• Global Leadership Award

  The 2025 Global Leadership Excellence Award is awarded by eMHIC (the eMental Health International Collaborative). “As one of the highest honours in digital mental health, this award recognises visionary leadership and steadfast commitment to advancing innovation in mental health, thereby improving timely access to mental health information, care, support, and treatment.

  The eMHIC Global Awards honour individuals whose bold innovation, inclusive leadership, and unwavering dedication are not only transforming lives but also actively shaping a future where equitable access to mental health support is a global reality”.

• Context

  D²iCE member, Ruth Melia was recently awarded with an eMHIC Global Leadership Award in recognition of her contribution to digital mental health research, policy and practice in Ireland.

  This award recognises the awardee;s contribution to Digital Mental Health across research, policy and practise. As a member of the Sharing the Vision - National Digital Mental Health Specialist group tasked with the development of the first National Digital Mental Health Strategy, and as a Steering Group member of the SpunOut Navigator project, she has informed the integration of digital technology in mental health policy and practice nationally. She has contributed to the co-design, development, research evaluation and implementation of digital mental health solutions (SafePlan the Safety Planning mobile app and SpunOut Navigator). Through the establishment of the annual Digital Mental Health (DMH) conference and of the first DMH module at the University of Limerick, she has contributed to the development of a sustainable infrastructure of researchers and clinicians with expertise in this field. This is extended through authorship of Q1 publications, and editorial and reviewer contributions to high-impact journals (currently guest editor of a Special Issue of Behavioural Sciences and editorial board member of PloS Medicine). Ruth is co-applicant on a successful bid to establish the first Collaborative Mental Health Research Network in Ireland. She is Principal Investigator on the HRB-funded PROACT project (Predictive Analytics for Optimised Care in Youth Mental) which seeks to leverage technology to deliver data-driven and personalised youth mental health supports. As a member of the Data Driven Computer Engineering Research Centre (D²iCE), the Health Research Institute at UL, and current Board Member at Jigsaw: the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, Ruth is committed to driving data-driven, responsive and inclusive mental health care.