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.

Ciara completed her BSc in Nutrition and Health Science at the Cork Institute of Technology. She completed her PhD in Microbiology with University College Cork where her focus was on elucidating the microbiome of Irish athletes. During this time she focused on the investigation of several parameters on the gut microbiome of athletes. During her subsequent postdoc her research focused primarily on the microbial composition and activity within fermented food environments.

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.

Ramya has an undergraduate degree in pharmacy and a MS in Pharmacology and toxicology. She is a PhD student at UCC and Teagasc. Ramya’s current research question aims at developing an understanding of the impact of diet on the microbiota-gut-brain axis. She is also looking at key microbial players and their metabolites that possess neuromodulatory abilities, which can influence gut to brain communication. This work would be in line with microbiome targeted therapeutics that are aimed at the mental health and overall wellbeing of the consumer.

Emmanuel completed a BSc in Biological Sciences in Ghana following which he worked as a research assistant for a year with focus on bacterial pathogens and helminths. He completed his MSc work in bacteriophage therapy at the University of Leicester, UK. Currently, he works as a lab technician with SeqBiome while working towards his PhD. His research focuses on microbial genomics and the application of synthetic biology in developing phage-based biocontrols.

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.

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.