Dr Frank Houghton has been employed as a full-time academic since 2005. His research interests are diverse and include topics such as health promotion, public health, equality studies, GIS, librarianship, and health inequalities. His PhD is in Medical/ Health Geography from Maynooth University (Ireland), and he also holds Masters degrees in Population Health Evidence (Manchester Uni., England, UK), TESOL, (Ulster Uni., Northern Ireland, UK), Librarianship (Aberystwyth Uni., Wales, UK), Peace Studies (Ulster Uni.), and Computer Science (Queen’s Uni. Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK).

Frank is currently Director of Social Sciences ConneXions, one of eight Research Institutes at the Technological University of the Shannon in Limerick, Ireland. Prior to this he was Chair and tenured Associate Professor at Eastern Washington University in Spokane, Washington State in the US. He has worked in research, academia or Public Health in New Zealand, Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, and the US.

Frank has written over 200 publications in peer-reviewed academic journals and over 100 other publications. He routinely supervises undergraduate and postgraduate research and was recognized as a Research Ally in 2023 by the Irish Research Council (IRC).