PhD Students
Éle Quinn
Éle Quinn is a PhD candidate with Evidence Synthesis Ireland. Her project will focus on 'The People's Review' under the supervision of Dr Sinéad Hynes and Prof David Moher. Éle completed her undergraduate studies in BSc. Occupational Therapy and her research project focused on the clinical utility of an Irish language version of a commonly used assessment for people with memory impairment. Éle has a keen interest in evidence synthesis and completed a summer studentship with Evidence Synthesis Ireland in 2019, supervised by Dr Hynes, focusing on a scoping review for occupational therapy interventions for people with multiple sclerosis. Prior to beginning PhD, Éle worked clinically as an occupational therapist in primary care and intellectual disability services and continues to maintain her registration as an occupational therapist in Ireland. Éle is passionate about capturing the patient and public voice and making research accessible to everyone.
See https://www.thepeoplesreview.ie/
Qiuxia Li
Qiuxia Li is a PhD student in Health Sciences in the Discipline of Occupational Therapy in the University of Galway. She started her PhD in September 2022. Her PhD research is co-supervised by Dr Sinéad Hynes and Prof Kieran Walsh. The aim of her project is to develop an online intervention for caregivers of people with dementia aimed at improving self-efficacy and reducing caregiving burden.
Qiuxia completed her BSc degree in Rehabilitation Therapy from Sun Yat-sen University (China) in 2019 and completed her master’s degree in Rehabilitation Medicine and Physiotherapy from Central South University (China) in 2022.
Wei Zhang
Wei Zhang will start her PhD at the University of Galway in September 2025.
Her research will focus on "the experiences of gynaecological cancer screening and treatment in multiple sclerosis."
She completed her residency training at the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. There, she rotated through multiple departments, including General Gynecology, Gynecologic Oncology, Obstetrics, Delivery Room, Emergency & Outpatient Services, Obstetric Ultrasound, Neonatology, and Anesthesiology. She has assisted in cesarean sections and complex gynecologic oncology surgeries, gaining proficiency in diagnosing and managing common gynecological and perinatal conditions, and is fully capable of handling related clinical responsibilities.
In research, her work has primarily focused on gynecologic oncology, particularly the application of methylation biomarkers in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) screening. From September 2022 to January 2023, she contributed to a cervical lesion research project, conducting immunohistochemistry experiments.
Former PhD Students
Mai Alharthy
Mai Alharthy completed her PhD in 2023.
She was a PhD candidate at NUI Galway from November 2019. Her PhD research was co-supervised by Dr Hynes and Professor Agnes Shiel. Her study aimed to provide clinicians with a valid and reliable tool to assess memory impairments in Arabic populations with acquired brain injuries by translating and culturally adapting the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test third edition (RBMT-3) into Arabic language and to investigate the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the RBMT-3. Prior to that, Mai was an occupational therapist at the National guards Health affairs Hospital in Saudi Arabia from 2007 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2016. After that, she joined the occupational therapy department at King Abdelaziz university as a lecturer. Mai completed her BSc Hons degree in occupational therapy from Brunel University (UK) in 2007 and completed her master degree in rehabilitation- neuro from Oxford Brookes University (UK) in 2011.
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Badr Alduqsi
Badr Alduqsi completed his PhD in 2024.
He was a PhD student in Occupational Therapy in NUIG from September 2018. His PhD research, co-supervised by Dr Hynes and Prof Agnes Shiel, focused on the effectiveness of Kinesio taping in comparison to a long thumb spica in the treatment of DeQuervain's tenosynovitis and to identify which one was more effective in reducing pain and improving functional outcomes.
Badr completed his BSc degree in 2005 at the Queen Margaret University (Edinburgh, Scotland) and received his MSc degree in 2012 from Pittsburgh University (U.S).
Since 2016, Badr joined Occupational Therapy Dept. at King Abdulaziz University as a Lecturer. Prior to this (2007-2016), Badr was the Occupational Therapy Supervisor at National Guard Hospital in Western Region (Saudi Arabia). Badr specializes in Hand Injuries, Musculoskeletal Disorders and Biomechanics, and Physical Dysfunction.