Dr. Monika Pilch

Dr Monika Pilch (Lead Translational Researcher) is an Assistant Professor in the UCD School of Psychology and a researcher in behavioural science, decision-making, and health innovation. She holds degrees in psychology and recently completed her PhD at Trinity College Dublin, focusing on interventions that facilitate readiness for ACP. She has completed the Inspiring Entrepreneurial Women programme (Enterprise Ireland and KPMG) and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Tangent, Trinity College Dublin. Dr Pilch conducted a comprehensive systematic review of international literature on factors influencing engagement in ACP, mapping these determinants onto a behaviour change framework. She also led a national mapping study of ACP in Ireland, identifying critical gaps in communication, inclusiveness, and system-level coordination. Her work focuses on translating behavioural insights into scalable digital solutions that support shared decision-making, drawing on extensive experience in co-design, patient and public involvement (PPI), and digital health evaluation. Supported by a research assistant, Dr Pilch will coordinate execution of the work packages and contribute directly to stakeholder engagement, co-design, prototype testing and validation, and behavioural evaluation.