Prof. Suzanne Timmons (MB BCh BAO; MSc (Geriatric Medicine); MD) qualified from UCC and trained in Ireland, the UK and the US. Additional to her academic role, she is a geriatrician and works 50% clinically, in community based older person services, the acute hospital setting and in rehabilitation, with a particular interest in complex Parkinson's disease in older people, PD-dementia overlaps, and delirium. She was the first Clinical Lead for Dementia for the Republic of Ireland, from 2017 to 2021. In UCC, she is the Interim Head of the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine since 2025. 

Prof Timmons's research interests focus on neurodegenerative disease in older people:

Acute hospital dementia/delirium: She was the co-lead for INAD, the Irish National Audit of Dementia (2014), the Northern Ireland Audit of Dementia (2015) and INAD-2 (2020); and President of the Irish Delirium Society (2016-2018). She has led seminal HRB-funded research projects on dementia in acute hospitals; the incidence and indicators of in-hospital delirium; and she validated a delirium screening tool for use in the ED. She currently leads several projects in delirium-dementia overlaps, across Europe, as part of the EuGMS Delirium SIG. 

Palliative Care in Dementia: Prof Timmons is currently the co-PI for a Horizon Europe project (InTouch) on palliative care for people with dementia in residential care, and is a partner in another Horizon Europe grant (AI4HOPE) on the use of technology for palliative care for people with dementia living at home. Other notable dementia research includes psychotropic prescribing which has informed national policy  (Prof Timmons co-led National Clinical Guideline No. 21, on this topic), with national education ongoing.

Parkinson's Disease: Prof Timmons runs a regional multidisciplinary movement disorder clinic for older people. Her research in PD focuses on symptom control and quality of life. She led the development of a National Guideline for Palliative Care in PD (2016) and the Mapping PD project in 2020-21. Her current research includes non-invasive monitoring of motor function in PD, stigma in PD and exercise for PD. Prof Timmons is the lead for PD-Life, an all-island PD research hub (HEA North South Research Programme 2026-30).

Prof Timmons was the founder in 2011, and Programme Director until recently, of the postgraduate programme in Older Person Rehabilitation at UCC, the only interdisciplinary programme of its kind in Ireland/UK, which is offered to healthcare workers including nurses, doctors, and therapists; and the founder/Programme Director of the postgraduate programme in Dementia at UCC (2018). 

She is the coordinator of an Erasmus Knowledge Alliance project (chAnGE) to develop bite-sized online learning in climate change adaptation and resilience, for healthcare workers who work with older people (2023-26).

She is co-developer of the MSc in Active Ageing and Age Friendly Society, commencing student intake in September 2026.

She conducts research into effective teaching across topics such as dementia, delirium and falls.