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 in the University of Galway on the COB-MS trial.

Research Assistant

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​Sean works full-time on the COB-MS project as a research assistant where his primary role is in data collection and the administering and scoring of the outcome measure for the trial.

Sean holds a BSc Psychology and MSc Behavioural Neuroscience, both from UCD. His Master’s thesis focused on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying dyslexia and whether there is a relationship between impairments in word recognition and facial recognition in dyslexia. During the course of my studies, he gained experience with administering, scoring and with the psychometrics behind several neuropsychological tests.

Sean has worked previously as a support worker in a residential area supporting autistic adults with their daily living, where he has developed valuable insight into the lives of autistic people within a community setting. He has a keen interest in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative conditions, with an aspiration to pursue a career in clinical neuropsychology.

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.

Hannah is a University of Galway BSc Occupational Therapy graduate, with a clinical background in community neuro-rehabilitation. She has a keen interest in neurological conditions and cognitive rehabilitation, focusing on practical, occupation-centred interventions.

Hannah is passionate about supporting people living with MS to manage cognitive challenges and improve their day-to-day function and quality of life