Dr Tom Burke BSc., M.Psych.Sc., P.Grad.Dip., PhD., D.Clin.Psych., C.Psychol.PsSI,
Clinical Psychologist
Location: Dublin/Carlow
Professional Background: Tom began his academic career in Psychology by completing a Bachelor’s degree (BSc) in 2011, followed by a Master’s degree in Psychological Science (M.Psych.Sc). For Tom’s primary degree, his major research component focused on Quality of Life and community belongingness for people with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) attending a Dublin-based service. His M.Psych.Sc research focused on the expression of grief in people with ID, specifically relating to Death, Dying, and Bereavement, with a view to developing more inclusive support services.
Tom then undertook a PhD in Neuropsychology at Trinity College Dublin, under the supervision of Professor Niall Pender (Principal Clinical Neuropsychologist, Beaumont Hospital), and Professor Orla Hardiman (Consultant Neurologist, Beaumont Hospital), which looked at how thinking and behaviour changed in neurodegenerative diseases e.g., Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and Huntington’s Disease (HD). In 2013, Tom was awarded an Irish Institute of Clinical Neuroscience Clinical Research Fellowship to begin this research, and in 2015, he was awarded the Deirdre McMackin Memorial Medal for excellence in neuropsychology at an early career stage, by the Psychological Society of Ireland’s Division of Neuropsychology. He was also awarded the European Huntington’s Disease Network Clinical Research Fellowship in 2015 to collaborate with the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability, in Putney, London.
Following this, Tom achieved his professional qualification and doctorate in Clinical Psychology (D.Clin.Psych) at University College Dublin (UCD). Tom’s sponsorship region was HSE CHO 8 (Laois/Offaly), and he worked across a number of clinical settings with both children and adults e.g., Child and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS); Primary Care Psychology (Child, and Adult); Care of the Elderly (formerly, Psychiatry of Later Life [PoLL]); Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS); Disability Services (on the 0-18 team); with an elective specialism in neuropsychology at Beaumont Hospital. His elective specialism focused on working clinically using both therapy and cognitive assessments with people who had a traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, or neurodegenerative disease, largely. The research component during his clinical training was supervised by Professor Alan Carr and Professor Niall Pender, and investigated thinking and mood changes following a particularly rare type of brain haemorrhage. For this work, he was awarded the Clinical Psychology Research Medal by UCD.
Tom was listed by Neuroscience Ireland as being within the Top 10 Early Career Neuroscientists in Ireland in 2018, and in 2019, he was awarded the Psychological Society of Ireland’s inaugural Early Career Award. In 2020, Tom became an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at UCD. He currently works as a Clinical Psychologist, Research Fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and Assistant Professor at NUI Galway.
Professional Bodies: Tom is a chartered member of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI), associate member of the British Neuropsychological Society (BNS), a member of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD), and member of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland (RAMI).