Program Overview

---

UCD Academic Track Interns

The UCD Intern Network is pleased to welcome the UCD Academic Track interns for the current academic year.

About the UCD Academic Track Programme

The Academic Track Programme was designed in 2017 to give Interns the opportunity to undertake a three-month project in clinical research, medical education, or healthcare leadership and management.

UCD Academic Track Posts

UCD Academic Track posts are a combination of clinical rotations with a three-month protected Academic Track rotation. Applicants to the programme can choose a research project in the areas of clinical research, medical education, or healthcare leadership and management.

Research Project Opportunities

The UCD Intern Training Network offers a wide range of Academic Track research projects aligned with HSE-recognised clinical specialties and cross-cutting academic domains. Projects are supervised by UCD-affiliated clinicians and academics across multiple teaching hospitals and research institutes.

Project Areas and Examples

Current UCD Academic Track projects include opportunities in the following areas:

• Medicine & Medical Specialties: Cardiovascular risk reduction studies, metabolic medicine research, infectious diseases outcomes, geriatrics, and stroke prevention.
• Surgery: Breast, colorectal, hepatobiliary, bariatric, and transplant surgery projects, including oncological outcomes, imaging-based tissue analysis, and surgical innovation.
• Emergency Medicine: National registry participation, emerging drug trends, and sustainability and simulation-based education initiatives.
• Obstetrics & Gynaecology / Women's Health: Placental pathology and pregnancy outcomes, hormone-related health impacts, and women's cancer research.
• Psychiatry & Mental Health: Studies examining vaccination outcomes in severe mental illness, liaison psychiatry research, and paediatric mental health admissions.
• Respiratory, Renal & Transplant Medicine: Interstitial lung disease pathways, biomarker validation, kidney transplant rejection detection, and lung transplant monitoring.
• General Practice & Population Health: Mapping regional health needs, primary care research priorities, and integrated care models.
• Oncology & Cancer Biology: Prostate, breast, bladder, pancreatic, and cholangiocarcinoma research, including registry-based and translational studies.
• Digital Health, AI & Clinical Informatics: AI-assisted diagnostic imaging, digital prehabilitation programmes, automated clinical summaries, and AI governance frameworks.
• Medical Education, Rehabilitation & Integrated Care: Simulation-based education, learning health systems, rehabilitation research, and service improvement projects.

UCD Academic Track Interns 2025 - 2026

The UCD Academic Track interns for 2025 - 2026 include:

1. Dr Emily Carey: Project title - 'Postoperative Haematinics in Bariatric Surgery Patients: Comparing Procedure Type, Iron Deficiency, and Weight Loss Patterns'.
2. Dr Rachel Farrelly: Project title - 'Safety culture and psychological safety in the operating room: a survey-based study'.
3. Dr Turlough Heffernan: Project title - 'Hypoxia induced glycolysis and glycolytic complex formation in Lamina Cribrosa Fibroblasts'.
4. Dr Rachel Kelly: Project title - 'The Impact of Frailty on Skin Cancer'.
5. Dr Ellen McGrady: Project title - 'A Clinical Audit of Pancreatic Cancer Care in Ireland: Measuring the timelines to diagnosis and treatment'.
6. Dr Gabriele Naughton: Project title - 'The Eve Study: Exploring Variations by Sex in Antipsychotic Prescribing, Side Effects, and Discontinuation in First Episode Psychosis'.
7. Dr Darragh Nerney: Project title - 'Clinical and Biomarker Determinants of Atrial Fibrillation Detection on Extended Cardiac Monitoring After Stroke'.
8. Dr Richard Ó'Conaill: Project title - 'The CINDI registry: novel approaches to diagnostic uncertainty in paediatric neurology'.

UCD Academic Track Interns

The UCD Intern Network is pleased to welcome the UCD Academic Track interns for the current academic year.

The UCD Intern Network Presents

The UCD Intern Network presents the following Academic Track interns:

• Dr Ali Donnelly: Project title - 'The Impact of Atopic Dermatitis on Adolescent Identity Formation'.
• Dr Basem Fouda: Project title - 'Home-Based Monitoring of Ocular Perfusion Pressure: A Pilot Study'.
• Dr Eimear Kyle: Project title - 'The Utility of a Multi-Centre Radiomics Model for Recurrence Risk in T4 Rectal Cancer'.
• Dr Kielan Wilson: Project title - 'The impact of psychiatric illness on outcomes following spine surgery'.
• Dr Lucy Dockery: Project title - 'Navigating The Transition: A Comprehensive Study on the Impact of Primary to Secondary School Transition Care on T1D Management'.
• Dr Matthew Laffey: Project title - 'Outcomes of prostate artery embolization in the setting of benign prostatic hyperplasia in poor surgical candidates'.

UCD Academic Track Interns

The UCD Intern Network is pleased to welcome the UCD Academic Track interns for the current academic year.

The UCD Intern Network Presents

The UCD Intern Network presents the following Academic Track interns:

• Dr Damien Doherty: Project title - 'Mantle Cell Lymphoma in Ireland: A Real-World Database Registry Study'.
• Dr Robin Keane: Project title - 'Investigating the requirements for a transition care service for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer in Ireland'.
• Dr Stephen Kelly: Project title - 'Evaluating the safety and efficacy of the new RetinaScreen pathways'.
• Dr Blanca Lenoci: Project title - 'Posturography and cognitive motor interference in cervical dystonia'.
• Dr Harry Marland: Project title - 'Comparative outcomes of early vs delayed surgical intervention in geriatric patients with spinal fractures and concomitant spinal cord injuries'.
• Dr Sarah Miles: Project title - 'Exploring the association between systemic inflammation, HIV reservoir size and the CTIP2 biomarker in people with HIV (PWH) within the All-Ireland Infectious Disease Cohort'.
• Dr Ned Quirke: Project title - 'Primary Closure Versus Myocutaneous Flap Closure Of Abdominoperineal Resection (APR) And Pelvic Exenteration Defects, A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis'.
• Dr Ruth Walsh: Project title - 'Blood-Brain-Barrier Evaluation of Patients with Highly Refractory Focal Epilepsy Before and After High Dose Intravenous Methylprednisolone'.

UCD Academic Track Study Day - 21 March 2025

The UCD Academic Track Study Day was held on Friday, 21 March 2025, at the University Club in UCD. This event was coordinated by the UCD Intern Network in collaboration with the UCD Clinical Research Centre as part of the UCD Academic Track Internship.

UCD Clinical Trials Masterclass - 01 October 2022

The UCD Clinical Trials Masterclass was held on Saturday, 01 October 2022, at the Catherine McAuley Education & Research Centre, Nelson Street, Dublin 7. This Masterclass was facilitated by the UCD Intern Network in conjunction with the UCD Clinical Research Centre supporting the UCD Academic Track Intern Programme.

UCD Clinical Trials Masterclass - 25 September 2021

The UCD Clinical Trials Masterclass open to all Academic Track interns nationally was held on Saturday, 25 September 2021, at the Catherine McAuley Education & Research Centre, Nelson Street, Dublin 7. This Masterclass was facilitated by the UCD Intern Network in conjunction with the UCD Clinical Research Centre supporting the UCD Academic Track Intern Programme.