News
Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Student Hannah Cleary publishes in Irish Journal of Medical Science
Former undergraduate student Hannah Cleary received SURE funding in 2021 with Dr Erin Crowley for a project that was completed in collaboration with Prof Aideen Sullivan and Dr Lucy Collins-Stack of the Dept of Anatomy and Neuroscience, UCC and James Diskin and Donna Kitt of Corrib Physio, Galway.
Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative neurological condition that affects motor function, and people with Parkinson’s frequently report that their handwriting can deteriorate significantly over the course of the disease, to the point that they can no longer sign their own name or write shopping lists, birthday cards etc. This study showed that participants who completed a 6 week intensive handwriting training program at home demonstrated improvements in their handwriting across a range of domains. The participants themselves gave very positive feedback about the program, and further work is ongoing with the Corrib physio group and their people with Parkinson’s cohort. The research was recently published in the Irish Journal of Medical Science. Huge congratulations to Hannah for all her hard work in this study.