About Monica O’Mullane
I am a Research Fellow working on my Health Impact Assessment project (HIA-IM) funded by the Health Research Board in the School of Public Health, UCC.
Previously I was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) fellow, with my project GendeResearchIreland) in the Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century (ISS21), University College Cork, a mobility fellowship funded by the European Commission (2018-2022)
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I hold a Bachelor of Science in Government and Public Policy (2004), University College Cork (UCC), receiving a UCC Undergraduate Award for Top Marks in 2004. In 2005 I graduated with a Masters of Arts in Health Promotion, National University of Ireland, Galway. My masters thesis was an investigation of the feasibility of research techniques for children in the evaluation of a mental health promotion programme, Zippy’s Friends.
I completed my doctoral study in 2008 with the Department of Government and Politics, UCC, supervised by Dr Aodh Quinlivan. The thesis was an exploratory study of policy formulation in Ireland and Northern Ireland, with a specific focus on a policy-aiding approach and instrument, Health Impact Assessment (HIA). This research was published into a monograph (link is on the website- link to there?). The doctoral study was an interdisciplinary combination of my educational background by then, drawing on my learning in health promotion and political science.
From 2008 to 2010 I worked as a postdoctoral researcher on a Health Research Board (HRB) Ireland project National Diabetes Register Project (NDRP) with the Department of General Practice, UCC. In 2010 I was awarded an individual research fellowship by Slovenská Akademická Informačná Agentúra (SAIA) (under the Ministry of Education) and the fellowship was hosted by the Institute of Political Science, Slovenská Akadémia Vied (S.A.V.), to conduct a study of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Institutionalisation in Slovakia. From 2010 to 2016 I was employed as a lecturer in the Department of Public Health, Trnava University, Trnava, Slovakia. During my time there I led and participated in EC funded projects (GENOVATE , ACTION-FOR-HEALTH, and CABIS-IDA), as well as publishing my edited book. During my time in Trnava University I worked as an expert with HEALTHNET on three European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) projects on informing communicable disease surveillance systems, which has never been more relevant than in the COVID-19 pandemic era we have experienced.
From 2016 to 2018 I worked as an English language teacher for primary school children at the Bilingual English Slovak School Trnava (BESST) . While there I witnessed the implementation of Zippy’s Friends Slovakia, which I was thrilled to see had come to life and was fully enjoyed by children and teachers alike.
From 2018 I have been pursuing my beloved GendeResearchIreland fellowship, which has been literally the opportunity of a lifetime for me as a researcher to focus solely on my research study within the individual fellowship.
Cork city with a view of the Shandon tower (Saint Marys Church) Source: https://www.tripsavvy.com/top-things-to-do-in-cork-ireland-4685203
I am a Cork woman through and through. I’m one of those people soulfully passionate about being from Cork! Please come and visit this Rebel County if you haven’t already- it’s the best place on earth in my wholly biased opinion!
When I was 18 years old I wanted to change the world for the better and that is basically why I pursued a degree in political science! I hold a Bachelor of Science in Government and Public Policy (2004), University College Cork (UCC), receiving a UCC Undergraduate Award for Top Marks in 2004. When I was coming to the end of my degree study I became interested in focusing my research endeavours on societal health and wellbeing. I was largely inspired at the time (and to this day) by my wonderful cousin Karen O’Mullane, who had also pursued the discipline of health promotion and continues to work in the field to this day. In 2005 I graduated with a Masters of Arts in Health Promotion, National University of Ireland, Galway. My masters thesis involved an investigation of the feasibility of research techniques for children in the evaluation of a mental health promotion programme, Zippy’s Friends. For this thesis I needed to use pictures similar to those used as part of the Zippy’s Friends programme story, and so my dear talented friend Sarah Stapleton (M.A. Art Therapy www.iacat.ie) kindly created these for the study.
I embarked with delight on my doctoral journey in 2005 under the supervision of the kind and ever passionate Dr Aodh Quinlivan, who had been my lecturer during my bachelor studies in UCC. For me, embarking on what I was hoping to be a research career with the commencement of my doctoral study, was connected to my own innate desire for freedom- intellectual, professional and personal.
I painted this in 2012, called “Freedom”.
Academia represents freedom for me, in the sense that I have had plenty of unbounded opportunities to follow my bliss in intellectual passions. As the public intellectual Edward Said once stated, “an intellectual’s mission in life is to advance human freedom and knowledge.” This resonates also with my happiness to pursue a research career, because of the freedom I find in the intellectual space, and also playing my small part in pushing forward scholarship. President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins referred to this statement when reflecting on the university as a space for curiosity and ethics (NUIG Cois Coiribe magazine, 2020). Research is essentially globalised, and like many of my peers I knew travelling with my qualifications would always be an exciting option for me.
I completed my doctoral research in 2008 in the Department of Government and Politics, UCC. The thesis was an exploratory study of policy formulation in Ireland and Northern Ireland, with a specific focus on a policy-aiding approach and instrument, Health Impact Assessment (HIA). The doctoral study was an interdisciplinary combination of my educational background by then, drawing on my learning in health promotion and political science.
From 2008 to 2010 I worked as a postdoctoral researcher on a Health Research Board (HRB) Ireland funded project National Diabetes Register Project (NDRP) with the Department of General Practice, UCC.
I lived for eight happy years in Slovakia (Bratislava and then Trnava) from 2010 to 2018. It was the experience of a lifetime. Trnava, known as the little Rome of Slovakia, is a lovely town full of life and history.
While in Slovakia I worked in Slovak Academy of Sciences Bratislava, Trnava University (Faculty of Health Care and Social Work), and in a bilingual English Slovak school (BESST) as an English language teacher, as well as having our daughter in the country with my husband. I was hoping for an adventure in Slovakia and I certainly got one! <3
Monica O’Mullane standing just outside the old town walls, 2012, Trnava town, Slovakia.
An article I wrote for the magazine Slovak in Ireland (targeted towards the Slovak community living in Ireland) in 2012 where I shared my experience as a researcher and resident living in the country. Translation of the heading: Irish woman in Slovakia- trains and buses run on time!
In 2010 I was awarded an individual research fellowship by Slovenská Akademická Informačná Agentúra (SAIA) (under the Slovak Ministry of Education). The fellowship was hosted by the Institute of Political Science, Slovenská Akadémia Vied (S.A.V.)/ Slovak Academy of Science.
Photo of the main Trnava centre tower. Source: https://en-gb.facebook.com/trnava/photos/a.10150665131828441/10158102453508441/?type=1&theater
The fellowship enabled me to examine Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Institutionalisation in Slovakia. It was such an awesome experience! I got to live in dorm in the S.A.V. that was available only for international researchers such as myself. I had a really cosy ensuite room and shared a common living space with other researchers. Suffice to say- it was a lot of fun!
From 2010 to 2016 I was employed as a lecturer in the Department of Public Health, Trnava University, Trnava, Slovakia. During my time there I led and participated in EC funded projects (GENOVATE, ACTION-FOR-HEALTH, and CABIS-IDA), as well as publishing my two books.
During my time in Trnava University I worked as an expert with HEALTHNET on three European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) projects on informing communicable disease surveillance systems, which has never been more relevant than in the COVID-19 pandemic era we have experienced.
Monica O’Mullane with other researchers living in the Slovak Academy of Sciences dorm in 2010.
From 2016 to 2018 I worked as an English language teacher for primary school children at the Bilingual English Slovak School Trnava (BESST). While there I witnessed the implementation of Zippy’s Friends Slovakia, which I was thrilled to see had come to life and was fully enjoyed by children and teachers alike.
Dr Monica O’Mullane, Trnava University 2013, at an institutional GENOVATE meeting.
From 2018 I have been pursuing my beloved GendeResearchIreland fellowship. This has been literally the opportunity of a lifetime for me as a researcher to focus solely on my research study within the supportive space of an individual fellowship. Dr Caitríona Ní Laoire , ISS21 UCC, is my mentor on the project whom I know since 2009 when we first met for an introductory cup of tea. It was quite a meeting as it led to my coordinating the ISS21 Health and Wellbeing Research Cluster (now known as the ISS21 SHAPE Cluster) until 2010. As part of this endeavour we invited the enigmatic Joan Devlin to Cork to talk about her experiences of Belfast Healthy Cities in 2009. Her presentation motivated us further in Cork to pursue the W.H.O. Healthy Cities designation. After I moved to Slovakia an opportunity arose for Caitríona (UCC) and I (Trnava University) to collaborate with five other European countries in the European Commission Funded GENOVATE project, led by Professor Uduak Archibong in the University of Bradford, UK.
My experience with GENOVATE sparked an interest in me to pursue research on the role of the Athena SWAN Charter in Irish higher education, which is how GendeResearchIreland was conceptualised. So the morale of the story is- a world of research and practice can evolve from a modest cuppa 🙂
In 2020 I had the honour of joining the Ben Cave Associates Insight team. Hopefully it will open up many opportunities to work on health impact assessment-related work together.