive years. These Scholarships are awarded to students who show outstanding achievement within their discipline and are the highest scoring student in continuous assessment and end of semester examinations in their Degree Programme.