Dr. Sadhbh Byrne is Postdoctoral Research Fellow on the REFUGE-ED project, based at Trinity Centre for Global Health. REFUGE-ED is funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020 programme, and seeks to identify, implement, and evaluate existing evidence-based practices that promote the inclusion, mental health, sense of belonging, and academic achievement of children and young people who are refugees, asylum seekers, or separated minors. Specifically, the project is interested in practices that can be implemented in (formal, non-formal and informal) educational settings. The project will involve co-design with children, families, teachers, practitioners, policymakers and other relevant stakeholders.
Sadhbh received a BA (Hons) in Psychology and a Postgraduate Certificate in Statistics from TCD. Prior to her current position, she worked with Associate Prof. Jo Robinson on the youth suicide prevention research team at Orygen/the Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Australia. At Orygen, Sadhbh primarily worked on the Multimodal Approach to Preventing Suicide in Schools (MAPSS) study. This large-scale project is ongoing, and involves educating approximately 4,000 students in secondary schools across north and west Melbourne about how to identify suicide risk in themselves and their friends, screening students to identify suicide risk, and delivering treatment to those young people identified as being at risk.
Sadhbh completed her PhD at TCD under the supervision of Assistant Prof. Lorraine Swords and Associate Prof. Elizabeth Nixon, supported by a competitive scholarship from the Irish Research Council. Her PhD research explored the role that parents and peers play in identifying early signs and symptoms of adolescent depression, and supporting young people in distress.
Her research interests centre on youth mental health and the role of individuals (family, peers) and institutions (schools, healthcare settings) in the microsystem within a young person’s social ecology. She has a keen interest in participatory and co-design approaches to research.
