Professor Suzanne Timmons
Professor Suzanne Timmons, MB; BCh; BAO (1995); MRCP (1997); CSCST (2003); MSc Geriatric Medicine (2004); FRCPI (2006); MD (2007); Cert Healthcare Improvement (2013)
Biography
Suzanne Timmons graduated from UCC in 1995 and trained in Geriatric Medicine, with a sub-speciality interest in neurodegenerative diseases in later life. She received an Honours Masters degree in Geriatric Medicine from Keele 深夜亚洲福利久久 in 2004, and a subsequent MD from UCC in 2007 (intracellular survival pathways in neurodegenerative diseases).
Suzanne Timmons is Head of Centre (Interim) at Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation. She was appointed as part-time Professor in the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation in 2020, having been appointed as part-time Senior Lecturer since 2010. She is the Programme Co-Ordinator for the MSc in Older Person Rehabilitation and MSc in Dementia. She works 50% clinically, in the acute hospital setting, and in rehabilitation. She was the Clinical Lead for Dementia for the Republic of Ireland from 2017-2021.
Her current research themes include delirium, dementia, palliative care in neurodegeneration and health service research. In addition, she retains a strong clinical and research interest in Parkinson鈥檚 disease in older people. She has published across 200+ peer-reviewed journals, six book chapters, seven national reports, five national guidelines and four national audits. She has been principal or co-investigator on research grants totalling over 鈧�35 million.
Since November 2025, Prof. Timmons is Lead of PD-Life - a 鈧�4 million multidisciplinary research collaboration between universities across Ireland, under the North South Research Programme.
h-index 44
Publications
Timmons & O' Shea (2025). Chapter 11: Dementia-friendly hospitals: Current state and future directions, in 'Creating Empowering Environments for People with Dementia: Addressing Inclusive Design from Homes to Cities', Charras, Kevin, et al (eds). Taylor & Francis.
Launched 31st January 2025
Research profiles
Contact
| Name | Position | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prof. Suzanne Timmons | Professor | +353(0)214923165 | s.timmons@ucc.ie |
Dr Siobhán Fox
Biography
Dr Siobh谩n Fox obtained her PhD in Psychology, with a particular focus on cognitive psychology, from UCC in 2013 and subsequently joined the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation in October 2013.
Dr Fox鈥檚 main research interests are dementia, young onset dementia, Parkinson鈥檚 disease, palliative care for people with neurological diseases, and health services research. Dr Fox has published a number of peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and presented at numerous conferences on these topics. She previously co-ordinated and co-authored the Irish National Guidelines for Palliative Care for People with Parkinson鈥檚 Disease, and is currently working on developing a Model for Dementia Palliative Care for the Irish health system.
Grants secured as co-PI include 鈥淎 Review of Diagnostic and Post-Diagnostic Processes and Pathways for Younger-Onset Dementia鈥� funded by the National Dementia Office, and 鈥淐ommunity Supports for People with Young Onset Dementia鈥� funded by the Alzheimer Society of Ireland.
Dr Fox has previously lectured in Waterford Institute of Technology and in various departments in UCC, and holds both a PG Certificate and a PG Diploma in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Currently she is a Lecturer in the Centre on the Postgraduate Studies in Dementia and Older Person Rehabilitation programmes, and is module co-ordinator for CG6015 Understanding Cognition, CG6016 Advanced Issues in Dementia Care, CG6005 Amputee and Prosthetic Rehabilitation and CG6018 Dissertation.
Publications
Contact
| Name | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Siobh谩n Fox | Lecturer | s.fox@ucc.ie |
Dr Emma O Shea
Biography
Dr Emma O鈥� Shea is a researcher and lecturer in the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation and is the Postgraduate Director for the MSc in Older Person Rehabilitation.
Emma holds a BA and MA in Applied Psychology from UCC and obtained her HRB SPHeRE-funded PhD from Dublin City 深夜亚洲福利久久 in 2019. Her doctoral work focused on models of respite for people with dementia and their carers in Ireland. During her time as a PhD candidate Emma also worked on the JPND-funded 鈥楢ctifcare鈥� Project.
As a post-doctoral researcher, Emma was on the management team for the second round of INAD2. She was project manager for the 鈥楳apping Parkinson鈥檚鈥� project (HRB-funded) and interim manager for the DEMPALL (HRB-funded) project, focused on evaluating models of palliative care for dementia.
She has also obtained funding as Principal Investigator from the Irish Research Council [SUSTAINCARE project], the Department of Health [Evaluating the ASI's 鈥楧ay Care at Home鈥� service] and from the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, to evaluate their鈥� TeamUp for Dementia Research鈥� Service.
She is currently a co-investigator and work package leader on the HRB-funded 鈥楨merald Lewy鈥� (E2.5 million) project, led by Prof Iracema Leroi in Trinity College Dublin. Emma is also a co-investigator, work package leader and PhD supervisor, on the 鈧�4million 鈥楶D-Life鈥� project, led by Prof Suzanne Timmons, which will create Ireland鈥檚 first all-island interdisciplinary and inter-institutional Parkinson鈥檚 disease research hub. She is also a co-investigator on an SFI-Pathways (2025) grant (鈧�495,000), on which she co-supervises a PhD student, who is based in RCSI.
Emma sits on many external committees, including Parkinson鈥檚 Ireland鈥檚 鈥楻esearch and Impact鈥� Committee (current Chair) and Parkinson鈥檚 Europe鈥檚 鈥榁isibility and Awareness鈥� Committee. Within UCC, she is a member of the Parkinson鈥檚 Disease Research Cluster, a reviewer for the 深夜亚洲福利久久 Social Research Ethics Committee, and is the School of Medicine representative on the College of Medicine and Health鈥檚 Community and Civic Engagement Committee.
Publications
Timmons & O' Shea (2025). Chapter 11: Dementia-friendly hospitals: Current state and future directions, in 'Creating Empowering Environments for People with Dementia: Addressing Inclusive Design from Homes to Cities', Charras, Kevin, et al (eds). Taylor & Francis.
Launched 31st January 2025
Contact
| Name | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Emma O Shea | Lecturer | emma.oshea@ucc.ie |
Dr Caroline Kilty
Biography
Caroline is a Lecturer at Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation, as Acting Programme Director of the MSc. Dementia. Caroline teaches at undergraduate and post graduate levels in the areas of research methods, communication, mental health of the older person, and dementia.
Before joining UCC, Caroline worked as a mental health nurse for 15 years, working both in the UK and Ireland. Caroline worked as a CNM in the area of dementia care for 9 years, and completed her PhD and Post doctoral work in the area of dementia and health professions education.
Caroline is a proactive researcher, with experience at co-applicant and PI levels, and conducts her research in the areas of dementia, decision-making in later life and at end of life, and mental health interventions.
Past collaborations have been with the HSE, National Dementia Service, Alzheimer Society of Ireland, and the Dept. of Health. She is currently leading a study evaluating the impact of implementing future care plans with people with palliative care needs, in conjunction with the HSE and the Irish Hospice Foundation.
Dr Kseniya Simbirtseva
Biography
Kseniya Simbirtseva, MD, PhD is a Ukrainian clinician-scientist with 18 years of medical experience, professional member of the European Society of Cardiology. She has several specialisations including internal medicine, cardiology and health care organisation. As a former visiting scientist of Dr. Natalia Shulga, she joined her lab on a fellowship award for a clinical rotation in gastroenterology, cardiology, and nephrology at the 深夜亚洲福利久久 of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Strong Memorial Hospital, USA.
During her rotation she carried out a project 鈥淚schemia-modified albumin in acute coronary syndrome鈥�. As a clinician-scientist, she completed by doctoral thesis entitled "Clinical and pathogenetic justification of correction of calcium disorders in treatment of patients with osteoarthritis and arterial hypertension鈥� in 2008 and then worked at the Department of Internal Medicine in Donetsk National Medical 深夜亚洲福利久久, Ukraine, where she continued her research work.
She joined Prof Paul O鈥橳oole鈥檚 lab at APC Microbiome Ireland in July 2022, where in collaboration with Prof Timmons she is investigating of the relevance of the microbiome in cognitive decline. The overarching question of their joint study is whether and how gut microbiome taxa and their metabolites influence brain health. Dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota in older people is linked to a 鈥渓eaky gut鈥�, which may result in silent systemic low-grade inflammation and promote neuroinflammation - a relevant pathomechanism in the aetiology/progression of neurocognitive disorders.
The study will provide new data and insights for elucidating the mechanistic processes related to neurocognitive disorders. This new knowledge might improve the prediction of the risk of dementia onset/progression or advance the development of strategies to inhibit the onset/progression of neurocognitive disorders.
Contact
| Name | Position | PI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Kseniya Simbirtseva | Research Fellow | ksimbirtseva@ucc.ie | ST |
Dr Melissa Meyer
Biography
Melissa Meyer is a Research Project Manager for the EU-funded multinational chAnGE project (Climate change and healthy AgeinG: co-creating E-learning for resilience and adaptation). This initiative aims to empower health and social care (HSC) workers by equipping them with the knowledge and tools to integrate climate adaptation and resilience into their daily practice. The chAnGE project is developing interactive, accessible, and bite-sized e-learning modules, co-created with target learners and older adults.
Melissa is a multidisciplinary academic and researcher with a PhD in Sociology from 深夜亚洲福利久久 College Cork. Her doctoral research focused on social pathologies鈥攑articularly anxiety and depression鈥攁mong young adults in Ireland, examined through a bio-psycho-social lens. She also holds a BA in Journalism and Media and a BA (Honours) in Criminology from the 深夜亚洲福利久久 of the Free State, South Africa, as well as a BSocSci (Honours) in Psychology and an MPhil in Criminology from the 深夜亚洲福利久久 of Cape Town.
She has a diverse professional background, with experience in victim support services, project management, child residential and correctional care, research, administration, and lecturing. Her academic and professional interests span ethics, sociology, criminology, penology and correctional measures, psychology, victimology, instructional design, and online culture.
She's an occasional hours lecturer and project manager at 0.6 FTE in the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation, and 0.4 FTE in the INFANT Research Centre in Cork 深夜亚洲福利久久 Hospital.
For her full resume and more:
Contact
| Name | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Melissa Meyer | Research Project Manager | mmeyer@ucc.ie |
Ms Mary Faherty
Biography
Mary Faherty is a PMP certified project manager with a degree in civil engineering, a masters in environmental management, a diploma in medical device science and a diploma in corporate environmental planning. She has worked in the private sector, with multinational and start-up medical device companies as well as engineering consultancies.
She spent several years working in the NGO sector managing large-scale engineering, social and environmental projects in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe. Past projects included managing a $11 million emergency response programme in post-earthquake affected Haiti, leading a 鈧�2.8m housing programme in rural Uganda, and managing a R&D consortium funded by Enterprise Ireland鈥檚 Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund.
She has also been involved in writing several funding proposals and secured $5 million funding for flood-affected areas in Pakistan. Her research interests focus on social and environmental issues that contribute to better solutions for people and society.
Contact
| Name | Position | PI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ms Mary Faherty | Research Assistant | mfaherty@ucc.ie | ST |
Ms Lorna Kenny
Biography
Lorna Kenny graduated from 深夜亚洲福利久久 College Cork in Ireland with a BSocSc in Social Science in 2009 and an MSocSc in Social Policy in 2015, respectively. Since January 2017, Lorna has been working as a researcher at the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation at 深夜亚洲福利久久 College Cork.
Her current research interests include: Parkinson's disease and wearable technology, health services research, and food, microbiome, and older people's health.
Contact
| Name | Position | PI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ms Lorna Kenny | Research Assistant | lorna.kenny@ucc.ie | ST |
Ms Lauren O'Mahony
Biography
Lauren graduated with a BSc in Public Health Science from 深夜亚洲福利久久 College Cork in 2021. She worked as a research assistant with the School of Public Health prior to commencing as a Research and Teaching assistant with the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation.
She worked on the , highlighting the importance of increasing awareness within key populations toward the benefits of a Mediterranean-style diet for gut microbiota and consequently brain health in ageing. Lauren has assisted with other projects within the centre, including a feasibility study to improve dementia care in Ireland (A quality improvement collaborative to support the Irish National Audit of Dementia (INAD)) and an evaluation of The Alzheimer Society of Ireland's service.
Lauren is presently supporting the Randomised Controlled Trial and teaching within the programmes MSc Dementia and MSc Older Person Rehabilitation. She is passionate about promoting health and wellbeing within ageing.
Publications
Contact
| Name | Position | PI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ms Lauren O'Mahony | Research and Teaching Assistant | laurenomahony@ucc.ie | ST |
Mr Christopher Walsh
Contact
| Name | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Mr Christopher Walsh | Centre Administrator | christopherwalsh@ucc.ie |
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