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The Health Research Institute (HRI) has established a strong interdisciplinary base in food, diet and nutrition research, drawing expertise from multiple schools, faculties and centres across UL. Our researchers are advancing knowledge in key areas such as the impact of functional foods on health, performance nutrition, sustainable food systems and practices, and the relationship between diet quality, chronic disease, and healthy ageing.

HRI Principal Investigators lead nationally and internationally funded projects supported by organisations including Food for Health Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the Health Research Board, Science Foundation Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Marine Institute and the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund.

Building on this critical mass, the HRI now aims to accelerate the growth of food, diet and nutrition research. This priority area will connect active researchers, forge strong collaborations with industry and academic partners, and align closely with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Over the next five years, our research will take a bench-to-bedside approach to address key stages of the human lifecycle and promote sustained health and well-being across the lifespan by harnessing the therapeutic and preventive potential of nutrition. We will integrate cutting-edge science, technology and interdisciplinary expertise to deliver translational impact in healthy ageing, performance nutrition, metabolic health in cancer and diabetes, dietary strategies and behaviour change.

Through this programme, HRI researchers will both pursue a distinctive research agenda in food, diet and nutrition and contribute meaningfully to the Institute’s other priority areas.