Institution (Location)
Dublin, Ireland
Start Date
March 1, 2015
Salary
€33,975 – €37,063
Position Description

Background:

 

The Insight
Research Centre
for Big Data Analytics (http://www.Insight-centre.org) is
a joint initiative between researchers at University College Dublin, NUI
Galway, University College Cork and Dublin City University, as well as other
partner institutions. It will bring together a critical mass of more than 200
researchers from Ireland’s leading ICT centers to develop a new generation of
data analytics technologies in a number of key application areas.

 

The €85m center is funded by Science
Foundation Ireland and a wide range of industry partners. Insight’s research
focus encompasses a broad range of data analytics technologies and
challenges, from machine learning, decision analytics and social network
analysis to linked data, recommender systems and the sensor web. With more
than 30 partner companies Insight researchers are solving critical challenges
in the areas of Connected Health and the Discovery Economy.

 

MedEx is a unique and new model of
community-based chronic illness rehabilitation.  Developed by Dublin City University in 2006;
it is a partnership between a third level educational institution and the
healthcare setting.  MedEx’s core
concept is the provision of quality evidence-based exercise rehabilitation,
supported by medical supervision, for people with diverse chronic illnesses.  In 2014, MedEx caters for 500 patient
visits per week across 5 separate chronic illness programmes. These
programmes are HeartSmart (cardiac
rehabilitation), BreatheSmart (pulmonary rehabilitation), Smart Steps
(claudication rehabilitation), Diabetes Health Steps (diabetes care) and Move
On (cancer rehabilitation).  MedEx’s
long term aim is to ensure that MedEx participants will have access to the
best care possible, research is essential in making this happen.  The MedEx
Research Cluster
is a dynamic multi-disciplinary team of experts in
physical activity, health and disease prevention spanning disciplines
including psychology, health promotion, physiology, biomechanics and
connected health.  It is part of the
Centre of Preventive Medicine, located within the School of Health and Human
Performance.

 

 

The Project:

mPATHway
(mobile Physical Activity Towards Health) is a project designed to utilise the expertise of Insight
and MedEx to provide individualised mHealth
rehabilitation pathways for individuals living with established
cardiovascular disease.  Its mission is
to provide a personalized comprehensive lifestyle intervention to empower
participants to better understand and manage their cardio-vascular disease
(CVD) and ultimately benefit from leading a healthier lifestyle.  The primary aim is to increase minutes of
daily physical activity through a selection of options (self-directed programmes
or structured-exercise programmes), underpinned by behavioural change theory
and using cutting edge technology for intervention delivery.  The secondary aims are i) to improve other
lifestyle related behaviours – diet, stress management, smoking cessation,
alcohol moderation and medication compliance – associated with improved CVD score,
ii) to understand the optimal use of technology for achieving these
improvements in behaviour and for encouraging social interaction between
participants as they engage in the programme, and iii) to develop an
efficient communication system for providing regular accessible feedback to
the participant, but also for providing progress reports to the participant’s
primary healthcare provider.   

The
intervention will use technology to develop a mobile phone enabled
sensor-based home and outdoors exercise and physical activity platform.  This will allow remote participation in
physical activity programs.  The
programmes will be designed to encourage individual or group-based participation
via the technology; they will be accessible at a time, day and for a duration
selected by the participant.    
Feedback will be provided to the participant, the method and mode of
this is to be designed within the study. 
Information will also be communicated, via the technology, to the
healthcare professional responsible for long term care of the
participant.   In this way, underpinned
by behavioural change theory, we hope to sustain motivation and increase
long-term adherence to the technology enabled physical activity programmes
designed specifically for patients with established CVD.

 

Principle Duties and
Responsibilities:

Reporting
to the Principal Investigator, Catherine Woods, the Postdoctoral Researcher
will:

·        
Conduct a specified programme of research
under the supervision and direction of the Principal Investigator focused on
extending the current state of the art with respect to technology enabled health
behaviour change for CVD patients, strategies for overcoming barriers to use
of technology solutions amongst CVD patients and understanding healthcare
providers needs and wants in relation to mHealth.

·        
Assist in identifying and developing future
research and funding initiatives

·        
Engage in the dissemination of the results
of the research in which he/she is engaged with the support of and under the
supervision of the Principal Investigator

·        
Supervise and assist undergraduate and
postgraduate students working in this area with their research

·        
Engage in appropriate training and
development opportunities as required by the Principal Investigator, the
School or Research Centre, or the University

·        
Liaise with both internal and external
project stakeholders including industry and academic partners/collaborators

·        
Carry out administrative work associated
with the programme of research as necessary

Candidate’s Qualifications (who should apply)

Minimum Criteria:

Applicants should have a PhD in physical
activity and health, psychology, sport science and health or a cognate
area.   Candidates should have good experience in behaviour
change, intervention design, development and evaluation within community-based
settings, and be experienced in both quantitative and qualitative research
methods.  Ideally, experience in
technology solutions for addressing physical inactivity or promoting health
behaviours among general population or clinical groups would be of benefit.

Candidates will be assessed on the following
competencies:

Discipline knowledge and Research skills – Demonstrates knowledge of a research
discipline and the ability to conduct a specific programme of research within
that discipline. 

Understanding the Research Environment –
Demonstrates an awareness of the research environment (for example funding
bodies) and the ability to contribute to grant applications.

 

Communicating Research –
Demonstrates the ability to communicate their research with their peers and the
wider research community (for example presenting at conferences and publishing
research in relevant journals) and the potential to teach and tutor students.

 

Managing
& Leadership skills
 – Demonstrates the potential to
manage a research projects including the supervision of undergraduate students.

How to Apply

Informal enquiries to:
                                Dr.
Catherine Woods, Senior Lecturer, School of Health and Human Performance,
Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland. 
Tel: 00353-1-7008008; Email: [email protected], http://www.dcu.ie/shhp/index.shtml.

Application Procedure:

Application
forms are available from the DCU Current Vacancies (Open Competitions) website
at http://www4.dcu.ie/hr/vacancies/current.shtml  and also from the Human Resources Department,
Dublin City University, Dublin 9. Tel: +353(0)1 700 5149; Fax: +353(0)1 700
5500 Email: [email protected]

 

Applications
should be submitted by e-mail to [email protected] or by
Fax: +353 (0)1 700 5500 or by post to the Human Resources Department, Dublin
City University, Dublin 9.

 

Dublin
City University is an equal opportunities employer

Phone
0035317008008

POSITIONS AVAILABLE