Thu. Feb 6th, 2025

UL student working on a way to ‘revolutionise early detection of cerebral palsy’ 

25.09.24 Humans of UL Campaign. ISE Student, Aaron Roche. Photo by Alan Place.
UL student takes inspiration from school classmate to work on a 5-year research project that could help to ‘revolutionise the early detection of cerebral palsy’. 

Aaron Roche is a software engineering student at UL who is taking part in the ELEVATE project.  

It’s a five-year research programme that aims to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of early brain injury and cerebral palsy in Ireland. Aaron selected the project as part of his residency as part of the Immersive Software Engineering programme at UL.  
The programme is said to be a transformational teaching and research initiative that aims to rethink and disrupt computer science education.  

Following the motto “learn to be useful”

The 20-year-old from Wexford took inspiration from his secondary school days in selecting the residency.
“I went to St Peter’s College Secondary School in Wexford and there was a boy in our year who had cerebral palsy that affected his entire body,” recounted Aaron, “Our school motto was ‘Disce Prodesse’ which means ‘learn to be useful’ and there was a Disce Prodesse school award every year. He was nominated for this award because he was so inspiring to the rest of us.  He was an inspiration for me to go this route.” 

Working within ELEVATE

ELEVATE is led by the INFANT Research Centre at University College Cork and partnered with RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Trinity College Dublin and the tertiary-level maternity hospitals in Ireland. 
Part of the ELEVATE project aims to develop a screening process that could identify potential risks even before birth. 

Aaron’s role in the project is vital. He is working with a small team to build algorithms that will analyse large amounts of data: “We’re looking at hundreds of variables. Everything from the mother’s lifestyle, background, and ethnicity, to any complications during pregnancy.’ 

The ELEVATE project is in its early stages, at the minute they are collecting data from pregnancies and working with the Karolinska Institute in Sweden to gather that information. They’re hoping to create algorithms that will assess the risk of cerebral palsy while the child is still in the womb. 

Focusing on the Project, planning for more

Although Aaron’s main focus now is the project, he feels the course is setting him up well to own a company of his own someday, ‘‘All our lecturers are experts in their field. They’re not just teaching us how to work in a company, but how to start our own businesses.” 

For Aaron the impact is personal. “I think of my classmate from school sometimes, and it reminds me why I wanted to work on something like this. To be part of a project that could change lives for the better – that’s really what it’s all about.”’