Previous to that, Isabela held a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship (2022-2024) by the Irish Research Council for a study focusing on addressing risk factors and risk profile of older adults who self-harm titled: 'Examining individual and psychosocial determinants of self-harm and suicidality in older adults: improving risk assessment and management'.
From 2019-2021, Isabela was a Post-Doctoral Researcher on the Health Research Board funded programme ‘Individual and Area Level Determinants of Self-Harm and Suicide in Ireland: Enhancing Prediction, Risk Assessment and Management of Self-Harm by Health Services’. In her 2 years working in the HRB funded project, Isabela managed and co-lead the development and implementation of an advanced skills training for health professionals supporting people who self-harm: Self-harm Assessment and Management Programme for General Hospitals (SAMAGH) Training Programme.
She trained and qualified as a Clinical Psychologist (2015) at University San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador, and completed an MSc in Global Mental Health (2016) at King’s College London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her PhD thesis, titled ‘Understanding self-harm behaviour in older adults was awarded PhD prize of the year (2020) by the UK's Society for Academic Primary Care.
Affiliated with the School of Public Health, UCC and the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF), Isabela contributes to the NSRF's activities as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Surveillance and Research in Suicide Prevention, which includes supporting the development of the first multi-centre surveillance system for self-harm and suicide prevention, and the development of National Suicide Prevention Plans globally across Europe and South America.
Biography
Isabela is an applied health researcher with special interest in mental health and suicide prevention in vulnerable groups such as older adults, individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds, and Low-and-Middle-Income settings. She has received funding from several national and international agencies, including her most recent award (2025-2028) from the Health Research Board on the Applying Research into Policy and Practice (ARPP) programme, for a 3-year fellowship titled Revisiting Suicide Prevention in Later Life: Human-centred approaches in an ageing Ireland.Previous to that, Isabela held a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship (2022-2024) by the Irish Research Council for a study focusing on addressing risk factors and risk profile of older adults who self-harm titled: 'Examining individual and psychosocial determinants of self-harm and suicidality in older adults: improving risk assessment and management'.
From 2019-2021, Isabela was a Post-Doctoral Researcher on the Health Research Board funded programme ‘Individual and Area Level Determinants of Self-Harm and Suicide in Ireland: Enhancing Prediction, Risk Assessment and Management of Self-Harm by Health Services’. In her 2 years working in the HRB funded project, Isabela managed and co-lead the development and implementation of an advanced skills training for health professionals supporting people who self-harm: Self-harm Assessment and Management Programme for General Hospitals (SAMAGH) Training Programme.
She trained and qualified as a Clinical Psychologist (2015) at University San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador, and completed an MSc in Global Mental Health (2016) at King’s College London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her PhD thesis, titled ‘Understanding self-harm behaviour in older adults was awarded PhD prize of the year (2020) by the UK's Society for Academic Primary Care.
Affiliated with the School of Public Health, UCC and the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF), Isabela contributes to the NSRF's activities as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Surveillance and Research in Suicide Prevention, which includes supporting the development of the first multi-centre surveillance system for self-harm and suicide prevention, and the development of National Suicide Prevention Plans globally across Europe and South America.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2024) | 'Hospital-presenting self-harm among older adults living in Ireland: a 13-year trend analysis from the National Self-Harm Registry Ireland' Troya MI;Griffin E;Arensman E;Cassidy E;Mughal F;Lonergan CN;O'Mahony J;Lovejoy S;Ward M;Corcoran P; (2024) 'Hospital-presenting self-harm among older adults living in Ireland: a 13-year trend analysis from the National Self-Harm Registry Ireland'. International psychogeriatrics / IPA, 36 (5) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2024) | 'Healthcare practitioners' views of self-harm management practices in older adults in Ireland: A qualitative study' Troya MI;Lonergan C;Cassidy E;Griffin E;Lovejoy SA;Mughal F;Russell V;Arensman E; (2024) 'Healthcare practitioners' views of self-harm management practices in older adults in Ireland: A qualitative study'. International Journal Of Geriatric Psychiatry, 39 (7) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2024) | 'Patterns of Hospital Presenting Suicide-Related Ideation in Older Adults before and during COVID-19: Findings from a National Clinical Service in Ireland 2018-2021' Troya MI;Corcoran P;Arensman E;Kavalidou K; (2024) 'Patterns of Hospital Presenting Suicide-Related Ideation in Older Adults before and during COVID-19: Findings from a National Clinical Service in Ireland 2018-2021'. Archives Of Suicide Research, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2023) | 'Mental distress during the COVID-19 Infodemic in Ireland, a prospective national survey over time' J M Arnott, M Joyce, P Corcoran, M I Troya, A Khashan, I Perry, E Arensman (2023) 'Mental distress during the COVID-19 Infodemic in Ireland, a prospective national survey over time'. European Journal of Public Health, 33 (Supplement_2) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2023) | 'That feeling of solidarity and not being alone is incredibly, incredibly healing: A qualitative study of participating in suicide bereavement peer support groups' O'Connell S;Troya MI;Arensman E;Griffin E; (2023) 'That feeling of solidarity and not being alone is incredibly, incredibly healing: A qualitative study of participating in suicide bereavement peer support groups'. Death studies, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2020) | 'Covid-19 Estimating the burden of symptomatic disease in the community and the impact of public health measures on physical, mental and social wellbeing: a study protocol' M.I. Troya, A. Khashan, P. Kearney, E. Arensman, P. Hövel, C. Buckley, M. Fitzgerald, R. Humphries, E. Kiely, K. Mulchrone. M. Murphy, L. O'Connor, J. O'Donnell, E. O'Reilly, M. O'Riordain, M. Spillane, S. Wieczorek, I.J. Perry (2020) 'Covid-19 Estimating the burden of symptomatic disease in the community and the impact of public health measures on physical, mental and social wellbeing: a study protocol'. Hrb Open Research, 3 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2023) | 'Physical and mental illness comorbidity among individuals with frequent self-harm episodes: A mixed-methods study' Sadath A;Troya MI;Nicholson S;Cully G;Leahy D;Ramos Costa AP;Benson R;Corcoran P;Griffin E;Phillip E;Cassidy E;Jeffers A;Shiely F;Alberdi-Páramo Í;Kavalidou K;Arensman E; (2023) 'Physical and mental illness comorbidity among individuals with frequent self-harm episodes: A mixed-methods study'. Frontiers in psychiatry, 14 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2023) | 'Profile of people attending emergency departments with thoughts of self-harm and suicide: A descriptive study of a nurse-led programme in Ireland' Kavalidou K;Zortea TC;Griffin E;Troya MI; (2023) 'Profile of people attending emergency departments with thoughts of self-harm and suicide: A descriptive study of a nurse-led programme in Ireland'. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2022) | 'The experiences and needs of supporting individuals of young people who self-harm: A systematic review and thematic synthesis' Mughal, F., Troya MI., Dikomitis, L., Tierney S., Corp, N., Evans, N., Townsend, E., Chew-Graham, C (2022) 'The experiences and needs of supporting individuals of young people who self-harm: A systematic review and thematic synthesis'. Eclinicalmedicine, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2022) | 'Police-reported suicides during the first 16 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador: A time-series analysis of trends and risk factors until June 2021' Gerstner RM;Narváez F;Leske S;Troya MI;Analuisa-Aguilar P;Spittal MJ;Gunnell D; (2022) 'Police-reported suicides during the first 16 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador: A time-series analysis of trends and risk factors until June 2021'. Lancet Regional Health. Americas, 14 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2022) | 'Mental health following an initial period of COVID-19 restrictions: findings from a cross-sectional survey in the Republic of Ireland' Troya MI, Joyce M, Khashan A, Buckley C, Chakrabotri K, Hoevel P, Humphries R, Kearney P, Kiely E, Murphy M, Perry I, Arensman E (2022) 'Mental health following an initial period of COVID-19 restrictions: findings from a cross-sectional survey in the Republic of Ireland'. Hrb Open Research, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2022) | 'Compliance with local travel restrictions and face masks during first phase of COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland: a national survey' Kearney PM;Spillane M;Humphries R;Gannon A;Stamenic D;Bhuachalla CN;Hoevel P;Arensman E;O'Riordain M;Troya MI;Khashan AS;O'Reilly E;Buckley C;O'Connor L;Perry IJ; (2022) 'Compliance with local travel restrictions and face masks during first phase of COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland: a national survey'. Journal Of Public Health (United Kingdom), [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2022) | 'Suicide rates amongst individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds: A systematic review and meta-analysis' Troya MI;Spittal MJ;Pendrous R;Crowley G;Gorton HC;Russell K;Byrne S;Musgrove R;Hannah-Swain S;Kapur N;Knipe D; (2022) 'Suicide rates amongst individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds: A systematic review and meta-analysis'. Eclinicalmedicine, 47 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Rural Older Adults in Disasters: A Study of Recovery From Hurricane Michael' Fletcher PA;Worthen DL;McSweeney-Feld MH;Gibson A;Seblova D;Pagán L;Troya MI;Fang ML;Owusu B;Lane C;Wada M;Harrell ER;Viana A; (2021) 'Rural Older Adults in Disasters: A Study of Recovery From Hurricane Michael'. Disaster Medicine And Public Health Preparedness, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Investigating the relationship between childhood sexual abuse, self-harm repetition and suicidal intent: mixed-methods study' Troya, MI;Cully, G;Leahy, D;Cassidy, E;Sadath, A;Nicholson, S;Costa, APR;Alberdi-Paramo, I;Jeffers, A;Shiely, F;Arensman, E (2021) 'Investigating the relationship between childhood sexual abuse, self-harm repetition and suicidal intent: mixed-methods study'. Bjpsych Open, 7 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Sociodemographic Analysis of Suicide Rates Among Older Adults Living in Ecuador: 1997-2019' Troya, MI;Gerstner, RM;Narvaez, F;Arensman, E (2021) 'Sociodemographic Analysis of Suicide Rates Among Older Adults Living in Ecuador: 1997-2019'. Frontiers In Public Health, 9 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2020) | 'Study protocol for the implementation and evaluation of the Self-harm Assessment and Management for General Hospitals programme in Ireland (SAMAGH)' Arensman E.;Troya M.I.;Nicholson S.;Sadath A.;Cully G.;Ramos Costa A.P.;Benson R.;Corcoran P.;Griffin E.;Williamson E.;Eustace J.;Shiely F.;Browne J.;Rigby J.;Jeffers A.;Cassidy E. (2020) 'Study protocol for the implementation and evaluation of the Self-harm Assessment and Management for General Hospitals programme in Ireland (SAMAGH)'. BMC Health Services Research, 20 (1) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2020) | 'Predictive factors of nonfatal self-harm among community-dwelling older adults assessed for support services' Cheung, Gary; Chai, Yi; Troya, M. Isabela; Luo, Hao (2020) 'Predictive factors of nonfatal self-harm among community-dwelling older adults assessed for support services'. International psychogeriatrics / IPA, :1-14 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2019) | 'Role of primary care in supporting older adults who self-harm: a qualitative study in England' Troya MI;Chew-Graham CA;Babatunde O;Bartlam B;Mughal F;Dikomitis L; (2019) 'Role of primary care in supporting older adults who self-harm: a qualitative study in England'. British Journal of General Practice, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2019) | 'Understanding self-harm in older adults: A qualitative study' Troya MI;Dikomitis L;Babatunde OO;Bartlam B;Chew-Graham CA; (2019) 'Understanding self-harm in older adults: A qualitative study'. Eclinicalmedicine, 12 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2019) | 'Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement in a doctoral research project exploring self-harm in older adults' Troya MI;Chew-Graham CA;Babatunde O;Bartlam B;Higginbottom A;Dikomitis L; (2019) 'Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement in a doctoral research project exploring self-harm in older adults'. Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 22 (4) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2019) | 'Self-harm in older adults: systematic review' Troya MI;Babatunde O;Polidano K;Bartlam B;McCloskey E;Dikomitis L;Chew-Graham CA; (2019) 'Self-harm in older adults: systematic review'. The British Journal of Psychiatry : The Journal of Mental Science, 214 (4) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2018) | 'Involving the public in health research in Latin America: making the case for mental health' Troya MI;Bartlam B;Chew-Graham CA; (2018) 'Involving the public in health research in Latin America: making the case for mental health'. Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health, 42 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2016) | 'Conducting a desk review to inform the mental health and psychosocial support response to the 2016 Ecuador earthquake' Troya MI;Greene MC;Santos CG;Shultz JM; (2016) 'Conducting a desk review to inform the mental health and psychosocial support response to the 2016 Ecuador earthquake'. Disaster Health, 3 (4) [DOI] [Details] |
Editorship
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2019) | Self-harm in young people: the exceptional potential of the general practice consultation. Mughal F;Babatunde O;Dikomitis L;Shaw J;Townsend E;Troya MI;Chew-Graham CA; (2019) Self-harm in young people: the exceptional potential of the general practice consultation. Editorship [DOI] [Details] |
Published Letters
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2018) | Achieving health equity in Ecuador. Troya MI;Saavedra MP; (2018) Achieving health equity in Ecuador. Published Letters [DOI] [Details] |
Reviews
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2019) | Self-harm in older adults: Systematic review. Isabela Troya M.;Babatunde O.;Polidano K.;Bartlam B.;McCloskey E.;Dikomitis L.;Chew-Graham C. (2019) Self-harm in older adults: Systematic review. Reviews [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2018) | Involving the public in health research in Latin America: Making the case for mental health. Troya M.;Bartlam B.;Chew-Graham C. (2018) Involving the public in health research in Latin America: Making the case for mental health. Reviews [DOI] [Details] |
Professional Activities
Honours and Awards
| Year | Title | Awarding Body | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | PhD Prize of the Year | Society for Academic Primary Care UK |
Contact details
- Maria Isabela Troya Bermeo
Postdoctoral Researcher - isabela.troya@ucc.ie
- Western Gateway Building
School of Public Health
Cork
Ireland - (021) 420 5593