Fitness Matters: the role of the gut microbiome in health and performance

Dr Orla O'Sullivan is Senior Research Officer at Teagasc Food Research Centre at Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy, Ireland and a principal investigator with the APC Microbiome Ireland and VistaMilk Science Foundation Ireland Research Centres. She is a computational biologist focusing on elucidating the microbiome from a variety of ecosystems including soil, food, rumen and human gut. Of particular interest to her is the role of fitness and diet, specifically whey protein, on the human gut microbiome both in healthy and diseased cohorts. As part of her research into the gut microbiome in fitness Orla has worked with athletes from the IRFU, Cricket Ireland, Sports Ireland Institute and a Premiership soccer team. In 2018 Orla was listed as a Clarivate Highly cited Researcher placing her in the top 1% of researchers globally and in 2019 was awarded the prestigious SFI Early Career Researcher of the Year.