Principal Investigator/Team leader

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Dr Sinéad Hynes is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Galway and a CORU-Registered Occupational Therapist. Her research career has been exclusively in patient-focused, rehabilitation and symptom management, particularly with people with multiple sclerosis. Public and patient involvement (PPI) is the cornerstone of her research and she is constantly challenged by the PPI contributors she works with. She completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge based at the MRC-Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, in 2013. From here worked in the NHS as an occupational therapist and trial manager before moving to Canada for a postdoc funded by the US MS Society. Following this, she took up her current lecturing post at the University of Galway in 2015. She is a Research Associate of Evidence Synthesis Ireland, a member of the Galway Neuroscience Centre and an MS Ireland representative on The European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) Council.

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CORU Registration number: OT021880

Postdoctoral Researcher/ COB-MS Trial Manager

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Shima Shapoori is a trial manager and postdoctoral researcher with expertise in multiple sclerosis, neuroimmunology, and biomarker discovery. She completed her PhD at the University of Galway, where she investigated biomarkers in multiple sclerosis, focusing on their potential to advance diagnosis, monitoring, and personalised treatment. Alongside her research, she gained experience in clinical research coordination and translational neuroscience. Shima has been awarded several grants and awards for her research and science communication, including recognition from ECTRIMS and ECNP. In her current role, she manages the COB-MS trial, ensuring rigorous research governance, participant engagement, and data integrity.

Embedded Patient Researcher

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Formerly a software engineer, Joan translates complex Multiple Sclerosis research into clear, informative narratives from a patient's perspective. Her evidence-based approach provides readers with reliable insights, presented with clarity and warmth. Joan is a EUPATI fellow and has participated in a clinical trial. She was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS in 2010 and loves helping to create possibilities for people in her community. She participated in the Prioritising Recruitment in Randomised Trials study (PRioRiTy) which identified research priorities for how to improve the process of how people are recruited to clinical trials. The partner study, PRioRiTy 2 identified research priorities to improve the process for how to improve retention in clinical trials. She currently is a part-time research assistant on the COB-MS trial.

Research Assistant

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Ewelina has completed a BA, HDip and MSc in Health Psychology at the University of Galway and is an accredited member of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Her undergraduate research explored how attachment style and identity predict false-self presentation on social media in people with Borderline Personality Disorder. Her Master's Thesis explored interoception and stress as antecedents of burnout in neurodivergent and neurotypical students, utilising the community-created "Spoon Theory" as a celebration of patient voices. She has worked on projects at Croí Galway and the National Institute for Prevention and Cardiovascular Health, working directly with patients to understand their experiences of healthcare post-stroke / cardiac event. Ewelina will now be working full-time alongside Sinéad and Shima in the University of Galway on the COB-MS trial.

Eva has a BA in Psychology from the University of Galway, and a SpCert in Youth Arts from Maynooth University. From 2022-2024 she worked with the Active* Consent programme, where she co-ordinated a CPD module and led a research project on the use of socially engaged art to explore sexual consent promotion with students.

Recently, she completed a research and statistics traineeship with the European Institute for Gender Equality in Lithuania. While there, her research focused on cyberviolence, intersectionality in health research, and gender equality policy.

Eva now works part-time on the COB-MS project.

Emma Rogan is a renowned community builder, brain health activist, communicator and Certified Disability Management Professional. For more than 15 years she has worked in a number of roles in MS and neurological patient organisations in Ireland and Europe. Her education includes a BA in Journalism and Communications, an MSc in Equality Studies and she specializes in employment and return to work facilitation and practice. Public and patient involvement (PPI), the inclusion of young people with MS and people from marginalized communities in research are areas of particular importance to her. She is active on BluSky https://bsky.app/profile/emmadragon.bsky.social for anyone wanting to communicate about MS and brain health. Emma is delighted to have the opportunity to bring her professional experience and personal knowledge to the COB-MS Project team. 

Robert has, over the last number of years, moved from being involved in the commercial world to becoming a Patient Advocate.

In 2019 he started as a part-time research assistant on the COB-MS trial, which led him to start training with EUPATI to be a Patient Expert. Since then he has shared his patient experience with the governmental agencies and pharmaceutical companies.

Over this time he has used his voice to share his experience on national radio and press, and developed online training programmes for managing anxiety, stress & depression for people with MS, and is working on a new programme for people with Progressive MS with the intent of increasing resilience.

Roberts blog www.a30minutelife.com is now ranked number 6 in the world for blogs focusing on Multiple Sclerosis.

Alice is a 3rd year Occupational Therapy Student at the University of Galway. To date, her placements have focused on community settings such as paediatric intellectual disabilities and rehabilitation for older adults.

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This summer, Alice is excited to undertake research with Evidence Synthesis Ireland under the supervision of Dr Sinéad Hynes & Ms Éle Quinn. Alice’s role in the project will focus on the People’s Review, an online project which aims to involve the public in a systematic review of a healthcare intervention. Specifically, she will interview members of The People's Review steering group over a period of 8 weeks. 

Laura is a 2nd year Medical Student at the University of Galway. So far, her academic interests have centred around evidence-based medicine. She is particularly passionate about initiatives that make medical research more accessible and collaborative.

This summer, Laura is excited to undertake research with Evidence Synthesis Ireland under the supervision of Dr Sinéad Hynes and Ms Éle Quinn. Laura’s role in the project will focus on an online initiative with The People’s Review that involves the public in conducting a systematic review of a healthcare intervention. She will be involved in core review tasks including preparing the review protocol and supporting various behind-the-scenes elements of the project over an 8-week period.

Hazeema is a first-year medical student at University College Cork. During her undergraduate studies at the University of Western Ontario, she conducted research on the psychobiology of eating disorders, the link between cardiovascular disease, dementia, and depression, as well as quality improvement initiatives aimed at improving healthcare access for marginalized communities.

Passionate about translational research, she is now beginning a project on neuropsychological interventions in multiple sclerosis (MS), where she will conduct a scoping review to better understand approaches to addressing cognitive challenges in MS.

Jessica is a 4th year Medical student at the University of Galway. To date, she has gained research experience in both neurology and endocrinology with both clinical and laboratory experience, with a particular interest in neurology. She has previously published a literature review on the topic of Alzheimer’s disease, reflecting her engagement with evidence-based medicine. 

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This summer, Jessica hopes to gain more experience in translational medicine and contribute to evidence-based approaches within the field of multiple sclerosis.  Over an eight-week research period, she will focus on addressing the topic of health equity in the multiple sclerosis patient population
 

Lenora is a final year Speech and Language Therapy student at the University of Galway. During her studies, she completed a range of clinical placements including adult communication and dysphagia care in acute and rehabilitative settings. She also gained valuable experience in qualitative research methods while conducting her final year project on the lived experiences of family carers.

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Passionate about translating research into practice and providing holistic, person-centred care, Lenora is excited to embark on two research projects this summer. The first will involve collaborating with OTs in updating LGBT+ Awareness and Good Practice Guidelines for OTs. The second will focus on synthesising evidence on effective neuropsychological interventions for people living with MS