Dr Lisa Ryan has an extensive background in working with the sports industry and providing training and education in sport and nutrition sciences. She has a first-class honours degree in Nutritional Science and a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from University College Cork.

Following her studies at UCC Dr Ryan took up a Senior Lecturing post at Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom, before moving on to another Senior Lectureship at Oxford Brookes University in 2008. Here she joined the Functional Food Centre (FFC) and established the University’s Phytochemical Research Group. In 2010 she took over the FFC as Operations Director and turned the centre into one of the few profit-generating organisations within the University.

While in the UK, Dr Ryan also worked with the GB Olympic team and the English rugby development squad. Subsequently, she was invited to Monash University in Melbourne, Australia (2013), to help establish the BASE (Be Active Sleep & Eat) Research Facility and led the Functional Food research stream. Dr Ryan has attracted considerable research income in the areas of functional foods, sport and health. To date, she has worked with over 50 food industry partners and has attracted research funding from agencies such as the UK’s Medical Research Council, The Nuffield Trust and The Wellcome Trust. In 2015, Dr Ryan was awarded the prestigious Agri-food Fellowship in Australia to investigate the potential of marine polyphenols as anti-diabetic agents. 

Since moving to ATU, Galway, as Head of the Department of Natural Sciences in the School of Science and Computing; Lisa has established the BSc (Hons) in Sport and Exercise and BSc (Hons) in Public Health Nutrition courses and the MSc in Applied Sport and Exercise Nutrition. She is widely published in the area of phytochemicals and functional foods and outside of her formal academic role has worked as a sports nutritionist for a variety of teams and individuals. While her research interests spanning across both sport and nutrition have led to the development of innovative research centres within ATU, Galway. Lisa has been responsible for developing the new Medicinal Nutrition theme of the MET Gateway at ATU, Galway. Current areas of research include functional foods, metabolic health, food entrepreneurship and the new ‘Irish Concussion Research centre’ in ATU, Galway. While she’s also a scientific advisor with The Kerry Health and Nutrition Institute and the Accreditation for Nutritionists (AfN).