Orla O'Sullivan Ph.D.

Food Bioscience Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co, Cork., Irelnad

Career Profile (Education and Employment):

December 2019 - present: Funded Investigator VistaMilk Centre
October 2019- present: Senior Research Officer (Computational Biologist), Teagasc
June 2018 -Present: Funded Investigator, APC Microbiome Ireland
Feb 2017 – October 2019: Research Officer (Computational Biologist), Teagasc
2015 - 2017: Faculty Member APC Microbiome Centre
Sep 2014 - Feb 2017: Starting Investigator Research Grant, Fellow.
Feb 2014 - August 2014: Research Fellow, Teagasc and APC Microbiome Centre
Jan 2008 – Dec 2013: Research Officer, ELDERMET, Teagasc and UCC
Feb 2006 – Dec 2007: Research Officer, Teagasc
Jan 2005 – Jan 2006: Lecturer and Senior Demonstrator, Dept. of Biochemistry, UCC.
July 2004 – Jan 2005: Postdoctoral research Conway Institute, UCD, Dublin.

Grants Awarded:

2020: Teagasc Walsh Fellowship, Soil Microbiome(Applicant) (€100,000)
2018: Teagasc Walsh Fellowship, ProbAth (Applicant) (€100,000)
2018: Teagasc Walsh Fellowship, DairyTrace (Co-Applicant) (€100,000)
2018: APEX (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) COFUND programme), IBD-ome, (Co- Applicant (€138000)
2018: Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund, Seqbiome (Co-Applicant), (€200,000)
2014 Starting Investigator Research Grant, Science Foundation Ireland (Applicant) (Grant number 13/SIRG/2160) (€400,000)
2012 Science Foundation Ireland, Obesicibiotics (Co-Applicant) (€896,000)
2009 European Funding Agency, BACTIC, (Co-Applicant) (€1,078,314)
2010 FIRM grant, INFANTMET Science, (Named Bioinformatician) (€400,000)
2010 Teagasc Walsh Fellowship, Dairy-Met, (Co-Applicant) (€100,000)

Mentoring And Supervision:

Supervision of PhD students Lisa Quigley (Viva November 2013), Wiley Barton (Viva September 2018), Ciara O’Donovan (Viva 2019), Laura Wosniska (Viva due 2022), Min Yap (Viva due 2022).
Postdoctoral researcher supervision; current: Dr. Wiley Barton and Dr. Eileen Ryan. Previous: Ronan Whiston ( contract ended August 2018)
Supervision of MSc in Bioinformatics/Computational Biology students from Cork institute of Technology and University College Cork; Kiera Murphy (submitted September 2010), Michelle Walsh and Padraig Walsh (submitted September 2013), Jean Barrett (submitted September 2014), Padraig Courtney (submitted September 2015) .
Supervision of research MSc. student Susan Crowley (submission September 2016).
Mentor and bioinformatics supervision to numerous other placement, Ph.D. and MSc. Students and staff.

Innovation/Commercial Activity:

TEAGASC Gateways initiatives presenter.
Prepare all publications with TTO office and APC IP Commercialization case manager.
IP agreement organisation for bioinformatic analysis of genome and metagenome datasets for industry collaborators.

Other information:

Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Travel fellowship (September 2013).
European Conference on Computational Biology, Travel fellowship (September 2003).
Scientist of the Year (APC Microbiome Institute 2014).
Cover image of Applied Environmental Microbiology, Issue 73 (2007).
Committee Member of both APC Microbiome Institute and VistaMilk Education and Outreach Committee.
Organising committee for Microbiome underpinning Agriculture Conference, 2018.
Ad-hoc reviewer for numerous journals, grants and theses.
Listed as a “Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher” in 2018
Keynote Speaker at numerous international conferences.
Invited guest to Aras an Uachtarain March 2019 to mark International Women’s Day.
SFI Early Career Researcher of the Year 2019.

Selected Publications

1. O’Donovan, C. M.; Madigan, S. M.; Garcia-Perez, I.; Rankin, A.; O’Sullivan, O.; Cotter, P. D., Distinct microbiome composition and metabolome exists across subgroups of elite Irish athletes. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 2020, 23, (1), 63-68.
2. O’Donovan, C. M.; Connor, B.; Madigan, S. M.; Cotter, P. D.; O’Sullivan, O., Instances of altered gut microbiomes among Irish cricketers over periods of travel in the lead up to the 2016 World Cup: A sequencing analysis. Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease 2020, 101553.
3. Wosinska, L.; Cotter, P. D.; O'Sullivan, O.; Guinane, C., The Potential Impact of Probiotics on the Gut Microbiome of Athletes. Nutrients 2019, 11, (10).
4. Keohane, D. M.; Woods, T.; O’Connor, P.; Underwood, S.; Cronin, O.; Whiston, R.; O'Sullivan, O.; Cotter, P.; Shanahan, F.; Molloy, M. G. M., Four men in a boat: Ultra-endurance exercise alters the gut microbiome. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 2019.
5. Cronin, O.; Barton, W.; Skuse, P.; Penney, N. C.; Garcia-Perez, I.; Murphy, E. F.; Woods, T.; Nugent, H.; Fanning, A.; Melgar, S.; Falvey, E. C.; Holmes, E.; Cotter, P. D.; O'Sullivan, O.; Molloy, M. G.; Shanahan, F., A Prospective Metagenomic and Metabolomic Analysis of the Impact of Exercise and/or Whey Protein Supplementation on the Gut Microbiome of Sedentary Adults. mSystems 2018, 3, (3).
6. Barton, W.; Penney, N. C.; Cronin, O.; Garcia-Perez, I.; Molloy, M. G.; Holmes, E.; Shanahan, F.; Cotter, P. D.; O'Sullivan, O., The microbiome of professional athletes differs from that of more sedentary subjects in composition and particularly at the functional metabolic level. Gut 2018, 67, (4), 625-633.
7. Rankin, A.; O’Donavon, C.; Madigan, S. M.; O’Sullivan, O.; Cotter, P. D., ‘Microbes in sport’ – The potential role of the gut microbiota in athlete health and performance. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2017, 51, (9), 698-699.
8. Cronin, O.; O'Sullivan, O.; Barton, W.; Cotter, P. D.; Molloy, M. G.; Shanahan, F., Gut microbiota: implications for sports and exercise medicine. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2017.
9. Barton, W.; Penney, N. C.; Cronin, O.; Garcia-Perez, I.; Molloy, M. G.; Holmes, E.; Shanahan, F.; Cotter, P. D.; O'Sullivan, O., The microbiome of professional athletes differs from that of more sedentary subjects in composition and particularly at the functional metabolic level. Gut 2017.
10. Claesson, M. J.; Jeffery, I. B.; Conde, S.; Power, S. E.; O'Connor, E. M.; Cusack, S.; Harris, H. M.; Coakley, M.; Lakshminarayanan, B.; O'Sullivan, O.; Fitzgerald, G. F.; Deane, J.; O'Connor, M.; Harnedy, N.; O'Connor, K.; O'Mahony, D.; van Sinderen, D.; Wallace, M.; Brennan, L.; Stanton, C.; Marchesi, J. R.; Fitzgerald, A. P.; Shanahan, F.; Hill, C.; Ross, R. P.; O'Toole, P. W., Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly. Nature 2012, 488, (7410), 178-84.