About Us

Our Story

At Attune, we have a shared goal to improve body image perception and the mental health of young people through the use of innovative digital design. In order to achieve this goal, we have formed a multidisciplinary team with experts in a range of areas such as mental health, body image, co-design, digital interventions, assistive technologies and human computer interaction. With our amazing team, we hope to collaborate with a number of stakeholders to produce an effective and engaging digital body image resource.

Meet the DCU Team

Dr. Ciara Mahon

(BA Hons, Sch., PhD)

Ciara is an Assistant Professor at DCU. She is interested in understanding the factors that support positive body image, and how these can be harnessed in innovative ways to improve body image and psychological wellbeing. She's co-led several multistakeholder, international projects focused on school-based body image interventions and is currently a principal investigator on a Research Ireland Pathways grant developing novel digital interventions to support body image in adults.

Principle Investigator

Dr. Louise Hanson

(BA, MA, PhD)

Louise is a postdoctoral researcher at DCU. She is currently investigating what young adults want in a body image app to make it more engaging while maintaining its effectiveness. Louise is particularly interested in how we can gamify existing body image improvement modules to make them more engaging and accessible to a range of people. Her recent PhD investigated what risk factors are most salient for body image development across the lifespan, particularly in children and adolescents.

Postdoc Researcher

Prof. Pamela Gallagher

(BA, PhD, PGCE, GDipE)

Pamela is a Full Professor of Psychology and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Science and Health. She is an international expert and leader in her research field of living well with illness, disability and technology. She has particular expertise in the area of cancer survivorship, physical rehabilitation, amputation and prosthetics, and assistive technology, where she has also specifically explored body image in an applied context.

Co-Investigator

Ms. Clairiz Nel

(Bsc, Msc)

Clairiz is a PhD student at DCU. She is committed to producing research with real‑world impact; using multidisciplinary, pragmatic, and co‑design approaches to develop innovative interventions that support physical and mental wellbeing by combining technological solutions with human ingenuity. For her PhD, Clairiz is examining effective therapeutic approaches and engagement strategies for developing a digital body‑image intervention for young adults from diverse contexts.

PhD Candidate

Research Assistants

Ms. Siofra Conroy

Síofra is a second year Psychology student in Trinity College Dublin. She is interest in body image development and improvement, particularly in children and adolescents. By joining the Attune Team she aims to gain practical research experience by collaborating with a team to develop a digital body image intervention. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies, Síofra hopes to engage in further research in the field of body image and eating pathology, with a focus on children and adolescents.

Ms. Ciara Byas

Ciara is a final year Psychology and Disruptive Technologies student at DCU. She has a passion for applied psychology research, specifically in regards to intervention design, participatory methods and the utilisation of technology to instill positive change. Her previous academic experience exploring and designing disruptive technologies and digital interventions offers a unique perspective which she hopes will facilitate this project. As part of the Attune team, Ciara would like to gain practical research experience and contribute to a novel and much needed resource with huge potential for real-world impact.

Dr. Zali Yager

(BA, PhD)

Dr. Zali Yager

Zali is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Victoria University and the Executive Director of The Embrace Collective. She is an internationally-recognised expert focussed on figuring out ‘what works’ to build better body image. Zali brings a wealth of experience in research translation for innovation and impact, the design and dissemination of digital interventions to this project.

Dr. Amanda Fitzgerald

(BA, PhD)

Dr. Amanda Fitzgerald

Amanda is an Associate Professor and Director of the Youth Mental Health Lab at University College Dublin. Her research is focused on youth mental health, specifically youth co-design, early intervention, digital technologies, and implementation science methods. She co-founded the Body Image Research Network (BIRN), an interdisciplinary person-centred network of excellence for research on body image and body-image related disorders.

Dr. David Coyle

(Bsc, Msc, PhD)

Dr. David Coyle

David is an Associate Professor with the School of Computer Science. David's work focuses on Human Computer Interaction and digital health, with an emphasis on digital mental health. David's work is often interdisciplinary and has included research on online interventions for adults, clinical interventions for young people, and specialist interventions for adults with intellectual disabilities.

Extended Team

Partners

Spunout

spunout is Ireland’s youth information and support platform, working towards an Ireland where all young people are supported and empowered to thrive. With core values of empathy, compassion, equity, innovation and expertise, spunout seeks to collaborate and support the mental health and wellbeing of young people. This is achieved by creating evidence-based, person-centred digital solutions and safe, validating support spaces.

BodyWhys

Bodywhys – The Eating Disorders Association of Ireland - is the national voluntary organisation supporting people affected by eating disorders and their families. Bodywhys provides a range of non-judgemental listening, information and support services, professional training, literature, podcasts, and webinars. They also develop professional resources, collaborate with social media companies to respond to harmful online content and work with the mainstream media to create awareness about eating disorders. Bodywhys develops evidence-based programmes to promote positive body image and social media literacy in children and adolescents, as well as school talks and educational resources.