Join Dr Sheena McHugh for the Sixth Seminar in our Series

4 Feb 2025

"Aligning Implementation Science and Practice in Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges"

Biography: Dr Sheena McHugh is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Public Health. Her research focuses on how to ensure that evidence-based interventions are integrated into routine care to improve the quality and effectiveness of care for those in need. This work includes examining barriers and facilitators to implementing evidence-based interventions and designing and tailoring implementation strategies. Her research has largely focused on diabetes management in primary care.

Sheena leads the Health Implementation Research Hub at the School of Public Health, a research group interested in how best to implement evidence-based interventions and support the use of research in health services. She also leads the Irish Implementation Science Training Institute, a blended training programme in implementation science. 

In 2020 Sheena was awarded a Research Leader Award by the Health Research Board. This five year funding programme involves research on the process and impact of tailored implementation to support evidence based care, and build capacity in implementation science in Ireland. She partnered with the National Clinical Programme for Diabetes and is a member of its national working group. She also collaborates with HSE Research and Development to support the use and conduct of research in the Irish health service. 

Sheena trained originally in psychology, graduating from University College Dublin and holds an MSc in Health Psychology from University College London. She has a PhD in Health Services Research and was one of the first graduates of the HRB Scholars Programme in Health Services Research, now known as SPHeRE. Sheena has a Postgraduate Certificate in Implementation Science from Trinity College Dublin and a Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Education from UCC. She is a Fulbright Scholar (2018) and worked as a visiting scholar at the Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina. She is now the Fulbright Ambassador at UCC. She is Associate Editor with BMJ Quality and Safety and a member of the editorial board of Implementation Research and Practice.