Indicators of International Recognition.
During this RAE period, Unit members have been involved in a number of research activities and professional bodies in the international arena. Barr: International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities. Chambers European Summer School, Nursing Informatics (Co-ordinator); European Federation of Medical Informatics. She was also one of the project leaders of the ACTION (EU-funded) project. Dolk: (project leader) European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies (EUROCAT); Association of French-language Epidemiologists (ADELF); European Teratology Society. McConkey: consultant to UNICEF on Special Education in Iran; to UNESCO on production of training materials for Special Needs Education, to Leonard Cheshire International, to Save the Children Fund and to the British Council; (Invited) lecturer at the Summer School organised by City University, New York, USA. McCormack: Visiting Lecturer at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; Associate Lecturer to the Centre for Multi-Disciplinary Education, University of Sydney, Australia. McKenna: International Nurse Doctorate Network (Treasurer); EU-US funded project on Global Dimensions in Healthcare (with partners in Sweden, USA and Ireland); Quality Advisor to the Skona Health Board (Sweden); member of the European Quality Assurance Network, Holland; Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (Ireland). Mulholland: Globewide Network Activity (Director); British Council Consultative Group on e-learning. Parahoo: Executive Board member of the European Academy of Nursing Sciences and a member of its Scientific Committee; lecturer on the European Doctoral Workshop. Wright: adjunct member of Faculty, Kent State University , Ohio, USA.

Editorial Boards/Advisory Panels.
Thirteen (out of 20) in this submission are on the editorial boards or editorial Advisory Panels of nursing and relevant journals. Barr : Journal of Learning Disabilities for Nursing, Health and Social Care. Boore: Teaching in Higher Education; International Journal of Nursing Studies. Chambers: Journal of Mental Health Practice; Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. Coates: Nurse Education Today (Assistant Editor). Cutcliffe: British Journal of Nursing; Mental Health Practice; British Journal of Mental Health Nursing. Dolk: Reproductive Toxicology; Environmental Epidemiology; Toxicology. McCaughan: European Journal of Oncology Nursing. McConkey: Journal of Learning Disability; Tizard Learning Disability Review. McKenna: Mental Health Care; Online Nursing Journal; Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing; International Journal of Nursing Studies (Assistant Editor); Quality in Healthcare (Assistant Editor); All Ireland Journal of Nursing and Midwifery (Co-editor); Parahoo: Journal of Clinical Nursing; Nurse Researcher. Poulton: Primary Health Care; Community Practitioner; Journal of Clinical Governance. Slevin: All Ireland Journal of Nursing and Midwifery; Clinical Effectiveness in Nursing. Whittington: Clinical Effectiveness in Nursing.

Grant reviewers include: Barr: Health Research Board, Dublin; NHS Executive (South-West England); Boore: ESRC; Chambers: ESRC, Welsh R&D; South West Thames R&D; Dolk: MRC, Department of Health, Scottish Office, Trent R&D; Kernohan: R&D NHS Executive; McConkey: R&D (NI); McCormack: BUPA Foundation; McKenna: Department of Health; NHS Executive R&D Awards; Scottish R&D Awards; DHSS (NI) Research Studentships. Parahoo: Health Research Board, Dublin; DHSS (NI) Research Studentships; Poulton: Anglia and Oxford R&D Office; Ryan: PPP Healthcare Medical Trusts (Older People Programme); Whittington: Nuffield Foundation (UK); NHS R&D (Wales); NHS R&D Wessex.

Invited talks/Keynote address and Plenary papers (International)
Chambers: Telematics for the Integration of Disabled and Elderly People Conference, Finland (1998); Royal College of Surgeons Conference, Ireland (2000); International Congress of Nursing Informatics, New Zealand (2000). Coates: Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Irish Endocrine Society, Ireland (1997). Dolk: International Epidemiological Association XV International Scientific Meeting, Italy (1999); Microphtalmia/Anophthalmia International Workshop, Scotland (1999); Imperial College and Royal Statistical Society, London (1999), US Birth Defects Surveillance Network Annual Meeting, USA (2000), European Teratology Society 28th Conference, Italy (2000). McConkey: American Association on Mental Retardation, USA (1996); European Congress of Applied Psychology, Ireland (1997); International Congress of Toy Libraries, Japan (1999) and International Congress on Down Syndrome, Australia (2000). McCormack: Swedish Nurses Association 6th National Health Care Congress, Sweden (1999). McKenna: Quality Conference, Sweden (1996); Kristianstad University College Nursing Conference, Sweden (1996); International Nurse Doctoral Convention, Canada (1997) and Global Dimensions in Health Care Conference, USA (1998). Ryan: Royal College of Surgeons Conference, Ireland (2000). Slevin: International Conference on Transport and Mobility for Elderly and Disabled People, Australia (1998); International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities, USA (2000). Whittington: Quality Health Research Conference, Canada (1998); World Congress of the World Federation of Mental Health, Chile (1999).

All twenty members included in this submission have taken part in a number of local and national conferences, in particular the NBNI Annual Nursing Research Conference and the RCN Research Society Annual Nursing Research Conference.

Membership of Important Committees and bodies
During this RAE period, fifteen (out of twenty) Unit members served on a range of important committees and professional associations. Boore: RCN Research Society (UK) (Chair); RCN Research Committee (UK); Member of NBNI; Ulster Cancer Foundation Committee. Brown: RCN Research and Quality Group (NI). Chambers: Clinical Award Advisory Committee (DHSS-NI); Working Group of the RCN Informatics R&D Strategy Group; Scientific Committee of the Annual European Mental Health Nursing Conference. Coates: Primary Care Diabetes NI Regional Committee; N I Diabetes Crest Team. Cutcliffe: Co-ordinator of the Network for Psychiatric Nursing Research Forum (UK). Dolk: International Epidemiological Association and Society for Paediatric Epidemiological Research. Kernohan: Clinical Engineering and Medical Physics Services Advisory Committee (DHSS-NI). McCaughan: Central Nurses Advisory Committee (Cancer), DHSS (NI). McConkey: British Association of Toy and Leisure Libraries (Vice-President) and Patron of Partners in Advocacy, Scotland. McCormack: Research Advisory Group, RCN Expertise in Practice Project (Chair); British Society of Gerontology; Royal College of Physicians/Royal College of Nursing Working Party on Interdisciplinary Health Care Practice (Vice-Chair). McKenna: UK RAE Panel; DHSS (NI) Nursing R&D Strategy Committee (Chair); UKCC Postgraduate Education for Advanced Practice and Central Nursing Advisory Committee (DHSS NI). Mulholland: RCN eNurse Initiative; Steering Group Biomedical Education Network (UK). Parahoo: NBNI Research Group; RCN Research Committee (UK); RCN Steering Group for Clinical Effectiveness (UK); DHSS (NI) Nursing R&D Group. Poulton: Royal College of General Practitioners Primary Care Commission; Royal College of General Practitioners Research Committee; Medical Research Council Topic Review Group for Primary Care. Ryan: NBNI Research Group; Steering Committee, RCN Mental Health and Older People Forum. Whittington: All-Ireland Colloquium on Teenage Pregnancy (Chair); Ministerial Working Group on Young Parenthood in Northern Ireland.

Contribution to policy and users
A number of staff contribute directly to the development of nursing and health policies. At the national level, McKenna was a key member (and wrote the Report) of the Committee, which formulated the “Strategy for Nursing, Midwifery and Health-Visiting in Northern Ireland”. He also co-wrote the “Strategy for Nursing Research in Northern Ireland”. McCaughan was Chair of the DHSS Committee that wrote “A Framework for multi-professional contribution to Cancer Care in Northern Ireland”. At Trust level, a number of staff (Brown, Kernohan, McCormack and Parahoo) are actively involved in developing and implementing R&D policies. At Board level McConkey and Slevin (joint appointees with Health & Social Services Boards) have a key role in policy development and implementation. One RRG (Needs Assessment) is heavily involved in assessing users’ needs and the findings are disseminated to service users, through research reports, local conferences/workshops and publications.