Dympna O’Sullivan founded and leads the Digital Futures Research Hub at TU Dublin, an interdisciplinary research hub that explores how to study, create and apply digital technologies with positive impacts for individuals, society, the economy and environment. Her interdisciplinary research is in Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence (AI), with a focus on designing AI-driven assistive technologies to support independent living, particularly for people with age-related cognitive impairments such as mild cognitive impairment and dementia, and intellectual disabilities. This research spans AI, health informatics and human computer interaction and is grounded in participatory methods such as co-design. She is a strong advocate for patient and public involvement (PPI) in research that centres on the lived experiences of end users often marginalised in the software development process.  Additionally, her work in computing ethics and responsible AI has contributed to the development of a European curricula for digital ethics.

Her international experience includes working as a postdoctoral fellow with the Mobile Emergency Triage (MET) research group at the University of Ottawa, as a lecturer in Computer Science at Aston University and as a Senior Lecturer in Health Informatics at City, University of London.

She is a frequent contributor to the public discourse around AI, regularly contributing to events as well as national TV, radio and print media articles.  She is committed to Education and Public Engagement activities including talks, panel discussions and workshops designed to make AI more accessible to the general public.

She has secured over €3 million in direct research funding as Principal Investigator and contributed to projects totalling over €55 million as a co-investigator or collaborator with funding award by Research Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Horizon Europe. 

Assistive Technologies, Health Informatics, Human Centered AI, Human Computer Interaction, Participatory Design, Clinical Decision Support Systems