About Our Group

Our group, led by Dr. Aoife Ryan RD, focus on research related to nutrition in cancer.

Current & Recent Projects:

• A National Survey to Investigate the Use of Complementary & Alternative Medicine in Irish Oncology Patients (OncAMIE) (Funded by Irish Cancer Society)
• Development of Practical Resources, such as Cookbooks, for Cancer Patients, Cancer Survivors and for Cancer Prevention in the General Public (Funded by Breakthrough Cancer Research)
• Impacts of Malnutrition on Cancer Outcomes, with a focus on Assessment of Body Composition using CT Scans, Cachexia & Sarcopenia
• Use of Dairy-Derived Peptides to Stimulate Appetite (Funded by Food for Health Ireland - 2)

Head of Research Group

Dr. Aoife Ryan RD

Dr. Aoife Ryan graduated from Trinity College Dublin/Dublin Institute of Technology with a BSc (1H) Human Nutrition and Dietetics and was the recipient of a Trinity College gold medal. She initially worked as a surgical oncology dietitian at St. James's Hospital for 7 years during which time she completed her PhD at the Department of Surgery, Trinity College Dublin. She then moved to New York and took up a faculty position as Assistant Professor of Nutrition & Dietetics at New York University. In 2011 she returned to Ireland and joined the academic staff at University College Cork where she is now a Senior lecturer.  

Aoife is a CORU Registered Dietitian and also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education from UCC.  Aoife has taught nutrition and dietetics to undergraduates and postgraduates at Trinity College Dublin, New York University and University College Cork in: Nutritional Sciences, Dietetics, Nursing, Medicine, Dentistry, Speech and Language Therapy, Food Marketing and Public Health.  She is the programme director of the MSc Human Nutrition & Dietetics at UCC.

Aoife’s main area of research interest is the effect of cancer on nutritional status. Her current research programme focuses on: (1) Computed tomography (CT) diagnosed cancer cachexia and sarcopenia and the impact on quality of life, toxicity to chemotherapy treatment and survival (2) the development of functional foods to treat anorexia of aging and disease (3) role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of cancer.  Aoife is currently principal investigator on a number of randomised controlled trials based in Cork in cancer populations. Aoife has attracted €3m in research income through competitive funding programmes (e.g. HRB, Industry funding, FHI, SFI).  She has received a number of awards for her research including: 'Research Dietitian of the Year' from the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute;  two Irish Healthcare Awards and both the Julie Wallace Award and the Cuthbertson Award from the Nutrition Society. Aoife has published many scientific journal articles and also five cookbooks books for cancer patients which have all been professionally endorsed. 

Research Staff

Erin Stella Sullivan RD (Research Dietitian)

Erin is a registered dietitian who recently completed her PhD entitled "Malnutrition & Altered Body Composition in Oncology: Prevalence, Aetiology, Consequences & Potential Therapies" under the supervision of Dr. Aoife Ryan.

She graduated from Dublin Institute of Technology and Trinity College Dublin with a First Class (1.1) BSc (Hons) in Human Nutrition & Dietetics in 2017. During her undergraduate, she undertook much of her clinical training in the areas of radiation and surgical oncology at St. James’ Hospital, Dublin and completed her thesis at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon where she studied the associations between inflammatory cytokines and body fat distribution in healthy controls as part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

She is currently the Research Support Officer (Research Dietitian) coordinating "A National Survey to Investigate the Use of Complementary & Alternative Medicine in Irish Oncology Patients (OncAMIE)", a mixed-methods project aiming to explore the use of complementary and alternative medicine by Irish cancer survivors, including their reasons for deciding to use these therapies and the experience of communication between healthcare professionals and patients on the topic.

Her main research interests are malnutrition in cancer, including CT assessment of body composition throughout the cancer journey, diagnosis and staging of cachexia and sarcopenia and development of multimodal interventions with potential to prevent and attenuate cancer cachexia.

Research Students

Clodagh Scannell RD (PhD Student)

Clodagh Scannell is a Registered Dietitian currently undertaking her PhD in the Clinical Nutrition & Oncology Research Group.

Contact Details