Research Overview
Professor Cannon has an ongoing research programme which centres on investigating early life risk factors for later adult psychiatric disorders, with a particular focus on psychosis. She has collaborators in the UK, US and Finland and has published in high-ranking psychiatry journals. Her main programme of work at present involves investigating epidemiological, neurocognitive, neuroimaging and electrophysiological correlates of psychotic-like experiences in adolescence. This work was funded by a Clinician Scientist Award from the Health Research Board. She is also carrying out an programme of research on the association between prenatal and perinatal complications and early developmental delay as both independent and interactive risk factors for later psychosis. Her group have been the first to report an additive interaction between prenatal infection and genetic vulnerability in increasing risk for later schizophrenia. A further strand to her work is the publication of systematic reviews of observational studies on risk factors for psychosis such as epilepsy and traumatic brain injury. Professor Cannon's other main strand of research is the area of youth mental health. She has carried out a large school-based survey of psychopathology in early adolescence with both questionnaire and detailed clinical interview. She is Secretary of the Special Interest Group on Youth Mental Health (affiliated to ACAMH) and, is on the organising committee for the first National Research Conference in Youth Mental Health, held in RCSI in October 2011.
PERL https://www.rcsi.ie/perl
The Psychiatric Epidemiology Research across the Lifespan (PERL) Group, led by Professor Mary Cannon, is concerned with understanding the prevalence and determinants of mental ill-health across the lifespan. The Group is particularly interested in uncovering early indicators of risk for mental disorders in adolescents and young adults.
RESEARCH REPORT & FACTSHEETS
RESEARCH REPORT
You can now download our research report on The Mental Health of Young People in Ireland which summarises our research findings on rates of mental ill-health among young Irish people aged 11-24 years.
PUBLIC INFORMATION FACTSHEETS
You can also download our series of Public Information Factsheets on the experience of psychosis and psychotic symptoms in young people.
2: Recognising Signs of Psychosis
3: Talking to Someone about Psychosis
5: Looking After Yourself when Someone you Know has Psychosis
6: Psychotic Experiences in Adolescence
FACTSHEETS FOR HEALTH & MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
1. Tips for Supporting Young People's Mental Health in Health and Social Care Services
2. Understanding Medically Unexplained Symptoms: a guide for health professionals
ONGOING PERL RESEARCH
Our two main research projects are the Challenging Times Study and theAdolescent Brain Development Study, both of which have been funded by the Health Research Board. The Challenging Times study is the only longitudinal research study on rates of mental disorder among young Irish people. Two phases of the study have been completed to date; the first when the study sample was aged 12-16 years and the second when the study sample was aged 19-24 years.The Adolescent Brain Development Study has examined the relationship between brain development and well-being in adolescence using data on young people's life experiences and their emotional and mental health. It has used innovative MRI brain scanning technology to examine aspects of brain structure in adolescence that may be associated with either mental health or mental health difficulties.
In 2015, PERL plans to launch HORIZONS, a new mental health survey for young people that will look at the relationship between adverse life events in childhood and adolescence and later mental health outcomes in young adulthood.
PUBLICATIONS
You can find a list of Professor Mary Cannon's publications on ResearcherID.com.
PERL TEAM
The PERL Group is made up of a multidisciplinary team of researchers. Two of the lead researchers on the team are:
Dr. Erik O'Hanlon, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Erik studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering before to moving into the area of clinical engineering while completing an MSc programme in medical imaging. He gained further clinical experience working with Siemens Medical Ireland in the department of Radiation Therapy and Magnetic Resonance Imaging before returning to complete a PhD in Experimental Psychology focusing on neuroimaging at Trinity College Dublin. He is currently working as a postdoctoral research fellow with Professor Mary Cannon as part of the PERL team, focusing on the application of structural and diffusion imaging techniques in the field of brain development. His interests include multimodal imaging techniques, combining functional brain imaging with the underlying neuroanatomy to investigate brain connectivity applying techniques such as white matter fibre tractography.
Dr. Ian Kelleher, Honorary Research Fellow
Ian completed his medical degree at Trinity College Dublin and his PhD in psychiatric epidemiology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He also spent time at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, where he completed the MSc in Neuroscience. His research interests are in psychotic experiences, in particular how these experiences relate to psychotic and non-psychotic mental disorders, as well as their relationship with suicidal behaviour. His research also looks at biological, environmental and cognitive factors associated with the development and persistence of psychotic experiences. He has received a number of awards for his work, including from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the International Congress on Schizophrenia Research, Schizophrenia Research Forum and the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.