Dr Rachel Moran

Biography

Dr. Rachel Moran, an American/Irish scientist, is a Howard Postdoctoral Researcher at the NRCI. Prior to this current position, she completed her PhD entitled "Non-dietary determinants and correlates of plasma concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin in an Irish population" within NRCI and under the supervision of Professor John Nolan and Professor Stephen Beatty. She was part of the first WIT Presidential PhD Scholarship Programme.

Rachel believes that lifestyles and behaviours towards nutrition have a major impact on the prevention and progression of diseases such as age-related macular degeneration. In 2010, she obtained a BSc (Honours) degree in Biotechnology with Quality Management from WIT and also gained pharmaceutical experience in Genzyme, Sanofi. She is a first author on two publications (one under review). She is also a co-author on 11 publications and has attended 8 national and international conferences.

Rachel has attended many workshops and courses including level 3 phlebotomy, Advanced Vision Optometric Tests (AVOT), Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), Heidelberg Spectralis and Advanced Chromatographic Techniques. She is currently project managing three new clinical trials in Waterford, Coordinating a cross-sectional study in Mexico and supervising two PhD candidates. When she is not in the chemistry or vision lab, she enjoys reading, baking and spending time with her family.