Dr Susan Calnan is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Public Health leading the HRB-funded Applying Research into Policy and Practice (ARPP) project focused on alcohol policy implementation in Ireland. Susan is also a part-time Lecturer in the School of Public Health. She holds a Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Certificate. Susan first joined the School of Public Health in 2016 as a PhD researcher. Her research focused on the evaluation of a pilot alcohol prevention programme for college students in Ireland and on the policy context in Ireland. Following her PhD, Susan was involved in a number of postdoctoral health research projects with an implementation science and knowledge translation component. Prior to joining the School of Public Health, Susan completed a Masters of Social Science in Social Policy. She has previously worked in research publishing for organisations including the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and as a freelance health journalist.

Susan is an interdisciplinary researcher whose expertise spans public health, social science and political science perspectives. While she maintains a strong focus on health-related issues, she is interested in exploring ways to incorporate more social science and political science perspectives, challenging assumptions and seeking fresh perspectives on issues that continue to face society. Her research interests include alcohol research, policy analysis, health promotion, implementation science and knowledge translation. Methodologically, she has a strong interest in qualitative research and also has experience in mixed methods research.

Susan is passionate about third-level teaching and maintains a strong interest in research-led and student-centred teaching. As a scholar of UCC’s Teaching and Learning programme, she is interested is exploring ways to enrich the teaching experience and in developing engaging teaching materials. In UCC, she is involved in the coordination and delivery of a number of modules in the School of Public Health including: Module EH2009: Public Health Issues Module EH3004: Work Placement She also delivers alcohol-related lectures in the School and is involved in teaching public health fundamentals to medical students (GM2020). In the past, she has also contributed to a number of modules in the School of Applied Social Studies. Susan also provides thesis supervision to students undertaking the Master’s of Public Health.