Our people
Deborah Lyness
Head of Demographic Statistics Branch, NISRA (ADR Northern Ireland)
Deborah is a Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA) Senior Principal Statistician with oversight of production of vital events official statistics, the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measures and the NISRA Research Support Unit, a team supporting both the ADR NI and the NI Longitudinal Study. She also heads project development and impact delivery for the NISRA part of the ADR NI. Deborah joined the ADR NI from her role heading the Statistics Branch in the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Prior to this she led production of a number of key NI economic statistics and has also held a number of statistical roles in the criminal justice area including with the NI Youth Justice Agency and Department of justice. She has a BSc in Psychology and a MSSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Elizabeth Nelson
Public Engagement, Comms & Impact Manager, ADRC-NI (ADR Northern Ireland)
Elizabeth is Public Engagement, Communications & Impact Manager for the Administrative Data Research Centre Northern Ireland (ADRC-NI), where her remit includes developing partnerships with voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector groups as well as policymakers. Based in the School of Nursing at Ulster University, Elizabeth holds a Master of Laws in Human Rights Law from Queen's University Belfast, and completed an honours Political Science degree at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Elizabeth was previously the Parliamentary and Campaigns Officer for the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities. She has extensive experience in engaging with vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, and enhancing the participation of these groups in politics, research and policymaking.
Samantha Livingstone
Project Administrator, ADRC-NI (ADR Northern Ireland)
Samantha is the Project Administrator for the Administrative Data Research Centre Northern Ireland (ADRC-NI). Samantha is responsible for all the administration associated with the programme, including acting as first point of contact for project-related questions.
Clare Jess
Project Manager, ADRC NI (ADR NI)
Clare Jess is the Project Manager for the Administrative Data Research Centre in Northern Ireland (ADRC NI). She is the lead for the operational coordination of the ADRC within the ADR NI partnership, managing the delivery of research programmes, and is based at the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences within Queen’s University Belfast. Clare also has extensive experience working in public health research within higher education.