UL_LogoUniversity of Limerick

  • Short name: UL
  • Country of origin: Ireland
  • Principal scientific contact person: dr. Pepijn van de Ven
  • Website: http://www.ul.ie/

The University of Limerick (UL) is an independent, internationally focussed university with over 12,000 students and 1400 staff. It has an established reputation as Ireland’s leading university in industry-led research. This has resulted in significant research commercialization activities and collaborations between our leading researchers and industry. Two groups in UL will partake in this project: a) The Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering (ECE): technical and trial liaison partner. b) The Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS): health economics analysis of the system. In previous, related projects ECE conducted research in human activity recognition and the development of frameworks for mobile apps for eMental health applications. ECE has also performed the important role of liaising between technical and medical partners and end-users in several clinical trials. GEMS has extensive experience of economic analysis within randomised clinical trials, econometric analysis of health data and economic modelling of cost effectiveness of preventive and therapeutic innovations for physical and mental well being.

Roles in E-COMPARED

  • In WP2 ECE will act as technical partner responsible for development of the mobile application and technical support of trials with the system.
  • In WP3 GEMS will be responsible for a health technology assessment of the system, with a particular focus on the deployment and exploitation of the system within the Irish health system.
  • Both UL groups will also be involved in the synthesis of results in WP5 and dissemination activities in WP6.

Key Personnel Involved

Dr. P. van de Ven, PhD (M) is a senior research fellow working in the area of ambient-assisted living, with a special interest in mobile applications and sensors for eHealth solutions. He has worked on a range of European and national projects in the area, including Caalyx, ICT4Depression (lead researcher, UL), Flexor (PI) and MoSaIC (PI).

Dr. J. Nelson, PhD (M) is a senior lecturer in Computer Engineering, head of department of ECE, and one of the lead investigators in the Intel led National Communications Network Research Centre (NCNRC).

Prof. John Forbes, PhD (M) is Professor of Health Economics at UL. His research interests range from the analysis of treatment effects in health and health care to the microeconometric analysis of health data. He has a particular interest in how economic analysis can be used alongside randomised clinical trials and integrated into novel Phase II – IV designs of sequential and adaptive treatment regimes addressing heterogeneity of treatment outcomes. Expertise in health technology assessment, economic modelling of treatment and screening programmes, review of clinical and cost effectiveness of innovative health programmes and mechanisms for ensuring efficient adoption of safe and effective therapies.