Meet the New SSM President Catherine Hayes
Earlier this year, we welcomed Catherine Hayes as the SSM President. We asked her to introduce herself and share some of her plans for the current mandate.
Introduction
My name is Catherine Hayes. It is a great honour to serve as President of SSM and to be the first President from Ireland to occupy this role. Prior to this I had a key role as External Relations Lead and I am an active mentor for the Society. I am Associate Professor in Public Health at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) in a joint department of Public Health and Primary Care. I hold a joint academic-service post with the national Health Service Executive. My research addresses the design, implementation and evaluation of community based interventions addressing inequalities in risk factors for cancer and chronic diseases. In my service role, I bring an academic perspective to add value and strategic direction to the work of national Health Intelligence function in using a systems approach to translate and synthesise complex concepts into actionable knowledge for service planning.
What has attracted me to SSM and how long have I been a member ?
I am a long standing member of SSM. The Society is the lead Society for public health researchers in UK and Ireland. Since my first conference in Cork in 2010, I have availed of many opportunities to present and hear cutting edge science in many different locations across the UK and Ireland and as well as the networking and relationships that have developed as a result.
What have I enjoyed most as SSM member?
What I have enjoyed most is witnessing the growth of the Society, especially for ECRs and MCRs, getting to know people at the conferences resulting in fruitful research collaborations and building longlisting and valued friendships. I thoroughly enjoy the annual conferences, and was a member of the organising committee for the Dublin conference in 2015. Leading the organisation of two Early Career Researcher meetings at TCD was a great way to get to know and involve new members. I have enjoyed my role as External Relations Lead and my current mentoring role.
What are your plans for this mandate as new President?
We are not out of Covid yet, so I have a key role in overseeing this transition.
We are extremely hopeful, and plans are well underway for our in person ASM in Exeter in September. The Local Organising Committee are doing a fantastic job in organising wonderful social events and networking opportunities in this beautiful location in addition to cutting edge science. The abstract closing date in February 28th. Our confirmed keynote speakers this year are Prof Linda Bauld and Prof John Wright. This year I would like to see a fantastic turnout as we could all do with a rejuvenating break away from our screens. There are a number of bursaries available for ECRs who are not funded by their organisation, some of which cover full costs, some travel costs only These have been undersubscribed on the past so I would encourage you to take full advantage of this great opportunity.
The previous two conferences were entirely online, the 2020 conference was provided at no cost to participants, the 2021 conference at a very modest cost. This has resulted in a substantial financial loss for the organisation which will have to be carefully managed. We have managed not to increase the subscription cost for this year.
What are the key areas that you wish to see improved for members?
We are conducting a review of our Communications function which has a very wide span including keeping the website updated, producing the newsletter and providing social media content in addition to promotion of events including the ASM. We need to refresh membership of our Comms subcommittees and see additional Committee roles in key areas. However, these improvements can only take place if members are willing to put themselves forward for these Committee/Subcommittee roles. The Committee and myself are delighted offer support anyone willing to take on these roles which are not onerous. If you are interested please get in touch by emailing socsocmed.news@gmail.com or Dr Dorina Cadar at d.cadar@bsms.ac.uk.
I also plan to review the findings of the recent member survey to take on board the key areas for improvement.