UCD food innovator receives the Enterprise Ireland 2012 Lifescience Commercialisation Award
Seán Sherlock TD, Minister for Research and Innovation has presented University College Dublin’s Professor Dolores O’Riordan with the Enterprise Ireland 2012 Lifescience Commercialisation Award.The Award was presented to Professor O’Riordan, Deputy Director of UCD’s Institute of Food and Health and a leading researcher in UCD’s School of Agriculture and Food Science during Enterprise Ireland’s 2012 Big Ideas Showcase which took place in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.
Professor O’Riordan was presented with the award in recognition of her exemplary contribution to innovation in the food sector through collaboration with industry.
A teaching advocate in Food Science, she is highly regarded by industry and academia alike, having delivered numerous commercial projects for industry as well as being a Professor with an impressive publishing and patenting record at UCD.
She is also a principal investigator in Food for Health Ireland, a large-scale collaborative research programme funded by Enterprise Ireland and four of Ireland’s largest dairy companies. The primary objective of this programme is to identify functional ingredients from milk which can form the basis of new products with defined health benefits for consumers.
She and her research team have also developed a patented ‘health food technology’ which has recently been licensed to Largo Foods (owners of the Tayto Brand) by UCD’s technology transfer office at NovaUCD to bring a ‘healthy snack product’ to market.
She has also been instrumental in developing a new strategy for the University to facilitate establishing industry partnerships for food product development.
Professor O’Riordan was one of three individuals who were presented with awards during this showcase event.
Speaking at event, Minister Sherlock said, “This event is about turning publicly-funded research into companies, spin-outs, intellectual property and jobs. It’s about cultivating the investment by the taxpayer in our third level institutions, and harvesting the rewards. The Government is striving to create the right environment where ideas can be identified, protected and commercialised leading to the creation of much needed jobs for this economy. Since 2007, Enterprise Ireland has provided €30 million under the Technology Transfer Strengthening Initiative to the third level sector, and this is having a real and tangible effect’.
He added, “Likewise, the Government’s recently introduced Intellectual Property Protocol marks a major step change in Ireland’s approach to encouraging industry to collaborate with Ireland’s publicly funded research institutions.”
On receiving the award Professor O’Riordan said, “It is an exciting time to be involved in food research and I feel privileged to be part of the research community attempting to anticipate and satisfy the future needs of the food industry. I really enjoy the challenge of translating academic research into a commercial environment and feel very fortunate to receive Enterprise Ireland funding that helps foster industrial partnerships.”
She added, “I am delighted to have seen my team’s research progress from scientific hypotheses to innovative technologies for the food industry.” She concluded, “I am truly honoured to receive this award and hope that continued activity at the interface between academic research and industry will lead to increased competitiveness for the Irish Food Industry.”
Congratulating Professor O’Riordan on her award, Professor Peter Clinch, UCD Vice-President for Innovation said, “At University College Dublin, two of our key innovation themes are putting the knowledge which emerges from our world-class research programmes to work and reaching out to establish collaborative partnerships with industry. This award recognises and rewards Dolores’ innovation achievements in both of these regards.”
He added, “By working in partnership with Largo Foods, a global brand, there is a bright future for a new healthy snack based on the translation of Dolores’s smart science for good food into a consumer product.”