Orla has held international research posts in the US and Australia, which has resulted in the establishment of a wide international collaboration. Over the last decade, she was worked with a wide range of social science data sources including cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys (e.g., the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys and the UK Household Longitudinal Survey), health administrative data (e.g., the NHS Digital Mental Health Minimum Dataset), and linked administrative data (e.g., the Northern Ireland Morbidity Survey).