Our Team

Marcus received his BSc in Chemical Engineering & Physics and MSc in Bioinformatics at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. After a completed PhD on sequencing and comparative genomics of Lactobacillus species, he investigated the microbiota of aging as part of the ELDERMET project. Marcus is Principal Investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland, Programme Director of the MSc in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at University College Cork, and Chair of the EU COST Action ML4Microbiome aiming to optimise the use of Machine Learning in microbiome science. With close to 20 years’ microbiome experience, his research interest includes the role of the microbiome in inflammatory bowel disease and associated methods development.

Paul received his BSc and PhD in Microbiology from University College Cork. Paul is the Head of Food Biosciences at Teagasc and a Principal Investigator with the APC Microbiome Ireland and Vistamilk SFI Centres, as well as Food for Health Ireland. He also co-ordinates the EU H2020 Innovation Action relating to microbiomes and the food chain, MASTER. He is a molecular microbiologist, with a particular focus on the microbiology of foods, the food chain and of animals/humans. Paul’s laboratory at Teagasc were winners at the Irish Laboratory of the Year Awards on multiple occasions. He has also received awards from the Society for Applied Microbiology, ESCMID and FEMS, and heads the Applied Microbiology section within Faculty of 1000 (Biology), and was included in the Clarivate list of highly cited researchers for 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Brad has over 20 years of experience as a manager, entrepreneur, investor and CEO having worked within the Government, MedTech and IT industries. These have included world-leading multinationals such as consultancy firm Accenture, IT giant Dell EMC and cloud services company Virtustream. Over the past few years Brad has focused on working with a number of start-ups and spin-out companies, helping them to bring their services and products to market.

Frank Walsh is a 30-year veteran of early-stage growth companies across a variety emerging industries in Ireland, Europe and the USA. For the past 16-years he was a leading investor in Ireland as a Partner in Irish venture capital firm, Enterprise Equity. More recently, Frank has focused on helping a small number of high-potential companies create and realise shareholder value.

Sarita finished her BSc on Medical biology and MSc on Cognitive Neuroscience at the Radboud University Nijmegen (NL). She performed research with rodents on several projects that focused on the investigation of early dietary factors on the brain and cognitive development in mice and she measured behavioral flexibility in touchscreen-based rodent tasks relevant to human conditions (e.g. schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression). As a PhD candidate at the Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen (NL), she specialized in translational neuroscience and worked on the effect of dietary interventions, their effect on the structure of the gut microbiome and how this relates to behavioral changes in Neurodevelopmental disorders.

Marcus completed his BSc in Microbiology and MSc in Bioinformatics in University College Cork. He has worked on projects involving Parkinson’s disease, Listeria and Chlorella. He is currently working as a Bioinformatician for SeqBiome, performing analysis on genomic, 16s and metagenomic data on a wide array of microbiomes.

Shriram completed his BSc, MSc and PhD in Biotechnology in Sardar Patel University, India. He has extensive microbiome analysis experience in studying host and microbial interactions of various ecosystems. In addition to analyzing a wide array of microbiomes for SeqBiome, his research interests includes the role of the microbiome and host genetics in coeliac disease.

Cathy graduated with a BSc in Microbiology from University College Cork. She is currently based in Teagasc completing a PhD in Microbiology also from University College Cork as well as now working with SeqBiome. Her main research interests include enhancing the growth and activity of health-promoting strict anaerobic bacteria in the human gut using a combination of laboratory based work and metagenomic analysis.

Laura graduated with a BA in Human Genetics from Trinity College Dublin, after which she worked for four years as technician on the Teagasc sequencing platform and is now working with SeqBiome and towards a PhD in Microbiology in University College Cork. Her primary research focus is on developing next-generation sequencing tools and methods, with a view to improving the application of the technology to microbiome studies and to enhance understanding of the role of the microbiome in food and human health.

Min graduated with a BSc (Honours) in Food Science from Curtin University and previously worked in a public health research institute in Singapore for several years. She is currently based in Teagasc, completing a PhD in Microbiology with University College Cork. Her research focuses on the use of metagenomic sequencing technologies to investigate the dairy microbiome in an effort to understand the factors influencing the microbiome along the dairy processing chain that contribute to food safety and quality.

Originally a genetics graduate form University College Cork interested in ecosystem interactions, Jamie completed his PhD on microbial ecology of bioreactors, illustrating the importance of fermenters in maintaining a healthy, functional community. Alongside research on in-depth community analysis, metagenomics, and compositional data, his recent work has focused on designing and deploying cloud infrastructure and data practices for SeqBiome.

Fiona graduated with a PhD in Microbiology from University College Cork, after which she was appointed to the Next Generation Sequencing Platform, in Teagasc Moorepark. This APC Microbiome Ireland Platform, which is funded through Science Foundation Ireland, is the largest such center in Ireland and recognized both nationally and internationally as a leading research platform. Fiona currently manages the Sequencing Platform on a day-to-day basis, supervising all staff working in the core. Her research interests include the human gut microbiology, its role in metabolic and mental health and its modulation by diet and exercise, as well as the effects of functional foods and pharm-biotic producing probiotics on human gut microbiology and metabolic disorders.

Orla is a senior research officer with Teagasc. She is a Principal Investigator with VistaMilk and a Funded Investigator with APC Microbiome Ireland. She was listed as a Highly cited researcher in 2018 and was awarded Science foundation Ireland early career researcher of 2019. Orla’s research focuses on profiling the microbiome from a variety of environments including, human gut and lung, rumen, cheese and soil. Of particular interest is the role of physical fitness and diet in shaping the gut microbiome both in elite athletes and the general population.