Dr Elizabeth O'Donnell is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of General Practice in UCC. She has previously held the position of Research Fellow in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Trinity College Dublin. Also, Research Officer in the Office of the Chief Inspector at the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). 

Her research at UCC focuses on characterising problematic polypharmacy in older people attending general practice as part of a Health Research Board (HRB) funded grant awarded to Prof Emma Wallace. Her research activities involve collaboration with stakeholders and patient and public (PPI) representatives and uses mixed methods, qualitative and quantitative research, science communication and implementation science. This includes translating research findings into policy and practice to optimise prescribing of medications to community-dwelling older people.

Elizabeth’s research interests include improving appropriate prescribing in older adults, dementia care, research ethics and evidence synthesis including systematic reviews and meta-analysis.

Elizabeth has completed the JBI Comprehensive Systematic Review Training Program and in her former role as research officer at HIQA, she gained extensive experience of reviewing national and international research, policy and practice to inform updating the guidance documents for regulating residential care center's for older people and people with disabilities in Ireland.

Elizabeth is also interested in teaching, learning and assessment in higher education and contributes to teaching on the Bachelor of Public Health final year public health module in older person’s care at UCC. She has previous experience as a lecturer on the master’s degree dissertation module at TCD School of Nursing and Midwifery. In addition, Elizabeth was a college tutor to 33 undergraduate nurses at TCD. In 2024, Elizabeth was awarded the Postgraduate Professional Special Purpose Certificate in Teaching, Learning & Assessment for Academic Practice from Trinity College Dublin.
 

Elizabeth has a background in pharmaceuticals having graduated in 2004 with a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and post-graduate certificate in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from Atlantic Technological University. Elizabeth also has a first-class BSc (Hons) in Natural Sciences specialising in Biology and Health. In 2016, she was awarded the MSc (Science) with distinction from the Open University specialising in Medicinal Chemistry and Dementia and Psychosis.

Elizabeth completed her PhD in Mental Health in the Centre for Ageing Research at Lancaster University in 2022. Her PhD thesis, entitled ‘Exploring how care home staff manage responsive behaviours, associated with dementia, in care homes in Ireland, during the Covid-19 pandemic’ involved collaboration with PPI representatives from the Irish Dementia Working Group. Elizabeth conducted research with care home staff in residential care facilities across Ireland to identify the barriers and facilitators to taking a non-pharmacological approach to support residents. She disseminated the findings to the National Dementia Office to assist development of National Clinical Guideline No. 21, to improve appropriate prescribing of psychotropic medications for non-cognitive symptoms in people with dementia. 

Following on from this, in her role as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at TCD, Elizabeth was involved in evaluating implementation of National Clinical Guideline No. 21 using a mixed-methods approach which involved collaborating with stakeholders and PPI to develop data collection tools, quantitative and qualitative data analysis and dissemination activities. Elizabeth has disseminated research at numerous national and international conferences and has received several awards. She is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Royal Academy of Medicine and a member of HSE Research Ethics Committee.