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Find an Expert

Are you looking for an academic to provide expert commentary/analysis for a news story/documentary?

This experts directory is a searchable database of Queen’s academics who are interested in talking to the media about their areas of expertise.

If you cannot find the right expert, please contact Queen’s Communications Office and a member of the team will be able to help you.

Contact the communications team

Photo: Dr Matt Nicholl
Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics

Dr Nicholl's expertise encompasses cosmic explosions and other energetic events associated with massive stars, neutron stars and black holes.

Expertise: Supernova, black hole, kilonova, gamma-ray burst, tidal disruption event, transient, galaxy

Photo: Dr Pal Schmitt
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)

Dr Pal Schmitt is a marine engineer with research interests in the design and development of coastal and marine engineering structures.

Expertise: Blue Economy, Marine Renewable Energy, Wave Energy, Tidal Energy, Marine Engineering, Coastal Engineering

Photo: Dr Jonny Hanson
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Dr Hanson is an academic, award-winning social entrepreneur, snow leopard conservationist and former community farmer who specialises in human-wildlife coexistence and rural development.

Expertise: Social aspects of conservation and agriculture, and how these relate to other social processes, including tourism and enterprise. Specifically, coexistence between large carnivore conservation and livestock farming, as well as social and community farming.

Photo: Dr Nichola Booth
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Dr Booth is a lecturer in Behaviour Analysis and autism in the School of Social Sciences, Education, and Social Work.

Expertise: Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), autism, developmental disorders, inclusive education, disability, values-driven professional training, and parent training.

Photo: Dr John Topping
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Dr John Topping is criminologist and an internationally recognised expert in policing, including police reform and accountability, along with stop and search powers.

Expertise: Policing, police reform, stop and search, post-conflict policing

Photo: Dr Grace Carroll
School of Psychology

Dr Carroll is an expert in farm and companion-animal welfare science and human-animal interactions

Expertise: Cats, pigs, animal welfare; human behaviour change; domestication, evolutionary psychology

Photo: Professor Laura Lundy
Centre for Children's Rights, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Professor Laura Lundy is an international expert on children’s rights and child and youth participation and author of the widely used Lundy model of child participation.

Expertise: children’s rights, child participation

Photo: Professor Luke Moffett
School of Law

Professor Luke Moffett is an expert on the laws of war/Geneva Conventions, International Criminal Court, civilian and victims’ rights, reparations, and international crimes (aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes).

Expertise: International crimes; civilians war; laws of war.

Photo: Professor Máire O
Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT), School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EEECS)

Professor Máire O’Neill is a leading cybersecurity expert. Maire is a UK Female Inventor of the Year, was the youngest Irish Academy fellow and youngest-ever engineering professor at Queen’s University Belfast.

Expertise: Cyber Security, Cryptography, Hardware Security, Data Security, Internet of Things

Photo: Professor David Rooney
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Professor Rooney is a Chemical Engineer working on systems approaches to deliver multiple aspects of the Net Zero transition.

Expertise: Renewable Energy Systems, Net Zero, Biogas

Photo: Dr Deborah Wells
School of Psychology

Animal behaviour and welfare, human-animal bond, pets and human health, paw preferences/laterality, dogs, cats, pet-behaviour problems

Expertise: Animal behaviour, animal welfare, paw preferences, dogs, cats, pet ownership

Photo: Dr Ryan Milligan
Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics

Dr Milligan is a researcher in solar physics, specialising in solar flares, solar activity, and solar eclipses.

Expertise: Solar flares, Solar eclipses, Solar activity, Sunspots, Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis

Photo: Dr Sara Melo
Queen's Business School

Her research focuses on healthcare management, healthcare quality management and healthcare systems .

Expertise: Healthcare management, Healthcare quality management, Healthcare systems, Quality Improvement, Independent Living, Teaching Hospitals Delivery of Health Care

Photo: Dr Lindsay Broadbent
School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS), Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine

Dr Broadbent is currently working on a Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF) Fellowship to investigate the immune responses to respiratory viruses, such as influenza, and how this can cause damage to the lungs.

Expertise: coronavirus, corona virus, covid-19, virology, respiratory disease

Photo: Dr Alastair Ruffell
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)

Main area: forensic science, especially the search for human remains in water or buried on land; secondary interest is the appearance of dinosaurs at a time of climate change, 224 million years ago.

Expertise: Geology, geophysics, forensic science, climate change in deep time, location & forensic recovery of human remains

Photo: Professor Cherie Armour
School of Psychology

Cherie has a particular interest in occupational groups that are at increased risk of experiencing trauma and traumatic stress outcomes due to their occupational roles, for example, military, police, and emergency service workers; such as those in the fire and ambulance services.

Expertise: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, Veterans, Mental Health, Depression, Domestic violence, Child maltreatment

Photo: Professor Jennifer McKinley
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)

Professor McKinley’s research has focused on the application of spatial analysis techniques, including geostatistics, compositional data analysis and Geographical Information Science (GIS), to soil geochemistry, environmental and criminal forensics, human health, slope instability, airborne geophysics and weathering studies.

Expertise: Spatial analysis techniques, Geostatistics, Compositional data analysis, Geographical Information Science (GIS), Soil geochemistry, Environmental and criminal forensics, Human health, Slope instability, Airborne geophysics, Weathering studies

Photo: Dr Tristan Sturm
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)

Dr Sturm’s research is on conspiracy theories, apocalyptic though, and sectarian politics and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and Israel and Palestine.

Expertise: Conspiracy theories; apocalypse; covid-19; coronavirus; emotions; sectarian reconciliation; Israel and Palestine.

Photo: Dr Gemma Catney
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)

Dr Gemma Catney is a leading Population and Social Geographer at Queen's University Belfast.

Expertise: Ethnicity, Race, Diversity, Segregation, Mixing, Socio-Spatial Inequalities, Neighbourhoods, Census, Spatial

Photo: Dr Meg Schwamb
Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics

Dr Schwamb studies the icy bodies in the outer Solar System.

Expertise: Astronomy, planetary science, Solar System, exoplanets, astrophysics, Solar System small bodies

Photo: Dr Cheryl Lawther
School of Law, The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Dr Lawther is an expert on issues relating to victims and survivors and the legacy of Northern Ireland conflict.

Expertise: Transitional justice, victims and survivors, legacy, dealing with the past, truth/truth recovery/truth commissions, reparations, and memorialisation.

Photo: Professor Chris Elliott
Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS)

Professor Chris Elliott is a leading expert on international food supply chains and the implications for food quality, authenticity, integrity and safety.

Expertise: food fraud, food security, supply chains, food integrity

Photo: Professor Peter Robertson
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Professor Robertson is an Energy and Environmental Engineer with expertise in advanced technologies for water sustainability and solar energy generation/storage.

Expertise: Water sustainability, waste and potable water treatment. Renewable/sustainable energy, including solar energy and solar fuel generation such as renewable hydrogen. Technology for net zero engineering.

Photo: Dr Deepak Padmanabhan
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EEECS)

Expert in socio-political implications of Artificial Intelligence and allied technologies. Research includes relationships between AI and disinformation, democracy, elections and cooperativism.

Expertise: Artificial Intelligence, Critical Studies of Technology

Photo: Dr Gillian Shorter
School of Psychology

Exploring alcohol and drug use among individuals experiencing harm or at risk of harm but not seeking treatment

Expertise: Alcohol, drinking, drug use, health inequalities, drug consumption rooms, overdose prevention sites, brief advice, harm reduction

Photo: Professor Muiris MacCarthaigh
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP)

Professor of Politics and Public Policy, and Head of Politics and International Relations.

Expertise: Irish Politics; Irish Government and Politics; International Public Policy; Technology, Government and Society; and State Administration.

Photo: Professor John Brewer
The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Professor Brewer is an internationally recognised expert in peace studies and conflict transformation.

Expertise: peace studies, conflict transformation, peace processes; religious peace building; religion and conflict; history of sociology; social science; higher education; qualitative research; ethnography, peace processes

Photo: Dr Katerina Dounavi
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Dr Dounavi is a Senior Lecturer in Behaviour Analysis and Autism in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work.

Expertise: Applied behaviour analysis, developmental disorders including autism spectrum disorders, inclusive education, values-driven professional training, telehealth, verbal behaviour, learning and communication disorders, parental training, behaviour change for wider societal challenges, systematic reviews

Photo: Dr Karen Kerr
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Dr Kerr’s recent research looks at children and young people’s connection to and knowledge of nature, views on environmental sustainability and their health and well-being, as outcomes of outdoor learning.

Expertise: Outdoor learning; Learning Outside the Classroom; Environmental Education; Education for Sustainable Development; Teacher professional development

Photo: Dr Chris Colvin
Queen's Business School

Chris Colvin combines economics and history to better understand the performance of firms, industries, economies and societies.

Expertise: economic history; financial history; business history; banking crises; health crises; patents and innovation; economic policymaking process; pedagogical reform

Photo: Professor Niall Cullinane
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS), Queen's Business School

Niall Cullinane is a Professor from Queen's Business School and his research lies broadly in the field of work, employment relations and trade unionism.

Expertise: industrial relations; trade unions; strikes; work trends; pay; collective bargaining; employment

Photo: Dr Sinong Ma
Queen's Business School

His research interests cover behavioural economics, ethical decision making and social choice theory. He is currently working on assessing the general public's perceptions of what is a fair and responsible distribution system of social resources, when facing public diseases.

Expertise: Behavioural economics, ethical decision making, social choice theory

Photo: Professor Min Zhang
Queen's Business School

His main research areas are business analytics and supply chain management.

Expertise: Digitalization of Supply Chains, Supply Chain Management, Innovation, Industry

Photo: Professor Richard English
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP), The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Professor Richard English is an internationally recognised historian, academic and author having conducted extensive research in Irish politics and history, political violence and terrorism.

Expertise: terrorism, political violence, Irish politics and history

Photo: Professor Robert Bowman
School of Mathematics and Physics

Professor Bowman’s research is focused on the development and evaluation of advanced materials for data storage technology.

Expertise: data storage technology, rare earth magnetism, rare-earth-ferromagnetic coupling phenomena, synthetic magnetic multilayers, plasmonic materials

Photo: Dr Michael Duffy
Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation (CESI), School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW), The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Dr Michael Duffy is a cognitive psychotherapist specialising in PTSD and complex grief.

Expertise: PTSD, mental health, complex grief, psychological trauma, coronavirus, corona virus, covid-19

Photo: Professor Marek Martyniszyn
School of Law

Professor Martyniszyn is a world-leading expert in the area of competition law and policy. He focuses, in particular on cross-border cases, state involvement, as well as issues relating to functioning of new competition agencies and competition systems.

Expertise: Law, Competition Law and Policy, Antitrust Law, Economic Regulation, State Subsidies, Governance.

Photo: Dr Peter McLoughlin
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP)

Dr McLoughlin is an expert on the Northern Ireland conflict and peace process (including Irish-America/US government and EU dimensions), and the political history of Ireland.

Expertise: Northern Ireland conflict and peace process (including Irish-America/US government and EU dimensions), and the political history of Ireland.

Photo: Dr Ben Collins
Biological Sciences

Dr Collins' group is focused on proteomics - the large-scale analysis of proteins from biological samples.

Expertise: Proteomics, mass spectrometry, protein chemistry, protein complexes, post translation modifications

Photo: Professor Christopher McCabe
Centre for Public Health, Queen's Business School

Professor Christopher McCabe is a health economist, specialising in the field of health technology assessment.

Expertise: Economics of health care, health care market access, and economic issues of infectious disease outbreaks.

Photo: Professor Christopher McCrudden
School of Law

Professor Christopher McCrudden is a world-leading expert human rights and equality law at the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast and the William W Cook Global Law Professor at the University of Michigan Law School.

Expertise: human rights law, equality law, European Union Law, Human rights in Northern Ireland, European Economic Area, Brexit

Photo: Dr Niamh Buckley
School of Pharmacy

Dr Buckley's research focuses on poor outcome cancers with a focus on triple negative breast cancer.

Expertise: Breast cancer, Triple negative breast cancer, Targeted and personalised treatment options

Photo: Dr Tim Skvortsov
School of Pharmacy

Dr Skvortsov is an expert in bacteriophages and their enzymes as novel antimicrobials and biotechnological tools.

Expertise: Bacteriophages, Viruses, Molecular Microbiology, Microbial Biotechnology, Microbial Bioinformatics, Antimicrobial Resistance

Photo: Dr Eneko Larrañeta
School of Pharmacy

Dr Larrañeta is an expert in development and characterisation of medical devices for long-acting drug delivery.

Expertise: Drug delivery systems, Medical devices, 3D-Printing, Biomaterials, Pharmaceutics

Photo: Professor Dimitrios Lamprou
School of Pharmacy

Professor Dimitrios Lamprou is an expert in Emerging Biopharmaceutical & Pharmaceutical Technologies.

Expertise: 3D Printing, Bioprinting, 4D Printing, Microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip, Nanomedicine, Emerging Technologies, Medical Implants, BioMEMS

Photo: Professor Anne-Marie McAlinden
School of Law

Professor McAlinden is a world-leading expert on the subject of sexual offending against children.

Expertise: sexual offending against children, grooming, child sexual abuse, exploitation, institutional child abuse, peer abuse

Photo: Professor Daniel Muijs
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Professor Muijs is an expert in quality of teaching and leadership in schools, educational policy, and accountability. He has worked at universities in England, Belgium and the Netherlands, and at Ofsted.

Expertise: Education policy; Accountability, inspection, exams; Teaching quality; School quality; and School improvement.

Photo: Dr Peter Doran
School of Law, The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Dr Doran has worked as a consultant writer with the UN Climate Change Convention, going back to the negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol, and has written on the topics of climate change; mindfulness; environmental governance and activism on the island of Ireland; rights of nature, including a recent book on the 'mindful commons and the attention economy'. He has worked in NGOs and in parliamentary settings on both sides of the border, and at the United Nations.

Expertise: Climate change, mindfulness, environmental governance and activism on the island of Ireland, rights of nature, Brexit

Photo: Dr Ciaran Mulholland
School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS), The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Dr Ciaran Mulholland is a consultant psychiatrist with the Northern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland and a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Medical Education at Queen’s University.

Expertise: mental health, psychotic disorders, aetiology of psychotic illnesses, psychological trauma, coronavirus, corona virus, covid-19

Photo: Professor Tony Gallagher
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW), The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Professor Gallagher’s development of the shared education programme to create trust and friendship in divided societies is having an impact worldwide.

Expertise: Education, education in divided societies, shared education

Photo: Dr Philip Fliers
Queen's Business School

Dr Fliers is a corporate finance and governance specialist, his multidisciplinary research focuses on financial decision making.

Expertise: Finance, Economics, Management, Economic History, Governance

Photo: Dr Graham Brownlow
Queen's Business School

The relationship between economics and history: in particular how incentives have shaped past as well as contemporary businesses in Ireland.

Expertise: Economic History, Business History, Topics in Contemporary Business Economics (e.g. Brexit, Regions and Devolution), Applied Institutional Economics, Economic Organisation of Violence, Communicating Economics (e.g. pedagogy and public understanding)

Photo: Professor Nola Hewitt-Dundas
Queen's Business School

Professor Hewitt-Dundas' research interests include the dynamics of innovation ecosystems in an international context, innovation, technology transfer and networks with an emphasis on small and medium enterprises, business strategy and technology adoption.

Expertise: business, innovation, business growth, technology adoption, management, industry

Photo: Dr Laura Dunne
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS), School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Dr Dunne's research looks at child health, wellbeing and development in schools and communities.

Expertise: Child health, wellbeing and development; Early child development and peacebuilding in low-and-middle income countries; programme evaluation; and systematic review.

Photo: Professor Stephen Smartt
Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics

Professor Smartt is an astrophysicist specialising in surveying the sky for transient and explosive events.

Expertise: astrophysics, space, supernovae, exploding stars

Photo: Professor Louise Mallinder
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS), School of Law, The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Louise Mallinder is a Professor of Law and Fellow of the George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace,Security and Justice. She is a leading expert on how transitional justice and international law operate in times of authoritarianism, conflict and peace at the international level and in several countries around the world.

Expertise: transitional justice, conflict transformation, peace studies, legacy issues in Northern Ireland, amnesty laws, human rights

Photo: Professor Franziska Schroeder
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS), School of Arts, English and Languages (AEL), Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC)

Professor Franziska Schroeder conducts research in the areas of inclusive and accessible music technologies and music improvisation. At Queen’s, she leads the “Performance without Barriers” research group (Vice Chancellor’s Prize for Research Innovation 2020), that focuses on building sustainable environments for inclusive music-making through participatory design practices, led by the insights of the disabled community.

Expertise: inclusive and accessible music; music; performance; improvisation

Photo: Professor Tunde Peto
Centre for Public Health, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS)

Tunde Peto is Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at Queen’s University Belfast, Clinical Lead for Diabetic Eye Screening Programme Northern Ireland and a Consultant Ophthalmologist in Medical Retina. She has been named as one of the UK’s 25 most influential researchers who study diabetes complications and is internationally renowned for establishing diabetic retinopathy screening and training programmes.

Expertise: chronic blinding diseases, ophthalmic image analysis, epidemiology and statistics, diabetic retinopathy screening and training programmes

Photo: Professor Mark Emmerson
School of Biological Sciences

His work focusses on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, the drivers of biodiversity change and the consequences of biodiversity loss for ecosystem stability.

Expertise: Biodiversity and its interplay with climate, Nature, Resilience and Nature based Solutions, Climate

Photo: Professor Mark Price
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Professor Price is a leading academic in engineering with extensive industry experience. He is focused on design and manufacturing and particularly how new approaches to design are needed to take advantage of the brave new world offered by advanced manufacturing technologies.

Expertise: aircraft structures, design automation for airframes, aerospace

Photo: Professor Mark Lawler
The Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research

Professor Lawler is an internationally renowned scientist with over 30 years experience in cancer research, who is passionate about translating his research for the benefit of patients and society.

Expertise: Cancer, Genetics, Precision Medicine, Health Data, COVID-19 and cancer, Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement in Research.

Photo: Professor Alan Fitzsimmons
Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics

Professor Fitzsimmons studies icy comets from the cold outskirts of our Solar system, and rocky asteroids that can pass too close for comfort.

Expertise: Astrophysics, solar system, asteroids, comets, space, space mining

Photo: Professor Andy Meharg
Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS), School of Biological Sciences

Professor Meharg has gained a worldwide reputation for his research into a global food problem – the high levels of toxic arsenic in rice, the staple diet of half the world’s population.

Expertise: Food security, contaminants in food

Photo: Dr Mark Flear
School of Law

Dr Flear is an expert in the law and ethics of pandemic preparedness planning and response.

Expertise: EU, European law, Governance, Public Health, Pandemic Preparedness and Response

Photo: Professor Ken Mills
Institute for Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS), The Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research

Professor Mills' interests are in translational research in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with the aim of improving diagnosis, prognosis and prediction of therapeutic responses.

Expertise: molecular mechanisms in myeloid blood cancers, epigenetic alterations, DNA repair deficiency, altered signal pathways to identify therapeutic targets for novel agents or repurposed drugs using drug screens and/or NGS, coronavirus, corona virus, covid-19, virology, respiratory disease

Photo: Dr Deepti Adlakha
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)

Dr. Adlakha's research focuses on generating, translating and scaling up evidence for reducing environmental health and social disparities, particularly factors affecting prevention, control and mitigation of chronic and acute non-communicable diseases in populations.

Expertise: Environmental health, Non-communicable diseases, Geospatial health disparities

Photo: Dr Gerry McKenna
School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS)

Dr McKenna combines specialist patient care with dental education and research. His research is focused on improving oral health particularly for older adults.

Expertise: Dentistry, Oral Health, Gerodontology, Oral Health of Older People, Oral Health in Care Homes, Oral Cancer

Photo: Professor Fearghal McGarry
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP)

Professor McGarry is one of Ireland’s leading historians. His work has helped shape understanding of contentious history in our divided society.

Expertise: Modern Ireland, political violence, public history

Photo: Professor Ryan Donnelly
School of Pharmacy

Professor Donnelly holds the Chair in Pharmaceutical Technology in the School of Pharmacy and is Director of the university’s £3M pioneer research programme Materials & Advanced Technologies for Healthcare, comprising 55 academics from Pharmacy, Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Biological Sciences, Nursing and Medicine.

Expertise: Drug delivery, pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Technology

Photo: Professor Stuart Elborn
Centre for Experimental Medicine, Institute for Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS)

Professor Elborn is a well-established international leader in healthcare having driven major changes in healthcare delivery in the field of cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis.

Expertise: Medicine, health, Cystic Fibrosis, bronchiectasis, Respiratory

Photo: Professor Joe O
School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS)

Throughout his academic medical career, Professor O’Sullivan has been committed to improving the lives of patients with prostate cancer through research and innovation.

Expertise: cancer, cancer research, prostate cancer, molecular radiotherapy, External Beam Radiotherapy, Advanced prostate cancer, Castration resistant prostate cancer

Photo: Professor Colin Harvey
School of Law

Professor Colin Harvey is Professor of Human Rights Law in the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast, a Fellow of the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, and an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Irish Studies.

Expertise: Law, Brexit, Human Rights

Photo: Professor Katy Hayward
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Professor Katy Hayward is a sought-after expert on Brexit, the Irish border and the peace process, and a leading political sociologist on the island of Ireland.

Expertise: 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement; Border management; Brexit; Cross-border conflict and cooperation; EU integration; Irish border; Northern Ireland politics and society; Peace and conflict processes; Political sociology;

Photo: Dr Andrew Newton
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)

His main research interests focus broadly on high latitude/altitude settings. This work typically focuses on integrating geomorphological and stratigraphic information from offshore 3D and 2D seismic data, borehole/core data, and remote sensing of land areas.

Expertise: glaciology, geology and geophysics, climate change of ice sheets, glaciers, sea/lake/river ice, the energy transition, carbon capture and storage

Photo: Professor Graeme Swindles
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)

Professor Swindles has broad research interests in Earth System Science and works on topics concerning both past, present and future climate and environmental change. He has particular interests in global peatland dynamics, peatlands as nature-based climate solutions and the response of arctic ecosystems to climate warming.

Expertise: Climate change, nature-based climate solutions, peatlands, earth system science, arctic

Photo: Dr Donal Mullan
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)

Dr Mullan's research focuses on the development of regional and site-specific future climate change scenarios using statistical downscaling techniques, and their application to a wide range of environmental and socio-economic impact sectors.

Expertise: climate modelling; future climate scenarios; climate change impacts

Photo: Dr Madjid Karimirad
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)

Dr Madjid Karimirad is carrying out research on analysis, testing, development and design of offshore renewable energy structures. This covers offshore wind turbines both floating and bottom-fixed, wave energy converters, tidal turbines as well as floating solar units. 

Expertise: Assessment and Analysis of Offshore Renewable Energy, Marine Structures, Floating Wind Turbines, Floating Solar, Offshore Wind, climate

Photo: Dr Haresh Manyar
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Dr Manyar's research interests are in the area of heterogeneous Catalysis and Green Chemical Processes with projects in Energy, biofuels, fuel additives and renewable chemicals.

Expertise: Sustainable energy, production of biofuels and renewable chemicals through valorisation of waste biomass and CO2 capture and conversion, climate

Photo: Professor Jaimie Dick
School of Biological Sciences

Invasive alien species and their impacts e.g. ecological, environmental, economic, agricultural, freshwater, marine, terrestrial, effects on sustainability and synergy with climate change.

Expertise: Invasive alien species and their impacts e.g. ecological, environmental, economic, agricultural, freshwater, marine, terrestrial, effects on sustainability and synergy with climate change

Photo: Professor Nathan Congdon
Centre for Public Health

Professor Congdon’s research is about delivering high-quality, low-cost eyecare in underserved areas of low and middle-income countries.

Expertise: Global eye health, refractive error in children and adult, cataract, glaucoma, diabetic eye disease, Chinese healthcare system

Photo: Dr Elodie Fabre
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP)

Dr Elodie Fabre is a lecturer in politics and international studies within the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics.

Expertise: UK politics, devolution, and political parties, and citizen participation and democratic innovations (referendums, citizens’ assemblies/juries), as well as French politics. She speaks fluently in English and French.

Photo: Dr Natasha Phillips
Biological Sciences

Dr Phillips’ research focuses on the conservation ecology of big fish, including tuna, sunfish and sharks, to better understand and protect marine ecosystems.

Expertise: Marine biology, fish, sharks, science, conservation, biotelemetry, ecology, science outreach

Photo: Professor Geraint Ellis
School of Natural and Built Environment (NBE)

Professor Ellis’s career has been driven by the belief that people’s health and well-being are strongly shaped by the places they live, and that the way we build cities is crucial to securing a high quality of life for all. He has also focussed on the need to address climate change through spatial planning, including fostering energy transition through social engagement.

Expertise: Environmental Planning, Natural and Built Environment, healthy cities, urban planning, urban growth, sustainability, energy transition

Photo: Professor Karola Dillenburger
Centre for Behaviour Analysis, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Professor Dillenburger is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst-Doctoral (BCBA-D) and clinical Psychologist (HCPC). Her expertise lies in ABA, parenting, autism, and mental health.

Expertise: Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA); education, autism, mental health, parenting, challenging behaviour, learning, disability, clinical psychology, coronavirus, corona, covid-19

Photo: Professor Lee McGowan
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP), The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Professor McGowan’s research focuses on European Politics. Over the last two decades, he has developed an international reputation for expertise in the politics of competition policy and produced the first major work from political science on the EU competition regime.

Expertise: European Union, EU governance, European competition policy, far right, Brexit

Photo: Professor Manuel Salto Tellez
Precision Medicine Centre of Excellence

Professor Salto Tellez is an international pathologist and is one of the drivers behind the Precision Medicine Centre of Excellence.

Expertise: Cancer research, precision medicine, artificial intelligence, digital pathology

Photo: Professor Michael Semple
The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Professor Michael Semple works on innovative approaches to peace-making and engagement with militant Islamic movements in Afghanistan and South Asia.

Expertise: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Taliban, terrorism, conflict resolution

Photo: Professor Paul Stapleton
School of Arts, English and Languages (AEL), Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC)

Professor Stapleton conducts research in the areas of new musical instrument design, music performance, sound design, and critical improvisation studies.

Expertise: music, instruments, improvisation, sound design

Photo: Professor Shadd Maruna
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Professor Maruna’s primary expertise is in the reintegration experiences of former prisoners in society.

Expertise: Probation, prisons, parole, personality disorder, punitive public attitudes, rehabilitation/resettlement, and desistance from crime.

Specialises in the effects of animal management on their performance, ability to cope with challenges, such as pathogens, and environmental impact.

Expertise: Environmental and climate-change impacts of agriculture; Sustainability in animal food systems; sustainability of agricultural systems; environmental impacts of agricultural systems; reducing agricultural carbon footprint; reducing agricultural emissions

Photo: Dr Nik Ribianszky
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP)

Dr Ribianszky is a lecturer in pre-Civil War US History whose research centres on enslaved and free Black people, race relations, violence, gender, and sexuality.

Expertise: Race, Race Relations, Gender, Sexuality, Violence

Photo: Professor David Phinnemore
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP)

Professor Phinnemore is widely regarded as one of Europe’s leading academic experts on the European Union and Brexit, particularly in relation to Northern Ireland.

Expertise: European Union, Brexit, Northern Ireland, Politics, International relations

Photo: Ambassador Andrew Heyn CMG OBE
The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Senior diplomat who served as UK Consul-General in Hong Kong (2016-20) and Ambassador to Myanmar (2009-13).

Expertise: Hong Kong; Hong Kong Protests; Sino-British Joint Declaration; Hong Kong National Security Law; Myanmar (Burma); Aung San Suu Kyi; Rohingya; China foreign policy; US/China relations; Popular uprisings; sanctions policy; UK Foreign Policy; diplomacy

Photo: Professor Philip McGowan
School of Arts, English and Languages (AEL)

Professor McGowan is President of the European Association for American Studies and his research analyses the intersections of literature, politics, history and culture in the United States.

Expertise: American/US culture and literature

Photo: Dr Amy Jayne McKnight
Centre for Public Health, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS)

Dr McKnight is improving risk prediction, diagnosis, prognosis, therapies, and associated information for people living and working with inherited conditions.

Expertise: biobanking, molecular epidemiology for rare and common complex conditions, multi-omics, rare disease registry

Photo: Professor Allen Thurston
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

A former primary school teacher, Professor Thurston’s work is focussed on how to improve learning in high poverty schools. He is an expert in the use of cooperative learning techniques in the classroom and a pioneer of the use of randomised trials in education.

Expertise: education, literacy, school improvement, improving literacy, cooperative learning, educational research

Photo: Dr Josue Ortega
Queen's Business School

Dr Josue Ortega is a lecturer in economics at Queen’s University Belfast, where he teaches Economics of Networks and Institutions.

Expertise: Evolution of networks, Economic integration

Photo: Dr Pauline Adair
School of Psychology

Her Research interests are in the area of the development and evaluation of psychological (e.g. cognitive behaviour therapy)/behaviour change interventions to reduce the psychological sequelae of physical health conditions (cancer, chronic pain, asthma, IBD) as well as disease prevention through encouraging lifestyle change (e.g. diet/oral hygiene).

Expertise: Health behaviour change, Psychological interventions for improving quality of life of those with medical conditions (chronic pain, cancer, asthma), Oral health in children

Photo: Dr Gemma Carney
School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW)

Dr Carney’s work research aims to further our understanding of ageing and older people, cultural gerontology, politics of ageing or gender scholars with an interest in ageing societies.

Expertise: Gerontology, Politics of ageing, Social Policy, Ageing

Photo: Dr Paul Murphy
School of Arts, English and Languages (AEL)

Paul is engaged in transdisciplinary, collaborative research that focuses on two broad areas: simulation-based education for health and social care; arts-based interventions for public health.

Expertise: Drama, Healthcare, Simulation-based education for health and social care, Arts-based interventions for public health

Photo: Professor Heather Conway
School of Law

Professor Heather Conway is an expert on death laws, and the legal issues around funerals and dealing with the dead.

Expertise: bodily disposal laws, burial, cremation, funeral planning, family funeral disputes, exhumation, commemorating the dead

Photo: Professor Dave Archard
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP)

Professor Dave Archard has applied moral, political and legal philosophy to issues of contemporary concern and played a prominent role in the public world of law and policy.

Expertise: rights of the child, duties of parents, family, nature of the family, sexual consent, privacy, multiculturalism, nationalism, education, coronavirus, covid-19, corona

Photo: Professor Cliff Taggart
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences (MHLS), School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS), Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine

His research focuses on evaluating mechanisms of excessive inflammation in lung disease and how this may predispose to bacterial and viral infection in the lung. Primary disease interests include Cystic Fibrosis, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Expertise: cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and ccute respiratory distress syndrome, coronavirus, corona virus, covid-19, virology, respiratory disease

Photo: Dr Connor Bamford
School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS), Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine

His work is currently supported by a Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF) Fellowship.

Expertise: virus immunity, cytokines, interferons, human pathogens, coronavirus, corona virus, covid-19, virology, respiratory disease

Photo: Professor Ultan Power
School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS), Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine

Dr. Power’s research is focused on studying respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) pathogenesis and how this can be prevented by vaccines or treated with drugs.

Expertise: Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), coronavirus, corona virus, covid-19, virology, respiratory disease

Photo: Professor Jose Bengoechea
School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences (MDBS)

Professor Bengoechea’s research into combatting the multidrug resistant microbe Klebsiella pneumoniae – one of the hospital superbugs – is recognised worldwide.

Expertise: cell biology, medical research, antibiotic resistance

Photo: Dr Stefan Andreasson
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP)

Dr Andreasson is a political economist with expertise in American Politics and African politics relating to resources and development.

Expertise: International Political Economy, Development, Energy, Africa, USA

Photo: Dr Andrew Thomson
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP)

Dr Thomson’s research examines militias in civil wars such as in Colombia and the US sponsorship of paramilitary actors in the Middle East.

Expertise: US counterinsurgency, US irregular warfare, US use of non-state armed actors, Militias in Colombia, Colombian peace process, militia actors in civil wars.

Photo: Professor Janice Carruthers
School of Arts, English and Languages (AEL)

Professor Carruthers is a world-leading expert on the French language (variation and change; the structure of oral French) and on Language Policy.

Expertise: Modern Languages in the UK, Language Policy, French language

Photo: Dr Kieran Connell
School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP)

Dr Kieran Connell is a leading historian of post-war Britain, and has particular expertise in the histories of immigration, multiculturalism and popular culture based in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics.

Expertise: Race, immigration, multiculturalism, popular culture

Photo: Professor Michael Tunney
School of Pharmacy

Professor Tunney's research focuses primarily on the improved detection and treatment of lung infection in patients with respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF), bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Expertise: lung infection, Cystic Fibrosis, antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance

Photo: Professor Isabel Torres
School of Arts, English and Languages (AEL)

Professor Torres has an international reputation in Spanish Renaissance (‘Golden Age’) Literary and Cultural Studies; her major contribution has been in the field of Renaissance and Baroque poetics.

Expertise: Early Modern Spanish Literature and Culture; Spanish Language; Renaissance Humanism; Classical Heritage.

Photo: Professor Neil Robertson
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EEECS)

Professor Neil Robertson produces Artificial Intelligence for the real world.

Expertise: Face recognition, visual security, artificial intelligence

Photo: Professor Pedro Rebelo
School of Arts, English and Languages (AEL), Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC)

Professor Rebelo is a composer, sound artist and performer working primarily in chamber music, improvisation and sound installation. His work brings together a critical and practice-based understanding of sound which is articulated in performance, composition, exhibition and writing.

Expertise: music, conflict, sound, sound installation, chamber music, improvisation

Photo: Professor Noemi Lois
Centre for Experimental Medicine

Professor Noemi Lois is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology in the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine and a Medical Retina specialist and Vitreoretinal Surgeon at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

Expertise: health, medicine, diabetic retinopathy

Photo: Professor Amilra De Silva
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Professor De Silva built the fluorescent PET sensor design tool generally useful for molecular scientists, collaborated to construct the market-leading OPTI blood electrolyte/gas analyser and invented the experimental field of molecular logic-based computation.

Expertise: sensor technology, chemistry, photophysics, photochemistry, sensors

Photo: Professor Biqiong Chen
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Professor Chen, an expert in polymer nanocomposites, takes a holistic approach to research, combining synthesis, functionalisation, processing, characterisation and application of polymers, nanoparticles and polymer nanocomposites.

Expertise: Materials Science and Engineering, Polymers, Nanocomposites, Nanomaterials

Photo: Professor Martin Atkins
Research Centre in Sustainable Energy, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Professor Atkins has a distinguished career as an industrial R&D Manager, Project Manager as well as several Chief Technologist, and Chief Technology Officer roles in addition to his current post as CEO of Green Lizard Technologies (a QUB spin-out company) and his Chair of Chemical Innovation and Sustainability.