People in the Resilience & Health Laboratory
Lab Director & Principal Investigator
(opens in a new window)Associate Professor Niki Nearchou (Faculty)
Dr Finiki (Niki) Nearchou is an Associate Professor with the UCD School of Psychology. Niki is the Director of Research on the UCD Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology. Coming from a health and developmental psychology background Niki focuses on resilience and youth health research by applying sophisticated analytical techniques and methodologies. Niki's intellectual signature lies in understanding the complex mechanisms underpinning social, environmental, psychological and biological factors associated with sustainable resilience and quality of life, especially when exposed to traumatic adversities.Her programme generates cutting-edge research, carries significant translational value and delivers impact with sustainable and real-world implications; timely addressing the Sustainable Development Goal 3: Ensure Healthy Lives & Wellbeing for all at all ages as outlined by the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
Email: (opens in a new window)foiniki.nearchou@ucd.ie
X: @NearchouNiki
Graduate Researchers
Valerie Burke
Valerie is a Psychologist in Clinical Training. Her work focuses on examining the experiences and needs of General Practitioners working with young people presenting with self-harm and suicidal behaviours. Valerie’s work is funded by HSE
Dr Varsha Eswara-Murphy
BA(Hons), MPsychSc, PhD, Psychologist in Clinical Training. Varsha is currently a Psychologist in Clinical Training. Her current doctoral work focuses on investigating and ameliorating the psychosocial burden of hidradenitis suppurativa and is funded by Health Service Executive. She has completed both her undergraduate, master’s and PhD degrees at UCD. Her previous doctoral research focused on improving well-being and mitigating the effects of shame and stigma in a population experiencing homelessness using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Her research interests include mindfulness, motivation and developing interventions to improve well-being and health related behaviours for various populations, such as those experiencing homelessness, chronic conditions, and parents of children with disabilities.
Clodagh Flinn
Clodagh is a PhD candidate on the Ad Astra Fellow PhD Studentship programme in UCD. She completed her BA (International) in Psychology and Master of Psychological Science in UCD. Her research throughout has been completed under the supervision of Assoc Prof Niki Nearchou. Clodagh has worked as a research assistant on the Your Youth Health Project, led by Dr. Nearchou in UCD, since 2020. Clodagh’s research interests include various aspects of health in young people including mental health and sexual health. Further aspects of her research involve resilience and chronic skin conditions.
Email: (opens in a new window)clodagh.flinn@ucdconnect.ie
X: @ClodaghFlinn
Áine French
by the Irish Research Council on the Employment-Based Post-Graduate Scheme. This project investigates sleep, suicidal behaviour, and emotional regulation in service users of an addiction rehabilitation service.. She is supervised by Assoc Prof Niki Nearchou and Dr Amy Watchorn. Aine has previously worked as an Assistant Psychologist with the HSE and a Research Assistant on several projects including with Professor Eilis Hennessy on a project funded by the National Office of Suicide Prevention exploring parents’ information needs regarding adolescent self-harm. This project also won the overall UCD research impact award.
Email: (opens in a new window)aine.french@ucdconnect.ie
X: @FrenchAine
Christina Koretsidou
Christina is a PhD student, scholar of the Onassis Foundation and supervised by Assistant Assoc Professor Niki Nearchou. She completed her Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Psychology and her Master of Arts (MA) in School Psychology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in Greece. Her research interests include mental health, motivation and the well-being of children, teenagers and young adults. Her current work seeks to create safe and inclusive academic environments through managing and addressing issues such as Gender-based violence (GBV) and Sexual harassment (SH) in higher education, affecting vulnerable and/or minority groups. Christina’s research is funded by the Onassis Foundation and the Irish Research Council.
Email: (opens in a new window)chirstina.koretsidou@ucdconnect.ie
X: @CKoretsidou
Maidy O’Brien
Maidy is a Psychologist in Clinical Training conducting doctoral research in perceptions of romantic relationships in adults with ADHD. Maidy is funded by Health Service Executive. Maidy is jointly supervised by Prof Jessica Bramham and Assoc Prof Niki Nearchou
Greena Regi
Greena completed her Bachelor's in Applied Psychology in University College Cork. She is currently completing her Master’s in Psychological Science in University College Dublin where she is supervised by Dr. Niki Nearchou. Her research interests are related to mental health, stigma and help-seeking in young adults.
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/greena-regi-003114267
Kervin Soobrayen
Kervin completed a History/Linguistics degree at UCD before going on to study Psychology at UCD thereafter. Kervin is now completingcompleted the MSc Psychological Science program. He has been interested in areas of research regarding chronic illnesses, especially in the area of pain. Other areas of interest include adolescents and mental health. He did his undergraduate thesis on adolescents and peers in the COVID-19 context with the supervision of Professor Suzanne Guerin. Kervin is currently conducting conducted his postgraduate research exploring the experiences of children living with Cystic Fibrosis using drawings with the supervision of Dr Niki Nearchou and Dr Sarah Carroll.
Cian Walsh
Cian is a Psychologist in Clinical Training examining the longitudinal associations between inflammation and onset of depression in adults. Cian is funded by Health Service Executive.
Collaborators
(opens in a new window)Dr Jo Bower (Faculty)
Dr Jo Bower joined the UEA in 2020, having previously been a lecturer at De Montfort University, Leicester. Prior to this, Jo completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Houston, where she coordinated a NASA-funded project investigating risk and resilience factors for individuals in isolated, confined, and extreme environments. Jo's research interests encompass the bidirectional associations between sleep, emotion and emotion regulation, with a particular focus on positive emotions. Jo is a Co-Investigator at the Sleep and Brain Research Unit.
Jo holds a PhD from the University of Reading, investigating measurement and individual differences in the regulation of positive emotions (2016), an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from Birkbeck College, University of London (2011) and BSc in Psychology from University of Bath (2005). She is also a member of the Sleep Research Society, British Sleep Society and the APA Society for Teaching in Psychology.
Dr Robert Eves (Post-doctoral researcher)
Dr Robert Eves is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at Bielefeld Universität with guest researcher status at Warwick University and the DIW Berlin. Rob is interested in developmental psychology, especially in early predictors of cognitive performance. Rob did his PhD at the University of Warwick with Professor Dieter Wolke, where he combined IQ data from 8 European cohorts and investigated the long-term effects of being born prematurely. Rob is now investigating models of differential susceptibility and diathesis-stress, testing the consistency of effects across cohorts.
Dr Amy Watchorn (Senior Clinical Psychologist)
Dr Amy Watchorn is a Senior Clinical Psychologist working in St John of God Hospital. She holds a Graduate Degree in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin, a Master’s Degree in Clinical Neuroscience from University College London and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from University of Limerick. She has previously worked in the HSE and with the Talbot Group and has vast experience working with adults with various mental health difficulties. She has a background working with various groups including people struggling with personality disorders, dual diagnosis, depression and anxiety. She currently works as part of an inpatient addictions team and has a strong interest in this area, including involvement in research regarding the impact of addiction on people’s mental health.
(opens in a new window)Dr Vasilis Vasiliou (Clinical Psychologist and Researcher)
Dr Vasiliou is a Clinical Psychologist and Researcher with a specialization in Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine. His research focuses on developing digitally delivered behavioral change interventions for patients with chronic physical illnesses (e.g., chronic pain) and young adults with behavioral vulnerabilities (e.g., drug use). Vasilis completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Crete, Greece, and then continued with a master’s degree at Swansea University, Wales, UK, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Cyprus. He also holds a Post-graduate Certificate (Pg. Cert.) in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (CKBO2, NFQ Level 9) from the University College Cork (UCC), Ireland.
During his clinical training Vasilis was trained in the newest Contextual Cognitive-Behavioral interventions (e.g., Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness, etc) from the ACTHealthy: Clinical Psychology & Behavioral Medicine Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus. Further, he completed part of his clinical training in behavioral change programs for targeted populations (individuals with chronic pain) in Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Neurological Institute, Center for International Medical Education, and in McLean Hospital (adolescents with anxiety problems), Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, US.
Research Interns
Fabiola Silletti
Fabiola Silletti is a Clinical Psychologist and a Ph.D. student in Human Relations Sciences – Psychology at the University of Bari Aldo Moro (Italy). Fabiola's research focuses on resilience across the lifespan, with a particular emphasis on children and young people as well as more vulnerable populations. Awarded the Erasmus + Traineeship grant from European Union and supervised by Dr. Niki Nearchou at UCD, she is currently exploring socio-ecological factors associated with resilience in young people who experience trauma, from a cross-cultural perspective.
Email: (opens in a new window)fabiola.silletti@uniba.it
LinkedIn: (opens in a new window)www.linkedin.com/in/fabiolasilletti
ResearchGate: (opens in a new window)https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fabiola_Silletti
Research Staff
Diarmuid Mc Laughlin
Diarmuid is currently working in the clinical product team for SilverCloud Health. He completed both his Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Psychology and Master of Science (MSc) in Clinical Psychology at the University of Groningen. His research interests include resilience, addiction, and technological mental health intervention.
Aundria Cameron
University College Dublin. For her master’s research she explored the associations between long-COVID and mental health in Irish adults, supervised by Dr. Niki Nearchou and Dr. Sonya Deschênes. Her research interests include the links between mental and physical health, and the psychosocial determinants of health, particularly how multisystemic resilience mechanisms underpin positive outcomes for risk-exposed young people, adolescents, and adults.
Aundria [NN1] also works as a research assistant on several projects, collaborating with organizations such as the National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP), Barnardos, and the 3SET project.
X: @aundriacamero
Alumni
Dr Marc Bennet
Marc is a Clinical Psychologist . His current doctoral research focusedd oncutting through the traditional boundaries of diagnosis and treatment: Investigating the trajectories of adolescent symptom and the efficacy of targeted intervention.
Dr Katie Duffy
BA Psychology. MPsychSc. Psychologist in Clinical Training. Katie is a Clinical Psychologist. Katie’s research was supervised by Dr Niki Nearchou and explored the association between emotional eating and trauma across the lifespan. Katie conducted a systematic review on emotional eating as a construct and how it is operationalised within the existing literature. This was followed by an empirical study which explored the client’s lived experiences of emotional eating behaviours and associated trauma. Katie is also a member of UCD’s Youth Mental Health Lab.
Dr Ellen Douglas
Ellen is a Clinical Psychologist. She completed her Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Psychology at Ulster University and her Master of Science (MSc) at Swansea University. Ellen has worked as a clinical psychologist in training since 2018 and her doctoral research has been supervised by Assistant Professor, Dr Niki Nearchou. Ellen’s research interests include adult mental health, COVID-19, resilience and positive psychology.
LinkedIn: (opens in a new window)www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-douglas-805045181
Dr Diarmuid MacGarry
Diarmuid is a Clinical Psychologist and completed his doctoral thesis under the supervision of Dr Nearchou. His research focused on exploring the impact of patient suicide on the professional and personal well-being of mental health providers.
Dr Gráinne Murphy
Gráinne is a Clinical Psychologist. Gráinne has an interest in improving the mental health of children and adolescents with developmental and acquired disabilities. She worked with Dr Niki Nearchou and Associate Professor Christine Linehan exploring resilience in adults with Intellectual Disability.
Dr Rachel Niland
Rachel completed her PhD under the supervision of Dr Nearchou. Rachel has a strong interest in improving and promoting the health and well-being of individuals across the lifespan. Rachel’s PhD research explored the role of school-based sex education programmes in sexual health behaviours of young adults in Ireland.
Fiona Craddock
Fiona was a student on the Master of Psychological Science at University College Dublin supervised by Dr Niki Nearchou. Fiona conducted research on exploring the impact of COVID-19 in youth living with and without chronic health conditions.
Helena Ronan
Helena was a student Master of Psychological Science programme at University College Dublin. Helena is supervised by Dr. Niki Nearchou. Her research interests include mental health intervention and suicide prevention.