Prof. Paul Cotter (Teagasc; Food-PI; male; FWCI – 2.50) is a senior principal research officer and Head of Food Biosciences at Teagasc. Paul’s research relates to the study of human/animal microbiota and health, including the role of diet in gut health, athlete microbiome, mother-baby, rumen, pigs, and poultry. It also incorporates the study of the microbiome of foods and the food chain, including fermented foods, fermentates, biotransformation, dairy powders, and food processing environments. He is also a PI with the APC Microbiome Research Ireland Centre and Food for Health Ireland and co-ordinates a €10.5 million H2020 Innovation Action. Paul has >390 peer-reviewed publications and >45,000 citations. He has been included in the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list for the past 5 years. He is the Field Editor-in-Chief in Frontiers in Microbiology, the most highly cited microbiology journal. He was also awarded an Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Grant which was used to facilitate the development of a new spin-out sequencing company called SeqBiome; Paul serves as the part-time Chief Technical Officer (CTO). Paul has a strong public engagement portfolio, having been featured in several national and international TV programs (10 Things to Know About [RTE TV, 2020], Operation Transformation [RTE TV, 2018], You Should Really See a Doctor [RTE TV, 2017], Science Squad [RTE TV, 2016] and Trust Me I’m a Doctor [BBC2 TV, 2016 & 2017]), interviewed in various media, written articles and commentaries in journals and magazines, and recorded podcasts to highlight the benefits of scientific research, in particular relating to fermented foods and the gut microbiome. Examples of impact include:

• Manages the Teagasc DNA sequencing platform, the largest of its kind in Ireland.
• Active in contributing groundbreaking insights to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the microbiomes of fermented foods such as kefir, water kefir, kombucha, and cheese, ranging from in-depth studies of specific foods to broader, more comprehensive analyses. The latter represents the first steps towards establishing the microbial composition of fermented foods from across the globe.
• Granted 5 patents and has submitted a further 12 Invention Disclosure Forms (IDFs).