Dr Tadhg Kennedy, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Bernal Institute – winner of the Early Career Researcher – Consolidator Award 2023. Since 2016 Tadhg has established a well-funded group, securing  more than €5 million in funding. Notably, €2.14 million has been granted directly to Tadhg as the principal investigator, highlighting the proficiency of his research in his field. The central theme of Tadhg’s research revolves around...

Up to 45% of us will get knee osteoarthritis in our lifetime, yet it is often not prioritised, people with joint disease are being under-served in terms of delivery of evidence-based rehabilitation in the form of exercise and education, particularly for hip and knee osteoarthritis. Evidence suggests that exercise and education is very effective for people with osteoarthritis but often patients feel like they are directed more towards medications and surgical opinions, sometimes due to lack of...

The Ageing Research Centre members are winners of the UL Presidents Research Excellence and Impact Outstanding Research Collaboration Award for 2023. The Ageing Research Centre (ARC) comprises an interdisciplinary group of academic researchers across the University of Limerick, external academic collaborators, clinical collaborators and a Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) panel of older adults and family caregivers who share a common focus on ageing research. Research from the Ageing...

Arts-based health programmes that combine arts with science can enhance the physical and psychosocial health and wellbeing of older people. This podcast discusses the benefits of music and dance for older adults and in particular their experience of the Music and Movement for Health study which examined the feasibility and potential for benefit of such programmes in Ireland. The primary aim of the study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the study design and the Music and...

This project creating bespoke breast prostheses for women post-mastectomy, using state of the art digital manufacturing aims to roll out this year and to be available nationally in all symptomatic breast clinics. Research Team Dr Lorraine Walsh, Consultant Radiation Oncologist, Mater Private Network Limerick, and collaborator on the project; Siobhan Meaney, Clinical Lead at the Rapid Innovation Unit, in the University of Limerick, and one of the supervisors of the Breast Prosthesis Project;...

March 2020 changed the lives of everyone around the around. We were all worried about the spread of COVID-19, fascinated with R number and hoping lockdowns would not last long.Working in the background was the UL team from MASCI (Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry) who as part of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group (IEMAG), provided expert advice, real-time information and forecast models to the Chief Medical Officer and NPHET.In this podcast you will...

Researchers at University of Limerick are designing advanced materials which can purify the air and our water. Meet Dr Soumya Mukherjee, President’s Research Excellence and Impact award winner who has established his own research group, “NanoSorb,.  With funding from Science Foundation Ireland,  NanoSorb is at the forefront in the development of energy-efficient porous materials, particularly those fostering environmental sustainability. 

University Maternity Hospital Limerick is the first in Ireland to offer music therapy within its maternity care services. Meet the team behind this innovative approach to supporting wellbeing during pregnancy, Dr Mas Mahady, Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Tríona McCaffrey, lecturer in Music therapy and Pui Sze Cheung, PhD researcher.   Based on feedback from women who took part in this study, the Department of Health have commended the innovative nature of this work awarding further funding to...

Global energy crisis has never been more critical in the race to deploy more electric vehicles, better utilise wind, solar and alternative energy solutions, many challenges emerge. Among them is the need for faster, smaller, and environmentally friendly battery technology. Meet Dr Hugh Geaney, President’s Research Excellence and Impact Award winner who is, taking on the global challenge of energy storage. Through advances in novel materials Dr Geaney’s research brings together discoveries in...

The term heroes have been widely used to describe those working in the frontline during the global Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Elaine Kinsella, President’s Research Excellence and Impact Award winner at University of Limerick and Dr Rachel Sumner, Cardiff Metropolitan University discuss their survey of these key workers, focussing on the wellbeing and attitudes of those working in the frontline, emergency workers and those working across service industries and how the heroes tag was viewed by those...

How do social and cultural changes occur, and how can policy be influenced to encourage these changes, particularly in terms of aiding people who are marginalized and stigmatized in our society? The award-winning research team from the University of Limerick's Centre for Social Issues Research is collaborating with government and advocacy groups to help those who are directly affected by disability, those who care for those who are disabled, child carers, and those who are affected by...

The personal, societal and economic costs of low back pain are enormous, and the likelihood of being disabled by back pain has worsened in recent decades. Prof Helena Lenihan, Chair of the UL Research Impact Committee is joined by Dr Kieran O’Sullivan, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, School of Allied Health and winner of the President’s Research Excellence and Impact Early Career Award. Dr O’Sullivan’s research has shed new light on why back pain is such an ongoing challenge and the...

A 10 year partnership between UL and HSE has benefited patients dealing with multidrug-resistant infections, patients with cystic fibrosis and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Winner of the 2020 Outstanding Research Collaboration, President’s Research Excellence and Impact Award, the collaboration involves microbiologists, designers, engineers, nurses, physiotherapists, paediatricians, respiratory specialists. Understanding infectious disease outbreaks and the...

Zero hours work is work with no guaranteed hours. Researchers at the Kemmy Business School, have been examining the prevalence and impact of zero hours work and low hours work amongst Irish employees. Dr Lorraine Ryan, lecturer in Employment Relations & Human Resource Management in the Department of Work & Employment Studies at the KBS discusses the prevalence of these work contracts, their effect on employees and their social impact. She outlines how she and her colleagues carried...

Dr Ann Marcus-Quinn, a lecturer in Technical Communication and Instructional Design at the University of Limerick asks whether the move from book to tablet is the right one for the education system. She discusses how digital teaching and learning resources can be used, developed and shared in order to enhance teaching and learning in Irish education. She also talks about her involvement in a review of a secondary school’s digital policy and how this resulted in its decision to reintroduce...

Dr Michelle Norris shares how her project, ‘BREASTech’, is working to better understand how software and technology can impact the physical activity levels of breast cancer patients and survivors. She also discusses how her training as an ALECS Marie Curie COFUND fellow is helping her to share the impact of her research with a wider audience. This work was supported, in part, by Science Foundation Ireland grant 13/RC/2094 and co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund through...

Dermot Hayes, disability community activist from Ennis in conversation with Dr Rosie Gowran, School of Allied Health, UL and Leigh Gath, disability rights campaigner on the importance and challenges of getting the right wheelchair nationally and globally and the difficulties that wheelchair users face when proper supports are not available.

Oisín Kavanagh is a pharmacist and PhD researcher with the Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC), the SFI Pharmaceutical Research Centre, at the University of Limerick. He discusses how advances in the distribution and production of medicines might shape the pharmacy of the future and how these could help to alleviate the financial burden on the State while in turn easing the burden on patients, making drug delivery easier and more effective. He explores how 3D printing of...

The Research Soapbox event highlighted how research can make a real difference. The lunchtime showcase event took place in the Fab Lab in Limerick’s city centre and involved researchers from PhD to Professor with voices from the University of Limerick Thesis in 3 Competition as well as the Research Impact Podcast Series. The event was moderated by Prof Helena Lenihan, Chair of the UL Research Impact Committee. The range of topics varied from match fixing in sport to designer medicines and...

Psychology has traditionally focused on biological, genetic or personality factors to explain why some people cope better or worse than others in adverse situations. However such a focus can lead to a therapeutic dead end as it is very difficult to change a person’s temperament or genetic predispositions. In the first of a series of guest host podcasts, Psychology Masters student Ilyana Keohane introduces Prof Orla Muldoon as she discusses the research carried out at the Centre for Social...

In 1900, only 14% percent of the world’s population lived in a city. Today, for the first time in history, more than half the planet’s population reside in urban areas. These urban centres are now racing to become the smart cities of the future. Limerick has received a major boost in the race to become a smart city through its designation as Ireland’s first ‘Lighthouse Smart City’ through the Positive City Exchange Project. Rosie Webb, Senior Architect, Limerick City & County Council and...

Ethnomusicologist, Irish traditional musician and lecturer at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, Dr Aileen Dillane talks about her research project FestiVersities: European Music Festivals, Public Spaces, and Cultural Diversities. This research is supported through Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA), European Commission.

Personalised medicine is the next great global challenge for the pharmaceutical industry. The vision of the pharmacy of the future is one which employs disruptive technologies to enable on-demand manufacture of drugs designed to individual needs. Central to this vision is the concept of continuous processing. The Bernal Chair in Pharmaceutical Powder Engineering, Prof Gavin Walker, discusses how continuous processing is a key enabler to impact on global health through delivering more tailored...

Anne MacFarlane, Professor of Primary Healthcare Research at the Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick and member of UL’s Health Research Institute talks about her research in the area of Public and Patient Involvement in Research, specifically participatory health research with socially excluded communities. Recorded by GK Media Ltd.