Paul Cotter

Teagasc Food Research Centre

Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy, Ireland

Pauld D. Cotter graduated from University College Cork, Ireland (UCC) with a BSc and PhD in Microbiology and lectured at Cork Institute of Technology and UCC before being appointed as a Principal Research Officer, and more recently a Senior Principal Research Officer, at Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, where he also manages the APC DNA sequencing platform. Paul is now Head of Department, Food Biosciences at Teagasc, Ireland.

Dr Cotter's research focuses on the microbiology of food (including beneficial, spoilage and pathogenic microbes) and the gastrointestinal tract (using state-of-the-art DNA-based approaches to examine these microbes, with a view to maintaining/establishing a healthy gut flora through dietary interventions). Dr Cotter is also experienced in the investigation of food-grade antimicrobial peptide (‘bacteriocins’), which can be employed to enhanced food safety and improve human and animal health, and in research of stress resistance and virulence factors employed by health-benefiting as well as disease-causing bacteria. Dr Cotter has been the recipient of €3 million in funding from Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Health Research Board, the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology and the Teagasc Vision Programme.