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Our Impact

Mental health and wellbeing are fundamental to healthy individuals, thriving communities, and sustainable societies. The Mental Health and Wellbeing: Research and Innovation cluster brings together interdisciplinary researchers committed to generating evidence that advances mental health and wellbeing across the lifespan.
Our research spans mental health promotion and prevention, mental health services and systems, digital innovation, media and communication, suicide and self-harm, and the mental health experiences of diverse individuals and communities. We collaborate closely with people with lived experience, clinicians, policymakers, community organisations, industry, and international research partners to ensure our work addresses real-world priorities and delivers meaningful impact. Our research has secured competitive national and international funding, informed policy and practice, developed innovative interventions, and strengthened mental health research capacity. We work in partnership with people with lived experience, clinicians, policymakers, and community organisations to ensure our research is relevant, collaborative, and impactful.

Our Aims

The Mental Health and Wellbeing: Research and Innovation cluster seeks to generate outstanding interdisciplinary research that advances mental health and wellbeing across the lifespan and translates evidence into meaningful improvements in policy, practice, and everyday life.
Our aims are to:
  • Advance understanding of the factors that promote mental health, wellbeing, and resilience across diverse populations.
  • Develop, evaluate, and implement innovative interventions that improve mental health outcomes across clinical, community, and digital settings.
  • Influence policy, professional practice, and public understanding through research, knowledge exchange, and meaningful collaboration.
  • Conduct co-produced research in partnership with people with lived experience, recognising their expertise throughout the research process.
  • Improve mental health services, systems, and professional practice through implementation science, evaluation, and evidence-informed innovation.
  • Address inequalities in mental health by promoting prevention, equity, inclusion, diversity, and action on the wider social determinants of health.
  • Foster interdisciplinary collaboration across healthcare, education, social care, technology, public health, and the voluntary sector.
  • Build national and international research capacity through collaboration, postgraduate education, and research leadership.
  • Generate research that informs policy and contributes to healthier communities locally, nationally, and globally.

Our Projects

Year Funding Body Amount Project Principal Investigator(s)
2026-2027 University of Bahrain €5,000 Mood-Sync: A just in time dual application supporting mood forecasting, social rhythm regulation and relapse prevention in mental illness
Dr Rasha Eweida
Dr Hayat Abdulla Yousuf
Dr Maeve O'Connell
2025-2029 Health Research Board €1,000,000 CO-PRIME (CO-producing and Promoting Research & Innovation in Mental hEalth) Prof Sinead McGilloway
2025 Mental Health Commission €25,000 Provision of a rapid evidence review to inform the revision of the Mental Health Commission’s Seclusion and Restraint Reduction Strategy Dr James O'Mahony
2023-2024 Samaritans Ireland €24,937
Understanding our Callers in Ireland
Dr Johnny Goodwin
2023-2026 HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention €36,859 Attending the Scene of a Suspected Suicide: The experiences and training needs of First Responders (An Garda Síochána, the National Ambulance Service, the National Fire Service) Dr Johnny Goodwin & Dr Aine O'Donovan
2023 UCC College of Medicine and Health €2,800
The effects of sea swimming and its influence on perceived feeling of wellness in Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services
Dr Johnny Goodwin
2023-2026 Suicide or Survive
€25,000
Evaluation of the Online Evening Eden Programme

Dr Maria O'Malley & Dr Aine O'Donovan

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Scoil an Altranais agus an Chnáimhseachais

Contact us

Brookfield Health Sciences Complex College Road Cork, Ireland , T12 AK54

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