Denise MacDermott completed her social work degree at the University of Strathclyde in 2003. During this time, Denise was employed by the Northern Ireland Association for the Resettlement of Offenders (NIACRO) as a Project Worker and later a Senior Practitioner for a regional Mentoring programme. In 2008, she took up the post of Practice Learning Centre Manager with Bryson Care. In 2012 she completed the MSc in Professional Development in Social Work from Ulster University.

Denise is committed to promoting civic engagement, volunteering and social justice, she was Chairperson for Le Cheile Youth Justice Support Services a National charity based in Ireland from 2009-2015. More recently she has been actively involved in fundraising projects to tackle food poverty in the North West in partnership with the Churches Trust and the Ulster University Stand Up for Social Work Society.

Denise MacDermott joined Ulster University in 2013 as a lecturer in social work, she has held a number of leadership roles including course director for the BSc (Hons) Social Work, Chair of the Practice Assessment Panel and Employability Lead for social work. Denise is currently the Subject Lead for social work and course director for the PG/Diploma in Professional Development in Social Work. She is Chair of the Collaborative Forum Management Board for undergraduate social work provision.

Denise holds the Leadership and Strategic Award in Social Work (2015) is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and received an Excellence in Educational Leadership Award from Ulster University in 2019. She has extensive experience of External Examining of social work courses in the UK and Ireland. Denise is currently an External Examiner for the MSW at Sligo Institute of Technology and more recently the University of Strathclyde MSW. Denise is an experienced peer reviewer for several leading social work journals including Practice, British Journal of Social Work and Social Work Education.  She has written several peer reviewed articles and book chapters making important contributions to the field of social work education including collaborations with experts by experience, service users and the voluntary sector in Northern Ireland.

Research Interests

Service users, carers and survivors’ involvement within social work education

Professional identity and social work

Creative assessments within social work programme

No risk peer and lecturer feedback model

Digital storytelling with students and experts by experience

Denise contributes to both undergraduate and post graduate teaching in social work at Ulster.