News Spotlight

ELDERMET

ELDERMET is very significant and unique metagenomic project that involves many of the investigators from the APC. It is investigating the relationship between diet, gut bacteria and health status in a large number of elderly (>65 years) subjects. Controlling gut bacteria, for example by dietary modification, offers the prospect of improving health, especially in elderly people. In recent years, scientists have shown that the large numbers of bacteria that are always carried in the human gut are important for our health.

They are involved in extracting energy from our food, making certain vitamins, keeping dangerous bacteria at bay, and even fine-tuning or own defence mechanisms or immune system.

As people age, these beneficial properties of the gut bacteria appear to weaken, and the immune system also slows down. It's not clear which body defence functions and defence mechanisms are most dependent on gut bacteria - which is what ELDERMET aims to establish.

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Centres for Science, Engineering & Technology (CSETs)

The APC is one of ten Centres for Science, Engineering & Technology, CSETs, that are funded by Science Foundation Ireland. These research centres are dedicated to delivering high-value research and advancing Ireland’s smart economy through cutting-edge research and development. With innovative partnerships with industry, government and academia, the centres add value to Ireland through jobs creation, inward investment and international excellence in science, engineering and technology.

SFI celebrates 10 years!

	BDI www.bdi.ie
	REMEDI www.remedi.ie
	SBI www.ucd.ie/sbi/
	CLARITY www.clarity.ie
	CNGL www.cngl.ie
	LERO www.lero.ie
	CRANN www.crann.tcd.ie
	DERI www.deri.ie
	CTVR www.ctvr.ie
	AGRC www.agrc.ie

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Food for Health Ireland

Food for Health Ireland (FHI) is a research centre which aims to determine how milk ingredients can be extracted and used to deliver health benefits for consumers. It is a unique partnership between four of Ireland’s major dairy processing companies and four public research organisations.

Supported by Enterprise Ireland, FHI combines the expertise of researchers at University College Cork (FHI headquarters), University College Dublin, Teagasc Moorepark Food Research Centre, and University of Limerick to provide a pipeline for the development of new functional food ingredients and products. A ‘functional food’ is one that serves a purpose beyond basic nutrition, promoting health or reducing the risk of certain diseases. FHI links the researchers with Carbery Group, Dairygold Co-operative Society Ltd, Glanbia plc and Kerry Group plc, to maximise the health potential of ‘bioactives’ derived from milk. Many of these bioactive ingredients are derived from milk proteins, carbohydrates and fats and are being tested for their impact on early infant development and their ability to reduce the risk of infection, heart disease and obesity. Their efficacy will be scientifically and clinically validated in model systems and human intervention studies to ensure they meet the requirements of EU regulations on nutrition and health claims.

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Tyndall National Institute

The APC is collaborating closely with researchers from the Tyndall National Institute on an Enterprise Ireland funded project to develop technology that would allow point-of-care detection of GI disorders in a doctor’s clinic.

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