Niamh O'Kane

I hold a dual role at the Centre for Public Health, as a Research Fellow and Science Communication and Research Impact Lead working on the GroundsWell consortium project. I hold a BSc (Hons) Human Biology from Queen’s University Belfast, a PhD Medicine (Public Health) from Queen’s, a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching from Queen’s, and Fellowship with Advance Higher Education. I have conducted post-doctoral research at the Centre for Public Health, and the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s. My research interests are in systems approaches to public health, with a focus on non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention, environmental exposures, food systems, and One Health.

I act in a boundary-spanning role, translating academic research into accessible outputs – including policy briefs, summary reports, factsheets and infographics – and engaging with a broad range of non-academic stakeholders, including policymakers, practitioners, and community groups. I design and implement knowledge exchange strategies and co-ordinate activities to support stakeholder engagement, public outreach, and other activities to maximise impact of research.

Current projects:

I am a Science Communication and Research Impact Lead and Research Fellow on the UKPRP-funded GroundsWell Consortium which applies systems science to maximise the contribution of Urban Green and Blue Space to the primary prevention of, and reduction of inequalities in, non-communicable diseases (NCD) in urban settings.

I am a co-investigator on an MRC PHIND project on developing system-oriented interventions and policies to end violence against women and girls in public spaces. The aims of the project are to work with women, girls, and other individuals from key organisations to design and develop interventions to prevent VAWG in outdoor public spaces in Belfast.

I am a member of the WHO Collaborating Centre for research and training on complex systems and network science for Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) prevention and control, providing training and capacity building in core skills to apply complex systems and network science to NCD and related issues.

Previous projects:

I also worked as a Research Fellow on:

• The SPACE project (Supportive environments for physical and social activity, healthy ageing and cognitive health) which aimed to investigate the impacts, and possible mechanistic pathways, of urban environments on healthy ageing and cognitive health.
• The GENIUS School Food network which aimed to build a community to work towards a more health-promoting food and nutrition system in UK schools, bringing together a team from a range of disciplines, while the inclusion of non-academic users and other stakeholders, such as pupils and parents, allowed the co-development of research priorities and questions, and the development of a systems map of the UK secondary school food system.
• The CONNECTS-Food study which took a systems approach to development guidance for the implementation of whole-school food approaches, including the development of a systems map of the UK primary school food system, resources for schools, and policy and guidance.
• A Safefood-funded study on Secondary analysis of dietary survey data of children's diets on the island of Ireland which included a scoping review of snacking patterns in children and secondary analysis of data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey and the Irish National Children's Food Survey.
• The WeValueFood project, a pan-European consortium and grand challenge project funded by EIT involving 11 European partners from education, academia and industry which aimed to educate, engage and advance the young Europeans’ knowledge and appreciation of food, thereby empowering the next generations to make the best choices about the food that they eat.