Donal McAnaney earned a PhD in Educational Psychology at McGill University in 1991. He served as director of program development, research and innovation for the Rehan Group (Ireland) until 2006. He established the rehabilitation studies program at University College Dublin and acted as its programme director (1992-2000). He was a senior research consultant with the Work Research Centre (2000-2015) with a specific interest in social protection, active inclusion, employment and disability. He served as Chief Academic Officer for Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences (PCU-WHS) (2015-2019).

He is currently an adjunct professor at the university with a particular interest in mental health and work retention and has chaired its research ethics committee for the past six years. He has carried out research for the European Commission, Eurofound, the ILO, the International Social Security Association, the Irish National Disability Authority, the Health Research Board and the National Council for Special Education. He has played key roles in projects that addressed active inclusion for young people with disabilities; telecare and telehealth in Europe; an analysis of pilot rehabilitation centres in Azerbaijan; the impact of European governments’ austerity plans on the rights of people with disabilities; and international good practice in occupational rehabilitation. He developed a standards framework for social services in Romania and key performance indicators for return to work for the ISSA International Barometer of Social Security Administrations. He led the working group that established the European Quality in Social Services system (EQUASS) and the quality-of-life interest group for the European Platform for Rehabilitation.

Recent work included the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on professionals tasked with supporting workplace health, job retention and return to work; the quality-of-life impact of inclusive vocational education and training and community care (QOLIVET) and a review and synthesis of international and national standards and good practice guidelines for Disability Management.