Rónán's mean mug game is strong
Amanda is a social epidemiologist in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Community-Oriented Public Health Practice and worked for 5 years as a surveillance epidemiologist for the Washington State Department of Health. Additionally, she holds appointments as clinical faculty in the Department of Health Services at the University of Washington School of Public Health and as a lecturer in the School of Nursing and Health Studies at UW-Bothell. Her areas of particular interest include public health informatics surveillance methodologies, injury and violence prevention, and community-based participatory research.
Amanda is also pursuing a PhD in sociology at Queen’s University Belfast, examining social connection as a protective factor against adverse behavioural health outcomes (especially suicidal thoughts and behaviours) among adolescent boys and young men in Belfast. Northern Ireland has been experiencing an epidemic of suicide among men and boys since the end of the 30-year sectarian conflict, which is commonly called the Troubles. Amanda anticipates graduating in the autumn of 2024.
In addition to all that excitement, Amanda also parents the impossibly active (and now adult-sized) small child mean mugging in the photo above and volunteers with a Bangladeshi health and social services NGO. She likes cats more than your average human and has carried a deep hatred for mosquitos since one gave her dengue in Bangladesh in 2015.
You can see more of Amanda’s work here (ORCID), here (RPubs), and here (LinkedIn).
Please note that Amanda's writings, unless specifically written within context of her professional roles, do not necessarily reflect the opinions of her employers.