Today, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact Professor Orla Feely announced the winner and runners-up of the 2022 UCD Research Impact Case Study Competition.
The annual competition encourages researchers of all disciplines to write a case study that tells the story of how their work has made a positive difference.
This year’s winner, ‘Helping parents support youth mental health’, was led by Professor Eilis Hennessy, with Aine French and Dr Daráine Murphy, from UCD School of Psychology.
One of the runners-up projects is from the School of Medicine. 
Changing the guidelines for treating type 2 diabetes describes the impact of research from the UCD Diabetes Complications Research Centre (DCRC). Researchers at the UCD DCRC have been at the forefront of generating high-quality scientific findings about type 2 diabetes.
Their finding that double-digit intentional weight loss can be used to disrupt the disease is now becoming mainstream. Through this work, they have informed changes in national and international guidelines used to treat people living with type 2 diabetes, improving patients’ lives.
Professor Feely commented: “As Chair of the panel, it has been exciting to learn more about the many ways that UCD’s researchers are changing the world. This year’s finalists are helping to improve health and wellbeing, protect the environment, address the climate crisis, influence policy, stimulate economic growth, enrich people’s lives, and inspire the next generation. I would like to congratulate them on this achievement, and thank them for their commitment to ensuring that people benefit from their research.”
Read about the Competition Winner and Runners Up from other Colleges:
Winner
Professor Eilis Hennessy, Aine French, Dr Daráine Murphy
Helping parents support youth mental health
Runners-up
Professor Katherine O’Donnell, Professor Hugh Campbell
Inspiring a site of national conscience at the Sean McDermott Street Magdalene Laundry
Associate Professor Tom Curran
Fighting fatbergs – avoiding sewer blockages
Assistant Professor Nan Zhang
From lab to bedside: bringing medical devices to the market quicker
Assistant Professor Sarah Cotterill
Every drop counts – making a case for water conservation in Ireland
Dr Ricardo Simon Carbajo, Dr Quan Le, Dr Rajnish Rakholia, Bang Quoc Ho & Hoang Ngoc Khue Vu
HealthyAir: addressing the impacts of air pollution in Vietnam
Assistant Professor Alexander Kondakov, Sergey Katsuba
A decade of violence: monitoring anti-LGBTQ hate crimes in Russia
Dr Alma Clavin, Associate Professor Gerald Mills, Professor Niamh Moore-Cherry
Empowering community-led green urban development
Assistant Professor Laura K Taylor, Dearbháile Counihan
Helping Kids! – promoting inclusive peacebuilding
Professor Deirdre Raftery, Professor Marie Clarke
PINNACLE: empowering women in India and Pakistan to become education leaders
Professor Feely said: “I encourage UCD researchers to apply for the 2023 Research Impact Competition launching this Spring. It is a fantastic way to highlight how their work is making a positive difference to people's lives. To help you reflect on your research impact, we encourage you to explore the UCD Impact Toolkit.”