Prof. O’Riordan also serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for Una Europa, an alliance of eleven leading European research intensive universities. She is a Full Professor of Food Science with a research focus on the physico-chemical properties of food ingredients and creating food structures that enhance health benefits. Her research programme has active links with colleagues in Europe, the US, New Zealand and China. She served as UCD’s lead investigator in a Private-Public Research Partnership, Food for Health Ireland (FHI) and has been the recipient of academic and innovation awards for her contribution to food research. She has supervised 48 postgraduate students to completion and has over 100 peer reviewed publications. Prior to joining UCD she worked in a research and development capacity with a multinational food company servicing global markets. She is a member of a number of National and European boards.