DOCTRID Research Office
Key Staff
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Dr Geraldine Leader Director of Research
Geraldine is a graduate of University College Cork where she obtain her B.A. (Hons) and Ph.D. in Psychology. Geraldine is a behavioural psychologist with expertise in Applied Behaviour Analysis and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Geraldine is a Lecturer in the School of Psychology and in this role established Ireland first M.Sc. in Applied Behaviour Analysis in 2006. This programme provides professional-level education in the field of applied behaviour analysis to practitioners and researchers seeking carers in the area of autism spectrum disorder and other disabilities. To date 120 students have graduates from this programme and are employed in a range of services. Geraldine is Director of the Irish Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Research which is dedicated to disseminating evidence-based research in the assessment and treatment of autism spectrum disorder and related neurodevelopmental conditions. Currently 5 post-doctoral fellows are conducting research at the Centre. Geraldine is Associate Director of the Doctrid Research Institute. Doctrid was established in 2010 by the charity RESPECT and the Daughters of Charity Disability services. The institute is committed to evidence-based research in autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability with a special emphasis on technology. Geraldine was appointed Adjunct Professor to Michigan State University in 2013.
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Professor Mike Leahy, PhD Director of MSU-DOCTRID Hegarty Fellows Research Programme and co-director of the RAIND programme
Dr. Michael Leahy is a professor of rehabilitation counseling and director of the Office of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies. He has a doctorate in Rehabilitation Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and over 35 years of experience in rehabilitation as a counselor, administrator, researcher and educator. Prof Leahy is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC). His continuing research interests include professional competency development and education, professionalization, regulation of practice, disability and rehabilitation policy, vocational assessment, case management practices and employment outcomes for people with disabilities, evidenced-based practices in rehabilitation counseling, and services for individuals with intellectual disability and autism.
Prof Leahy is a Past-President of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education, a Past Chair of the Alliance for Rehabilitation Counseling, and a Past-President of the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA). He is the Director and Principal Investigator for MSU-DOCTRID International Research Institute (Hegarty Fellows Program and the EU Marie Curie ASSISTID COFUND Project) and is a Co-Director of the MSU interdisciplinary program of Research on Autism, Intellectual and other Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (RAIND). He has published more than 150 referred journal articles, books, book chapters, and research monographs, and presented his research to a variety of rehabilitation and business audiences, including international presentations. He has also acted as the principal investigator and managed nearly 30 large-scale research, training and service delivery grant projects at the state, national and international levels, and has been the recipient of over 20 national research and professional service awards during his career.
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Sr Zoe Killeen, Director of RESPECT
Professional Training
RNID (Registered Nurse intellectual disability).
Postgraduate in RGN (Registered General Nursing).
Management Course in Royal College of Surgeons and Edinburgh University.
Career Path
Staff Nurse
Clinical Nurse Manager
Director of Nursing / Administrator
During my career in disability services nursing and administration, my work has brought me into all aspects of disabilities from the child to the adult, and the older person. Also during these years I have worked with many professionals in various disciplines and external agencies.
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Ms Gretta FitzGerald, Programmes Manager, DOCTRID Research Institute
Gretta FitzGerald is the Programmes Manager at the DOCTRID Research Institute including the ASSISTID and Hegarty programmes and was previously Administrative Assistant to DOCTRID and Personal Assistant to Prof Harvey and Sr Zoe Killeen.
Gretta holds an MBA from the Open University, she worked within the localisation industry from 1988 with the role of Production Manager at D.O.T.S., an indigenous Irish company which provided pre-print services to the growing IT industry in Ireland. D.O.T.S. provided such services to Microsoft and Apple computers mainly in the area of translated documentation for software and hardware products. She subsequently joined LionBridge Technologies (then R.R.Donnelly) as DTP Manager where she spent 8 years in various roles including Quality Manager and Business Unit Manager.
In 2001 she established the Dublin office of Larsen g11n in partnership with Inger Larsen who runs the London Head Office. They brought together some 20 years of localization experience to providing professional recruitment services to this industry.
Contact: gfitzgerald@respect.ie
Phone: +353 1 685 6003