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.

The team’s research identified the information that parents need when supporting the mental health needs of adolescents. They shared these findings widely, increasing the mental health literacy of thousands of parents and carers across Ireland, meaning that vulnerable adolescents are more likely to get the right help at the right time.

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.”

The 2022 UCD Research Impact Case Study Competition winner and runners-up were: 

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

UCD Diabetes Complications Research Centre
Changing the guidelines for treating type 2 diabetes

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

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

Assistant Professor Laura K Taylor, Dearbháile Counihan
Helping Kids! – promoting inclusive peacebuilding

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

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 impact and write a compelling entry we invite you to explore the UCD Impact Toolkit.”