I have a BSc and a PhD in Microbiology, both from University College Cork. Having worked for a number of years as a Research Scientist in Canada and Teagasc Moorepark, I joined WIT (now SETU) as a Lecturer in Microbiology in 2007. In 2021, I was awarded the title 'Professor' and in 2023 I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Microbiology. In total, I have more than 25 years of teaching and research experience. I lead a successful multi-disciplinary agri-food research group within the Eco-Innovation Research Centre at SETU. My research interests include: alternatives to antibiotics for animals and humans (probiotics, prebiotics, etc); microbiome (pig gut, animal feed, anaerobic digesters); biosafety of manure recycling; novel antimicrobials (from marine and other sources); and foodborne pathogens (e.g. Salmonella carriage in pigs). To date, I have published 106 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, 4 book chapters and numerous papers in conference proceedings and I am an inventor on two International patent applications. I have a Google H-Index of 49 and my publications have been cited over 9,000 times (Google Scholar). I have supervised 16 PhD students to completion and I am currently supervising two. I have obtained over €7.2 million in research funding since joining SETU and I am Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator on a number of projects, many of which have industrial partners. Since joining SETU, I have established & maintain productive collaborations nationally (Teagasc, UCC, NUIG, UCD) and internationally (AFBI, Northern Ireland; University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna; Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland; Agroscope, Switzerland; Aarhus University, Denmark; KU Leuven, Belgium; Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Germany)
Modules currently taught:
Applications of Microbiology with Biostatistics [to 4th yr BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology with Biopharmaceutical Science]
Microbial Ecology & Bioremediation [to 3rd yr BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology with Biopharmaceutical Science & BSc in Applied Biology]
Scientific Enquiry in Biology [to 2nd yr BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology with Biopharmaceutical Science & BSc in Applied Biology]
Foodborne Pathogens & Molecular Surveillance (to 3rd yr BSc in Food science with Business)
Microbiology [to 2nd yr BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology with Biopharmaceutical Science & BSc in Applied Biology]
Research Project [to 3rd and 4th yr BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology with Biopharmaceutical Science & 3rd and 4th yr BSc (Hons) in Applied Biology]
Livestock Management [to MSc in Organic & Biological Agriculture]
Food, Health & Nutrition [to MSc in Organic & Biological Agriculture]
Modules previously taught:
Introductory Biology (to 1st yr Higher Certificate in Science/Agricultural Science)
Food Microbiology (to 2nd yr BSc in Applied Biology, 2nd yr BSc in Food science with Business, 2nd yr BSc Agricultural Science)
Food Regulatory Affairs (National Certificate in Good Manufacturing Practice)
Course Development:
Member of new course development teams e.g. BSc Food Science with Business, BSc (Hons) Food Science & Innovation; BSc (Hons) Biopharmaceutical Science with Molecular Biology, MSc Biological & Organic Agriculture
Member of development teams for new industry training and upskilling programmes e.g. Certificate in Analytical Microbiology (Springboard); Certificate in Science in Analytical Microbiology (Skillnet)
Research Interests
Alternatives to antibiotics for animals and humans (probiotics, prebiotics, etc)
