Mairead Eastin Moloney
- Assistant Professor of Sociology
- Health, Society and Populations
- Sociology
- Gender & Women's Studies
- medical sociology
- medicalization
- patient-physician interaction
- gender
- mixed methods
- sleep
- aging and life course
- disability
- stress
I received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009. Subsequently, I held postdoctoral fellowships in both research (2009-2011, Program on Integrative Medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and teaching (2011-2013, Department of Sociology at North Carolina State University).
In 2014, I joined the University of Kentucky as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology. I also serve as affiliate faculty for the Department of Gender and Women's Studies, the Center for Health Equity Transformation, and the Health, Society, and Populations major.
My overarching career goal is to become an independent investigator of insomnia and sleep aid use among health disparities populations. I aim to better understand how stressors, particularly gendered social stressors, lead to sleep disorders which, in turn, fuel negative health outcomes. I also aim to reduce the use of minimally effective, potentially harmful prescription sleep medications via the implementation of effective, culturally acceptable, behavioral interventions.
In August of 2018, I completed data collection on my pilot project, “Evaluating Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Reduce Stress, Insomnia, and Sedative Hypnotic Use in Appalachian Women Ages 45+.” I piloted a well-validated online program (SHUTi - Sleep Healthy Using the Internet) to determine its feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy in reducing sedative hypnotic use and improving stress and sleep among Appalachian women ages 45+ (N=38). Preliminary data analyses indicate that participants experienced statistically significant reductions in insomnia severity, stress, depression symptoms, and sleep aid use. My next steps include additional analyses and dissemination of findings via conferences and journal articles. In 2019, I will leverage my findings for an R01 application in support of a refined, larger-scale intervention that incorporates multiple measures of cognition.
My pilot project was supported by my two-year appointment as a Scholar in the NIH-funded Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) program. I received additional funding from the "Igniting Research Collaborations" Pilot Grant (awarded through the UK College of Pharmacy), and the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science. Here is a link to a video where I describe my pilot project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubQuJEASP8E
My work was also recently featured on WUKY, our local NPR station:
In addition to my sleep-focused research, I am keenly interested in medicalization, virtual manhood acts, and the intersection of gender and disability. I have published on these topics in a wide range of journals including: the American Journal of Public Health, Sociology of Health and Illness, Gender & Society, Men and Masculinities, SAGE Research Methods Cases, Deviant Behavior, and Sociology Compass.
As a graduate student, I was awarded two competitive, pre-doctoral fellowships. My fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. My fellowship in the Carolina Program in Health and Aging Research was funded by the National Institute on Aging. I was also awarded the Beth B. Hess Memorial Scholarship. This award, jointly awarded by Sociologists for Women in Society, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and the American Sociological Association, uniquely recognizes Sociology PhD students who begin their careers in community or technical colleges and are committed to research and teaching focused on gender and/or aging.
Since coming to the University of Kentucky, I was awarded a Scholar position in the NIH Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health [BIRCWH] program. The BIRCWH program supports early stage faculty who demonstrate exceptional potential for a career in women’s health research. It provides 75% protected time, a financial allotment for research, strong mentorship, and exceptional peer support.
My gender-focused research has resulted in nominations for: a) the American Sociological Associations's Sex and Gender Section, Distinguished Paper Awards and b) the Southern Sociological Society's Katherine Jocher-Belle Boone Beard Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Understanding of Gender and Society.
In addition to building a strong research agenda, I am committed to teaching and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. In 2018 I received the "Teacher Who Made a Difference" Award from the UK College of Education, and was also the UK Office of Undergraduate Research's "Faculty Mentor of the Week," March 19-23. I was also honored with a nomination for the UK College of Arts and Sciences' "Outstanding Teaching Award."
PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS (*denotes student co-author) (**denotes shared first authorship)
Ciciurkaite, Gabriele,** Mairead E. Moloney,** and Robyn Lewis Brown. (Forthcoming). “The Incomplete Medicalization of Obesity: Physician Visits, Diagnoses, and Treatments, 1996-2014." Public Health Reports.
Robyn Lewis Brown and Mairead E. Moloney. (Forthcoming). “Intersectionality, Work, and Well-Being: The Effects of Gender and Disability.” Gender & Society.
Barbee, Harry N.*, Mairead E. Moloney, and Thomas R. Konrad. 2018. “Selling Slumber: Sleeplessness, Medicalization, and the Critical Role of American Capitalism.” Sociology Compass. DOI: 10.1111/soc4.12622
Moloney, Mairead E. and Tony P. Love. 2018. “Assessing Online Misogyny: Perspectives from Sociology and Feminist Media Studies.” Sociology Compass. DOI: 10.1111/soc4.12577
- Assistant Professor of Sociology
- Health, Society and Populations
- Sociology
- Gender & Women's Studies
