I am an Associate Professor in University College Dublin School of Psychology and I am an active researcher in the youth mental health field. My research areas focus on risk and protective factors related to young people’s mental health, early intervention and youth body image. Examples of some body image projects I have been involved in include investigating body image in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (with former PhD student Gillian Motyer) and analysing large-scaled data on body esteem and dissatisfaction in sexual minority youth (with postdoctoral researcher Dr. Ciara Mahon). 

I co-founded the UCD Youth Mental Health Lab in 2013 with colleagues in the School to promote research in youth mental health and to translate research findings into having a positive impact on the lives of young people. The lab comprises faculty and graduate students engaging in research relating to youth mental health. My research has received funding from the Irish Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, Royal Irish Academy, and National Children’s Research Centre. I was a core team member of the My World Surveys, the largest surveys of risk and protective factors of youth mental health in Ireland among 33,000 young people aged 12-25 years old (www.myworldsurvey.ie). The My World Surveys are a collaboration between UCD and Jigsaw- The National Centre for Youth Mental Health. 

I am an Associate Editor for BMC Public Health (Mental Health). I was a former Board Member for www.spunout.ieIreland’s leading youth information website and text50808.ie and past Executive Member of the International Association for Youth Mental Health (www.iaymh.org).