People
Professor Suzanne Timmons
Professor Suzanne Timmons, MB; BCh; BAO (1995); MRCP (1997); CSCST (2003); MSc Geriatric Medicine (2004); FRCPI (2006); MD (2007); Cert Healthcare Improvement (2013)
Biography
Suzanne Timmons graduated from UCC in 1995 and trained in Geriatric Medicine, with a sub-speciality interest in neurodegenerative diseases in later life. She received an Honours Masters degree in Geriatric Medicine from Keele University in 2004, and a subsequent MD from UCC in 2007 (intracellular survival pathways in neurodegenerative diseases).
Suzanne Timmons is Head of Centre (Interim) at Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation. She was appointed as part-time Professor in the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation in 2020, having been appointed as part-time Senior Lecturer since 2010. She is the Programme Co-Ordinator for the MSc in Older Person Rehabilitation and MSc in Dementia. She works 50% clinically, in the acute hospital setting, and in rehabilitation. She was the Clinical Lead for Dementia for the Republic of Ireland from 2017-2021.
Her current research themes include delirium, dementia, palliative care in neurodegeneration and health service research. In addition, she retains a strong clinical and research interest in Parkinson’s disease in older people. She has published across 200+ peer-reviewed journals, six book chapters, seven national reports, five national guidelines and four national audits. She has been principal or co-investigator on research grants totalling over €30 million.
h-index 42
Publications
Timmons & O' Shea (2025). Chapter 11: Dementia-friendly hospitals: Current state and future directions, in 'Creating Empowering Environments for People with Dementia: Addressing Inclusive Design from Homes to Cities', Charras, Kevin, et al (eds). Taylor & Francis.
Launched 31st January 2025
Research profiles
Contact
| Name | Position | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prof. Suzanne Timmons | Professor | +353(0)214923165 | s.timmons@ucc.ie |
Dr Siobhán Fox
Biography
Dr Siobhán Fox obtained her PhD in Psychology, with a particular focus on cognitive psychology, from UCC in 2013 and subsequently joined the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation in October 2013.
Dr Fox’s main research interests are dementia, young onset dementia, Parkinson’s disease, palliative care for people with neurological diseases, and health services research. Dr Fox has published a number of peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and presented at numerous conferences on these topics. She previously co-ordinated and co-authored the Irish National Guidelines for Palliative Care for People with Parkinson’s Disease, and is currently working on developing a Model for Dementia Palliative Care for the Irish health system.
Grants secured as co-PI include “A Review of Diagnostic and Post-Diagnostic Processes and Pathways for Younger-Onset Dementia” funded by the National Dementia Office, and “Community Supports for People with Young Onset Dementia” funded by the Alzheimer Society of Ireland.
Dr Fox has previously lectured in Waterford Institute of Technology and in various departments in UCC, and holds both a PG Certificate and a PG Diploma in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Currently she is a Lecturer in the Centre on the Postgraduate Studies in Dementia and Older Person Rehabilitation programmes, and is module co-ordinator for CG6015 Understanding Cognition, CG6016 Advanced Issues in Dementia Care, CG6005 Amputee and Prosthetic Rehabilitation and CG6018 Dissertation.
Publications
Contact
| Name | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Siobhán Fox | Lecturer | s.fox@ucc.ie |
Dr Emma O Shea
Biography
Emma is currently a lecturer in the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation and is the acting Director for the Older Person Rehabilitation MSc programme.
Dr Emma O’ Shea holds a BA and MA in Applied Psychology from UCC and obtained her PhD from Dublin City University in 2019. She was funded through the HRB to complete the SPHeRE PhD programme. Her doctoral work focused on models of respite for people with dementia and their carers in Ireland. This project highlighted the need and preference of many for home and community-based supports, involving individually defined forms of meaningful engagement, for people with dementia. The thesis questioned the value of the term ‘respite’ and called for a change in terminology around care that is part-intended to give the carer a break, i.e., ‘restorative care’. During her time as a PhD candidate Emma also worked on the Actifcare Project (JPND-funded), with Prof Irving.
As a post-doctoral researcher, Emma was on the management team for the second round of INAD2. She was project manager for the ‘Mapping Parkinson’s’ project (HRB-funded) and interim manager for the DEMPALL (HRB-funded) project, focused on evaluating models of palliative care for dementia. She has also obtained funding as Principal Investigator from the Irish Research Council [SUSTAINCARE project], the Department of Health [Evaluating the ASI's ‘Day Care at Home’ service] and from the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, to evaluate their’ TeamUp for Dementia Research’ Service.
She is currently a work package lead on the HRB-funded ‘Emerald Lewy’ (E2.5 million) programme of research, led by Prof Iracema Leroi in Trinity College Dublin.
Publications
Timmons & O' Shea (2025). Chapter 11: Dementia-friendly hospitals: Current state and future directions, in 'Creating Empowering Environments for People with Dementia: Addressing Inclusive Design from Homes to Cities', Charras, Kevin, et al (eds). Taylor & Francis.
Launched 31st January 2025
Contact
| Name | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Emma O Shea | Lecturer; Post-doctoral Researcher | emma.oshea@ucc.ie |
Dr Melissa Meyer
Biography
Melissa Meyer is a Research Project Manager for the EU-funded multinational chAnGE project (Climate change and healthy AgeinG: co-creating E-learning for resilience and adaptation). This initiative aims to empower health and social care (HSC) workers by equipping them with the knowledge and tools to integrate climate adaptation and resilience into their daily practice. The chAnGE project is developing interactive, accessible, and bite-sized e-learning modules, co-created with target learners and older adults.
Melissa is a multidisciplinary academic and researcher with a PhD in Sociology from University College Cork. Her doctoral research focused on social pathologies—particularly anxiety and depression—among young adults in Ireland, examined through a bio-psycho-social lens. She also holds a BA in Journalism and Media and a BA (Honours) in Criminology from the University of the Free State, South Africa, as well as a BSocSci (Honours) in Psychology and an MPhil in Criminology from the University of Cape Town.
She has a diverse professional background, with experience in victim support services, project management, child residential and correctional care, research, administration, and lecturing. Her academic and professional interests span ethics, sociology, criminology, penology and correctional measures, psychology, victimology, instructional design, and online culture.
She's an occasional hours lecturer and project manager at 0.6 FTE in the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation, and 0.4 FTE in the INFANT Research Centre in Cork University Hospital.
For her full resume and more: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissaisameyer/
Contact
| Name | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Melissa Meyer | Research Project Manager | mmeyer@ucc.ie |
Dr Kseniya Simbirtseva
Biography
Kseniya Simbirtseva, MD, PhD is a Ukrainian clinician-scientist with 18 years of medical experience, professional member of the European Society of Cardiology. She has several specialisations including internal medicine, cardiology and health care organisation. As a former visiting scientist of Dr. Natalia Shulga, she joined her lab on a fellowship award for a clinical rotation in gastroenterology, cardiology, and nephrology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Strong Memorial Hospital, USA.
During her rotation she carried out a project “Ischemia-modified albumin in acute coronary syndrome”. As a clinician-scientist, she completed by doctoral thesis entitled "Clinical and pathogenetic justification of correction of calcium disorders in treatment of patients with osteoarthritis and arterial hypertension” in 2008 and then worked at the Department of Internal Medicine in Donetsk National Medical University, Ukraine, where she continued her research work.
She joined Prof Paul O’Toole’s lab at APC Microbiome Ireland in July 2022, where in collaboration with Prof Timmons she is investigating of the relevance of the microbiome in cognitive decline. The overarching question of their joint study is whether and how gut microbiome taxa and their metabolites influence brain health. Dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota in older people is linked to a “leaky gut”, which may result in silent systemic low-grade inflammation and promote neuroinflammation - a relevant pathomechanism in the aetiology/progression of neurocognitive disorders.
The study will provide new data and insights for elucidating the mechanistic processes related to neurocognitive disorders. This new knowledge might improve the prediction of the risk of dementia onset/progression or advance the development of strategies to inhibit the onset/progression of neurocognitive disorders.
Contact
| Name | Position | PI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Kseniya Simbirtseva | Research Fellow | ksimbirtseva@ucc.ie | ST |
Ms Mary Faherty
Biography
Mary Faherty is a PMP certified project manager with a degree in civil engineering, a masters in environmental management, a diploma in medical device science and a diploma in corporate environmental planning. She has worked in the private sector, with multinational and start-up medical device companies as well as engineering consultancies.
She spent several years working in the NGO sector managing large-scale engineering, social and environmental projects in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe. Past projects included managing a $11 million emergency response programme in post-earthquake affected Haiti, leading a €2.8m housing programme in rural Uganda, and managing a R&D consortium funded by Enterprise Ireland’s Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund.
She has also been involved in writing several funding proposals and secured $5 million funding for flood-affected areas in Pakistan. Her research interests focus on social and environmental issues that contribute to better solutions for people and society.
Contact
| Name | Position | PI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ms Mary Faherty | Research Assistant | mfaherty@ucc.ie | ST |
Ms Lorna Kenny
Biography
Lorna Kenny graduated from University College Cork in Ireland with a BSocSc in Social Science in 2009 and an MSocSc in Social Policy in 2015, respectively. Since January 2017, Lorna has been working as a researcher at the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation at University College Cork.
Her current research interests include: Parkinson's disease and wearable technology, health services research, and food, microbiome, and older people's health.
Contact
| Name | Position | PI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ms Lorna Kenny | Research Assistant | lorna.kenny@ucc.ie | ST |
Ms Lauren O'Mahony
Biography
Lauren graduated with a BSc in Public Health Science from University College Cork in 2021. She worked as a research assistant with the School of Public Health, involved in health services and quality improvement projects, including an evaluation of the ‘End 2 End Implementation of the Model of Integrated care for Type 2 Diabetes’. She also worked on a national report “Review of International Practice on Building Sustainability into National Healthy Eating Guidelines and Practical Implications for Policy”, organising and conducting consumer focus groups across Ireland.
Lauren joined the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation as a research assistant for the Solarbiome project. This study highlighted the importance of increasing awareness within key populations toward the benefits of a Mediterranean-style diet for gut microbiota and consequently brain health in ageing. Lauren has assisted with multiple projects within the centre, including student dissertations, and a feasibility study to improve dementia care in Ireland (A quality improvement collaborative to support the Irish National Audit of Dementia (INAD). She is currently working on an evaluation of 'The Alzheimer Society of Ireland' TeamUp for Dementia Research service, which acts as a recruitment bridge between people with dementia and family carers, and dementia research teams. Lauren supports teaching within the programmes MSc Dementia and MSc Older Person Rehabilitation and is passionate about promoting physical and social wellbeing and health within ageing.
Contact
| Name | Position | PI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ms Lauren O'Mahony | Research and Teaching Assistant | laurenomahony@ucc.ie | ST |
Mr Christopher Walsh
Contact
| Name | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Mr Christopher Walsh | Centre Administrator | christopherwalsh@ucc.ie |