Dr. Bríd D. Dunne graduated with a first class honours MSc Occupational Therapy from University of Limerick in 2012. Prior to this, she completed a BA Liberal Arts (Psychology and Maths) from Mary Immaculate College, and an MA Irish Music Performance from the University of Limerick. Her PhD research was conducted at the University of Limerick and funded by an Irish Research Council Postgraduate Award (the project was initially funded by a Department of Occupational Therapy stipend). Her doctoral research explored the history, knowledge, and practice of occupational therapy in Ireland, and used archival and oral history methods to critically analyse how the profession emerged in the Irish context. 

 In August 2016, she was appointed part time Lecturer in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at University College Cork, where she is Year 1 coordinator and lectures on Year 4 of the undergraduate program. Her teaching interests include critical historical perspectives on occupational science and occupational therapy, potential for occupational science in working with marginalised groups, research methods, mental health, academic writing, and human rights perspectives on occupational science and therapy.

Bríd’s research interests primarily concern the history of occupational therapy, focusing on the history of the therapeutic use of occupation in Ireland from its use in 19th century asylums to the professionalization of occupational therapy in the mid 20th century. She is also interested in critical historical perspectives on occupational science and occupational therapy, research methods, mental health (including the relationship between occupational therapy and the institutions within which it developed), academic writing, and human rights perspectives on occupational therapy.‍