Oral history interview of Brian Lawlor

View on DRI

Context

Brian Lawlor is a professor of old age psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin and deputy executive director of the Global Brain Health Institute. He is a geriatric psychiatrist with an interest in dementia, late-life depression, loneliness, and brain health. Brian has worked for over 30 years on developing services and delivering care to people with dementia. His research interests range from early detection and prevention to evaluating new treatments for dementia.

Description:

This fifty-seven-minute-long oral history interview was conducted by the Digital Repository of Ireland as part of The Atlantic Philanthropies archive project (2017-2020) titled Amplifying change: A history of the Atlantic Philanthropies on the island of Ireland in 2020., In this interview, Brian Lawlor talks about his education and clinical practice in Ireland and the United States of America. Brain reflects on the lack of opportunities for training and research as a consultant in the 1980s and talks about emigration. Brian reflects on Chuck Feeney and his success, explaining how Chuck tended to back the right people, think outside the box and work with the motto that there was nothing wrong with a big bet as long as it was a good bet. Brain talks about how innovative research was still difficult in the 1990s, arguing that there were very qualified people but a lack of infrastructure. Brian talks about the impact of The Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions [PRTLI], which received funding from the Atlantic Philanthropies, detailing on the impact of Trinity College Institute for Neuroscience, The Mercer Institute for Successful Ageing [MISA] at St. James Hospital in Dublin, the Neuro Enhancement for Independent Lives programme [NEIL] and the Global Brain Health Institute [GBHI]. Brian gives insight into his research on Alzheimer’s disease., and This recording contains the personal views of the participants, they do not reflect the views of the DRI.

Type:

audio and oral histories (literary works)

Creator:

Digital Repository of Ireland, 2015 -

Subject:

Curated collection--Oral histories, Curated collection--Education, Curated collection--Knowledge and learning, Atlantic Philanthropies (Organization), Trinity Foundation, Curated collection--Brian Lawlor, Grant 08073, Grant 09820, Neurosciences, Molecular biology--Research, Charity organization, and Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland)

Grant:

Grant 08073 and Grant 09820

Grantee:

Trinity Foundation

Year of Grant:

2000 and 2001

Location of Grantee:

Dublin

Rights:

Copyright is with DRI and Brian Lawlor. Please see license for reuse.

Attribution:

Digital Repository of Ireland and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Doi:

https://doi.org/10.7486/DRI.0k22k023w