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Head of Policy and Research at the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and Visiting Scholar at University of Cambridge.
Dr Iris Elliott leads the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission’s work on public policy, legislation, international engagement (UN, Council of Europe, EU), research and data across all rights issues. She established policy, public affairs and research departments at the UK Mental Health Foundation, and the Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health (now Inspire Wellbeing) and is experienced in working at UK national and devolved administration level.
She holds a PhD in Sociology (completed in 2014, awarded from the National University of Ireland, Galway), two first class Masters (Public Culture Studies, and Health Promotion) and professional qualifications in social work. She is a Visiting Scholar at Queens University Belfast (School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, affiliated to the Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation and the Centre of Excellence for Public Health). She was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in recognition of her “outstanding contribution and commitment to public mental health in the UK and Ireland”. She was a Yale Secondee on the Horizon2020 transatlantic knowledge exchange Citizenship, Recovery, Inclusive Societies Partnership.
She has extensive experience of communicating evidence into policy, public affairs and public communications. As the UK lead on the €5.3million Interreg North West Europe funded eMEN (digital technologies for mental health) project she led the programme’s Communications Work Package.
She is a 2021 Visiting Scholar at Cambridge contributing on women’s leadership, and communication to the Research for Health in Conflict: Middle East and North Africa study.
