Brenda Monaghan PhD

Brenda Monaghan qualified from UUJ with first-class honors in 1995 receiving both the Northern Bank and CSP awards for clinical and academic excellence. She completed a higher diploma in Health Sciences at UEA in 2003 and an MSc in Advanced Practice of Physiotherapy at UUJ in 2005. Brenda has a strong interest in clinical research and believes clinical change must be evidenced based. She has been employed as a Clinical Specialist physiotherapist in the HSE for 15 years and has developed an innovative role as a clinical physiotherapist blending research and clinical innovation. All research projects have been clinically based and focused on multi-disciplinary clinical teams. Many have focused on audit and clinical effectiveness.

In 2016 she completed a Ph.D. at UCD. This followed successful achievement of a clinical fellowship from the HRB which enabled her to carry out an RCT evaluating functional exercise after total hip replacement. This project was delivered on time and within budget and it has resulted in peer reviewed published articles and a change in clinical practice. She is currently leading a Slainte Care-funded research project investigating the addition of weight management to an education and exercise program for patients with knee osteoarthritis ARMED (Arthritis Rehabilitation through the management of exercise and diet).

In 2018/2019 she completed a 12-month leadership program designed by the IMI and KPMG to develop senior leaders in the health service. In 2020 she commenced work here at TCD as an assistant professor in the School of Physiotherapy. She believes her clinical experience together with her research, education, and leadership skills will allow her to continue her clinically focussed research work together with a new teaching role here at Trinity College Dublin.