Dr. Laura Kenny is a Lecturer at Arden University. Laura’s research focuses on loneliness, namely it’s multidimensional nature by investigating the unique predictors and effects of these dimensions and working towards developing interventions that acknowledge and target the distinct loneliness ‘types’. She is currently working on research related to loneliness in retirement. Laura has published and presented work in this area. Her goal is to produce research that can inform policy makers, healthcare practitioners and the public on the serious adverse mental and physical health consequences of loneliness and to help develop more specific interventions to tackle this growing social epidemic.

Dr. Creaven completed her degree and doctorate in psychology at NUI Galway, supported by a college fellowship and IRCHSS. During her undergraduate studies she also completed a diploma in Gaeilge (Irish language). Her research is broadly focused on health and well-being. Her current research projects include a qualitative study of loneliness in young adulthood (funded by the Irish Research Council) and a school-based public engagement project (funded by Science Foundation Ireland). She joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Limerick as a Lecturer in September 2013, following her training at NUI Galway, and a year applying her research skills to several policy-relevant projects at the Educational Research Centre in Drumcondra. At UL, she is a member of the Centre for Social Issues Research cluster, the Health Research Institute, and the SASHLab research group (sashlab.com), involved in several strands of research in social connectedness and health.

PhD researcher working on a project that is concerned with exploring the individual experiences of older people who live alone and to document their care and support needs. It will also look to trace how individual experiences and the role of place impacts on their health and well-being over time

It is important to understand how people cope with loneliness. The perspective adopted here refers to the regulation of people’s sense of meaning: Loneliness is a threat to people’s meaning system. People have different options to manage this threat. For example, they can psychologically withdraw from the threat or search for alternative sources of meaning.

Dr. Mary McDonnell Naughton is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Nursing and Healthcare, TUS Midlands. She commenced working in TUS in 2022. Prior to that, she worked in the Department of General Practice, RCSI and was also a Registrar for a National Child Health study based in the Children’s University Hospital, Dublin. She is a founding member and current Chairperson of TUS Midlands Research Ethics Committee and was also appointed as a member to the National Research Ethics committee.

From a research perspective she has supervised and co- supervised Masters and Doctoral students. She has completed European COST Actions in relation to Ageism, Reducing Old Age Exclusion and Social Engagement. Currently, she is on an action in relation to Migration and Diversity. The work involves collaboration with 200 researchers and policy stakeholders from 35 different countries, across Europe. In 2023, she initiated and is the first Chairperson of TUS’s Women’s Network.

She has a keen interest in combatting loneliness especially amongst the Older Person and has been involved with other researchers as so many older adults in our society suffer from loneliness. If loneliness is experienced over a period, it can become devastating to the older persons’ physical and mental health. Late life loneliness is becoming a top priority in both ethical and economic terms. Age-based discriminatory practices can contribute to social exclusion of the older person thereby increasing their risk of becoming lonely.

Dr. Louise Rooney joined Mental Health Reform in March 2025 as Policy and Research Manager. Louise has over a decade of experience as a multidisciplinary social scientist in both the voluntary and statutory sectors. She has extensive experience collaborating with organisations supporting seldom-heard groups, including the Garda Síochána, the Probation Service, Child and Adolescent Mental Health services, and Tusla. Louise has also lectured on numerous master level research programs in University College Dublin, Technological University Dublin and Maynooth University.

Gretta is a Senior Research Officer at the Economic and Social Research Institute. She has a health economics background and manages the ESRI’s Electronic Communications Research Programme – as such, her interests lie in the link between our digital lives and loneliness.