Research Fellow (Post-Doctoral Researcher, level 2)

Post Status: Specific Purpose - Full-time 

Research Group / Department / School: School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin Social Prescribing Team, MISA, St James’s Hospital 

Location: Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing (MISA), St James’s Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland. 

Reports to: Prof David Robinson, Dr Louise Brennan, PhD (PI) 

Salary: Appointment will be made on the IUA Post-Doctoral Researcher Scale, PD2 Point 1 (€55,399), in line with Government Pay Policy.

Hours of Work: 39 hours per week (full-time) 

Closing Date: 12 Noon (GMT), 22nd July 2026

Post Summary 

This Post-Doctoral Research Fellow post is part of a Health Research Board-funded project based on St James’s Hospital campus as a collaboration between Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing, GUIDE clinic and Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine, led by Prof David Robinson and Dr Louise Brennan (PI). 

The project is titled ‘Understanding and Addressing Mental Health, Loneliness and Quality of Life in Older People Living with HIV in Ireland: A Pathway to Social Prescribing’ and is a mixed methods study of mental wellbeing in older people living with HIV (PLWH) in Ireland with an aim to designing a social prescribing intervention for this cohort. 

The successful candidate will have a background in health research and ideally a keen interest in at least one of the three core area of research: HIV, mental health and social prescribing. Experience in survey data analysis and/or qualitative data analysis, and a background in healthcare is desirable but candidates will be considered on the merits of their overall experience and capabilities.

Project Description 

This project aims to understand mental health, loneliness and QOL in older PLWH in Ireland, and to co-design a social prescribing intervention to enhance mental wellbeing and social connectedness, achieved through collaboration with a PPI Advisory Group at all stages of the project. Key Objectives are: • 

Conduct survey and qualitative data collection (semi-structured interviews and focus groups) with older PLWH (>50 years) attending St James’s Hospital HIV services. 

• Analyse data to understand experiences of mental health, loneliness and QOL of older PLWH; compare findings to an age-matched sample of the general Irish population (Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) dataset) 

• Co-design a social prescribing service for older PLWH attending St James’s hospital with multi stakeholder involvement 

• Apply integrated knowledge translation principles and programme throughout project to ensure early, impactful translation of knowledge to action. 

The successful candidate will be responsible for delivery of the above objectives, with support from a steering committee consisting of expert colleagues from St James’s Hospital, Trinity College Dublin, HIV Ireland and PPI representatives.

Qualifications 

PhD in related field