Biography
Dr Lisa O’Leary is a lecturer and researcher in the School of Health and Social Care. She is a national and international recognised scholar within the area of intellectual disabilities. This is evidenced by her recently competitive appointment as co-editor in chief for a leading journal entitled Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities (JARID). She was appointed due to her recognition as an expert in the field of intellectual disability research and her excellent track record of publications and conference presentations.
In 2024, she was also competitively appointed to serve as chair for IASSIDD International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities) Health special interest group. This is the largest special interest group for international researchers within the area of intellectual and developmental disabilities (comprising 174 members). She is also regularly invited to deliver guest talks, review funding applications/papers and contribute to book chapters within the area of intellectual disabilities.
Research Profile:
Lisa is currently principle investigator for two separate studies funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing and the Bailey Thomas Foundation. Her current research program is focused on investigating approaches to manage chronic health conditions in people with intellectual disabilities (ID).
For example In 2023, she obtained £68,270.41 as a principle investigator on a project funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing entitled Co-creation of a Continuing Professional Development Toolkit to enable pre-registration nursing students acquire the skills and knowledge to enable individuals with learning disabilities to self-manage respiratory health issues.
She is leading a multidisciplinary team of researchers based at Â鶹ÉçÇø to deliver this project. A mixed method approach is being used in this study. This includes the application of coproduction methods to inform the co-design of the CPD toolkit.
In 2024, she obtained £89,970.71 as Principal investigator on a project funded by the Bailey Thomas Foundation entitled ‘Co-design and adaptation of the Swallowing, Oral Health and Nutrition Knowledge and Skills (SONKS) training programme for carers who support people with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) who have eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.
She is leading a team of researchers who are renowned experts in the intellectual disability fields (based at Queens University, Belfast, University of Glasgow and University of Leeds) and clinicians based at NHS Forth Valley) to deliver this project.
She has published research which has demonstrated that individuals with intellectual disabilities are more likely to die from causes that would be preventable and amenable to better health care interventions. Her research outputs have had a national and international impact on policy, practice and research activity. Her research has been referenced in international policy documents such as from the World Health Orgnaisation (eg. Global Report on health equity for people with disabilities published in 2022) and National Policy documents (e.g. Learning/Intellectual Disability and Autism Towards Transformation from the Scottish Government published in 2021. One of her papers is also one of the top cited articles in the Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities.
Leadership and service:
Lisa has assumed several leadership positions during her tenure at Â鶹ÉçÇø. These included deputy research degree lead (2020-2023), and interim research degree lead for a period in 2021, where she led a seminar series for PGR students and engaged in activities on the university research degree committee (such as reviewing funding applications for bodies such as the Carnegie Trust).
She chaired the Masters development group from 2021-2023 (comprising a range of post-graduate programmes such as the MSc in Research Methods for Health and Social Care Practice , Masters in Public Health). She is continuing to lead the development of research skills modules for CPD.
She serves on various committees at Â鶹ÉçÇø (including the strategic working group for the Centre for Mental Health and Capacity Law (2022-present), Knowledge into Action Research group for people with Learning Disabilities (2023-present) , She served on the School Research Degree Committee (2018-2023) School Quality committee (2017-2018) and School Research Integrity committee (2019-2021).
In her previous postdoctoral researcher role at the University of Glasgow (2015-2017), she chaired the Seminars and Conference Group and Early Career Research network . She was also a core member of one of the Athena Swan working groups in the Institute of Health and Well Being at the University of Glasgow.
Supervision, management and coaching:
Lisa has three current doctoral students. These include three PhD students, two of which are competitively funded ENU studentships (one as Director of Studies):
1. Louise Allan, Exploration and development of self-management strategies for people with intellectual disabilities who have asthma (director of studies)
2. Xia, Mengxue, A Cross-Cultural Exploration into Caring for Someone with Cancer: A Qualitative Study in Scotland (2nd supervisor)
3. Chloe Kennedy, Helpfulness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) towards the Development of Evidence-based Framework for the Adaptation of CBT (2nd supervisor)
Lisa has supervised approximately twenty MBA and MSc students to completion . She also manages early career researchers who are employed on her research projects. She is committed to professional development and coaching/mentoring researchers with their development. She has recently completed and been awarded the ILM qualification in senior executive coaching and mentoring.
The demonstrates external recognition of her excellent leadership and coaching style. She is applying this qualification in supporting the development of researchers within the school, university and researchers in HSR UK (https://hsruk.org/). She also applies a coaching approach in her management and supervision duties.