Dublin, Ireland, 4 January 2017, University College Dublin (UCD)’s fourth annual TEDxUCD event, organised by volunteers from the UCD Research and Innovation team based at NovaUCD, took place in December in the UCD Dramsoc Theatre. Among the TEDxUCD 2016 speakers was Dearbhla Burke.
Dearbhla Burke is a PhD student in the UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science. She qualified as a chartered physiotherapist from UCD with first class honours in 2014. On achieving the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists' prize for the highest dissertation mark, she decided to further her research pursuits and is now in the 3rd year of her PhD.
Her research is focused on the area of spinal cord injury pain. To date she has completed a prevalence study on pain post injury in Ireland, a systematic review of the international prevalence of neuropathic pain post injury, and has piloted a multi-disciplinary pain management programme.
She is a keen advocate of the public dissemination of research using non-scientific language and of healthy eating and regular exercise. She teaches Pilates to clients of all ages and fitness levels each week and enjoys running, yoga and the odd triathlon.
Her TEDxUCD 2016 talk entitled, ‘The insult added to injury’, is available to view in YouTube - (opens in a new window)CLICK HERE or below.
Speaking after her TEDxUCD 2016 talk Dearbhla Burke said, “I was delighted to take part in this year’s TEDxUCD event to highlight the significant problem of chronic or long lasting pain for patients who have survived the life changing event of a spinal cord injury.”
“Pain can be extremely distressing and have an all-encompassing effect on mood, quality of life, sleep and participation in daily activities. Forty percent of those with a spinal cord injury have pain presenting in areas where they have no feeling or movement, this is the insult added to their injury. Such patients require additional support to improve their coping with pain and to help improve their quality of life hopefully enabling them to more successfully re-integrate back into society after their injury.”
The 10 speakers who took part in TEDxUCD 2016 were members of the UCD community of researchers, students, alumni and friends who spoke on a wide range of ideas worth spreading on the overall theme of ‘contemplation’.
Opening this year’s event, Professor Orla Feely, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact said, “Following the success of our previous TEDxUCD events I am delighted that we are hosting our fourth annual TEDx event at University College Dublin. Organising and running TEDxUCD is an excellent example of how we engage with the general public, not only in Ireland but across the world, to share the ideas, knowledge and expertise emanating from members of the UCD community.”
At TEDxUCD 2016 a combination of live speakers and a selection of TED Talks videos were combined to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group of 100 attendees. The TED conference provides general guidance for the TEDx programme, but individual TEDx events, including TEDxUCD, are self-organised.
The videos of the 10 TEDxUCD 2016 talks are available to view via (opens in a new window)https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6IzR3CqaV8E-gZ17a3GgpTXuI-MlNbST.
@TEDxUCD and #TEDxUCD.