About the Research Team

Dr. Joanne McVeigh is a Lecturer at the Department of Psychology and the ALL (Assisting Living & Learning) Institute, Maynooth University. Previous appointments include a Lectureship at the School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork. Her work is interdisciplinary, focusing on the interface between psychology, global health, policy and law. Supporting psychosocial well-being, social inclusion, rights, and organisational justice, particularly for marginalised populations and occupational groups at high risk for stress, is a core focus of her work. She has extensive experience of policy analyses, qualitative research, and quantitative research, from a psychosocial, rights-based, and social justice perspective.

She was previously a primary researcher in the area of disability and rehabilitation for research commissioned by the World Health Organisation and has carried out consultancy in the area of disability for the HSE (Irish Health Service) and the International Disability Alliance (IDA). Findings of her research were presented by the IDA at the United Nations Conference of States Parties, New York, in June 2019.

She has a strong record of peer-reviewed publications, including articles in leading disability, psychology, and healthcare journals. She is a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society, and a Chartered Work and Organisational Psychologist of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Joanne is a member of the International Maritime Health Foundation’s Expert Panel (IMHF-EP). The IMHF-EP, as an expert scientific panel, aims to leverage scientific and academic expertise to continually monitor and address relevant health issues and developments to help solve or ameliorate problems in the maritime environment.

Alison Kay is a Human Factors Researcher with a background in Work Psychology. Her core focus is on the human aspects of transport and industrial systems. She has worked on EU, Commercial and Government-funded human factors projects in the maritime industry, aviation, the process industries, manufacturing, and healthcare for the last 20 years. Her research has addressed keeping humans at the centre of socio-technical systems, decision making, competence, process modelling and crew resource management for training, procedure writing and accident investigation.

Alison is a member of the International Maritime Health Foundation’s Expert Panel (IMHF-EP). She also serves on working groups for ‘Best Practice’ with the Seafarers Hospital Society (UK) and on ‘Trustworthiness of Artificial Intelligence in Defence’ with the European Defence Agency. In 2008, Alison was awarded the UK Ergonomics Society President's Medal with the Human Factors Integration Defence Technology Centre team 'for significant contributions to original research, the development of methodology and the application of knowledge within the field of ergonomics'.