August's Researcher in Focus is Dr. Emma O'Shea, lecturer and researcher in the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation, University College Cork.
What is your area of research?
I am a social gerontologist, health services researcher, and methodologist, with over 10 years’ research and academic experience in neurodegenerative conditions, namely dementia and Parkinson’s disease. I have a background in Applied Psychology, and subsequently moved into the health services research space, ahead of completing my PhD in DCU in 2019, via the HRB-funded SPHeRE programme.
My areas of interest within dementia and Parkinson’s disease research include psychosocial interventions, health service evaluation and audit, and how to meaningfully include the perspectives of people living with neurodegenerative disease, both in a PPI capacity, and in terms of research participation.
What made you interested in this area?
As part of my postgraduate psychology studies, I completed a 6-month clinical rotation with a Psychiatry of Later Life team. I worked in a memory clinic, a specialist mental health day service, conducted home and care home visits, and co-facilitated a peer support programme for family carers, and a reminiscence intervention for people with dementia.
Those 6-months completely changed the course of my professional life. I realised just how much work was needed to develop services, care models and policies that can account for the personhood needs of people living with dementia, and the support needs of family carers.
What impact would you like your research to have?
My MO as a researcher in this space is to collaborate and lead on projects that are impact-focused, by design. The most fulfilling experiences of my professional career relate to creating a tangible impact on the dementia care and policy landscape, by using research findings to persuade decision-makers to support the implementation of policy and/or practice change.
Who has helped or inspired you in your area of research?
Academically, Tom Kitwood’s work on person-centred care has been particularly influential, as has the work of Professor Steven Sabat in Georgetown University. At a local level, I have also been surrounded by many influential research leaders in the dementia space (e.g., Prof Suzanne Timmons [UCC], Prof Kate Irving [DCU] and many others, that have championed and supported me as an early career researcher.
What current research are you most excited about (your own, or that of others)?
I am part of the Parkinson’s Disease Research Cluster at University College Cork and we were very recently (August 2025) awarded HEA North-South funding for a 4 million doctoral training programme, in partnership with our co-leads in Queen’s University Belfast, and several other HEIs north and south of the border. The ‘PD Life’ programme will build capacity for impact-focused Parkinson’s-related research on the island of Ireland, nurture the next generation of PD researchers, and miminise duplicative work across Higher Education Institutions.
Internationally, I’m excited about the growing recognition amongst the research community of the value of interrogating the potential causal pathways for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, through a ‘complexity theory’ lens. Decades of reliance on singular causal pathways (e.g., the amyloid hypothesis) hasn’t been as fruitful as we would have hoped. I’m optimistic that this paradigmatic shift in thinking may lead us to the breakthroughs we have been waiting for.
What do you do when you are not working?
In my spare time, I am outdoors with my dog Noah at the beach or the woods, or catching up with friends and family. My husband is a jazz musician, and I love when I can make it to his shows. Music is a big part of our lives.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received?
Remain curious – every person you meet understands something that you don't.
Contact Details:
Dr Emma O Shea, Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, University College Cork.
Email: emma.oshea@ucc.ie
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Emma-Oshea?ev=hdr_xprf