Psychology, Health and Medicine Conference 2026

Professor Diarmuid O’Donovan – opening address

Diarmuid O’Donovan is Director of National Health Improvement with HSE Public Health. He and his team work on addressing health inequalities and developing partnerships for a Health in All Policies approach to improving population health.

He trained in general practice and public health and worked in several countries in Africa. From 2019-2023 he was Professor of Global Health at Queen’s University Belfast. Before that he was Director of Public Health in HSE West and Senior Lecturer in Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Galway. He is one of the founders of the Irish Global Health Network, promoting education, research and advocacy on global health and development issues.

Professor O’Donovan researches and teaches on prevention, health equity and sustainability, and the right to health. 

Professor Rona Moss-Morris – keynote speaker

Rona Moss-Morris is Professor of Psychology as Applied to Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. For over 30 years, she has researched the psychological factors that influence symptom experience and adjustment to long-term conditions (LTCs). Her work includes the development of the Transdiagnostic Model of Adjustment to LTCs and a range of psychometric instruments to measure key components of this model. This research has informed the design of cognitive behavioural interventions, both face-to-face and digital, for diverse patient groups. A central strand of her programme has been conducting randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of these interventions. More recently, her focus has shifted towards the implementation of evidence-based interventions within healthcare systems, ensuring that research translates into practice.

Professor Moss-Morris has received multiple awards recognising her contributions. In 2015 she received the British Psychological Society Division of Health Psychology’s Outstanding Contribution to Research Award, followed in 2020 by the Society’s Distinguished Contribution to Practice Award. Her team’s work on multiple sclerosis was honoured with the MS Society’s Annual Award for MS Research of the Year in 2013, while their research on irritable bowel syndrome earned the King’s Excellence in Innovation and Impact Award in 2019. From 2011 to 2016, she served as National Advisor to NHS England for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) for people with long-term and medically unexplained conditions. She is past editor of Psychology and Health and Health Psychology Review.

Professor Gerard Molloy - keynote speaker

Gerard Molloy is a Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Galway where he has been based since 2012. He leads a programme of research focused mainly on medicines use across the lifespan. He received his PhD from the University of St Andrews, Scotland and was awarded a combined Economic and Social Research Council/Medical Research Council postdoctoral fellowship, which he held at the University of Aberdeen. Subsequently, he worked as a research fellow in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London and as a lecturer in psychology at the University of Stirling in Scotland.

He was awarded Fellowship of the European Health Psychology Society in 2018 for his outstanding contribution to the field of health psychology. Prof. Molloy has been an associate editor of Health Psychology Review since 2021 and was previously an associate editor of the International Journal of Behavioural Medicine. He was a member of the European Society of Cardiology task force that wrote the 2024 guideline on management of elevated blood pressure and hypertension.

Professor Niall Pender – closing address

Niall Pender is Professor of Psychology and Head of Department of Health Psychology, School of Population Health, RCSI. He was Principal Clinical Neuropsychologist and Head of Department of Psychology at Beaumont Hospital for over 20 years. Professor Pender was Associate Professor in Neuropsychology, Trinity College Dublin since 2019 where he was course director of the first MSc in Clinical Neuropsychology in Ireland and led the neuropsychology research group.

Professor Pender was previously a consultant neuropsychologist at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, London and a clinical neuropsychologist at the Maudsley Hospital, London. He trained in clinical psychology and neuropsychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London where he also completed his PhD in 2005. He is a past president of the Psychological Society of Ireland and founding member of the Division of Neuropsychology. His research focuses on the cognitive, behavioural and emotional consequences of neurological and neurosurgical conditions.

Katie Verling

Katie Verling is committed to expanding public understanding and appreciation of the choices individuals have in terms of well-being, treatment and care. She advocates for patient autonomy and raising the patient voice in all areas of health, sickness and end-of-life. She has lived experience as a patient and a patient advocate, and uses these to contribute to PPI research opportunities. Most recently she has contributed to initiatives and projects led by the HSE, HRB and RCSI.

Melody Chadamoyo

Melody Chadamoyo is a PPI contributor dedicated to shaping equitable, patient-centred research. With lived experience, community insight and expertise in race equity and emotional wellbeing, she ensures projects reflect the real needs of diverse and marginalised communities. Melody champions inclusive, trauma-informed healthcare and meaningful patient voices in research.

Lisa Whelan

Lisa Whelan has been primarily focused on advocating for epilepsy awareness. She is a media volunteer for Epilepsy Ireland and has been involved in a number of public awareness and advocacy campaigns. More recently, Lisa was part of the PPI panel on the EpiKnow research project at RCSI. She continues to advocate for epilepsy awareness through her own lived experience.

Application process for free patient and public conference registration places

The PHM 2026 organising committee is delighted to share further information on ways in which members of the public can become involved in the conference.

As part of our commitment to patient and public involvement in research, often shortened to PPI, we are able to offer free conference registration to up to five members of the public who have experience of living with long-term health conditions.

Involving patients and the public in research and knowledge exchange activities is a valuable activity; by understanding the reality and experiences of those who live with conditions that may impact their physical or mental health, we can design better, and more meaningful research, that will have a greater impact.

We invite members of the public who have experience of living with a long-term health condition to apply, who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend a research conference like this.

Please note: We do not anticipate that applicants will be current healthcare professionals, students or active researchers, as these groups may have other opportunities available to them for attending the conference.

• Please submit a short statement (no more than 300 words) in this online application form outlining your experience of living with a particular health condition and the benefits of attending the conference, in your view.
• Please also tick the box on the form to indicate if you would like to be considered for any active part in the conference on the day, with full support from the conference organising committee. For example, this might be helping to co-chair a question and answer session at the end of a session; being supported by an experienced committee member; or offering to share your personal story with researchers in an informal way on the day, for example over a coffee break.

• All applications will be reviewed according to the criteria below by two members of the conference organising committee, including one person with lived experience of a health condition.
  a. Demonstrated personal experience of living with a healthcare condition.
  b. Not currently an active healthcare professional, student or researcher (please note, these groups may have other avenues/means of attending the conference in a professional capacity).
  c. Demonstrated benefit of attending.
  d. Submitted before the deadline, 11.59pm, Friday, 20 February 2026.
• We will notify those who have been awarded free PPI conference registration before 5 March 2026.
• Those successfully awarded a free PPI conference registration place will be asked to confirm their attendance before 15 March 2026.

Please note

• If we receive more than five eligible applications, we will randomly select five names to attend.
• The free PPI conference registration place will cover conference registration (includes all conference food and drink on the day).

• Lisa Mellon (co-chair)
• Maria Pertl (co-chair)
• Melody Chadamoyo
• Mary Clarke
• Niamh Corbett
• Rory Coyne
• Frank Doyle
• Brian Lynch
• Alan Maddock
• Jade Parnell
• Timo Schurr
• Katie Verling
• Lisa Whelan
• Katie Verling

• Melody Chadamoyo (PPI)
• Laura Coffey (Maynooth University)
• Sarah Cooney (UCD)
• Catherine Darker (TCD)
• Samantha Dockray (UCC)
• Simon Dunne (DCU)
• Lisa Graham-Wisener (Queen’s University Belfast)
• Caroline Heary (University of Galway)
• Noirin Lennox (University of Limerick, also healthcare professional)
• Evan Matthews (SETU)
• Dean McDonnell (SETU)
• Oonagh Meade (University of Galway)
• Catherine Moran (DCU)
• Chris Noone (University of Galway)
• Liz Simpson (Ulster University)
• Lorna Staines (Maynooth University)