Professor Mary Ward

Overview

Mary Ward is a registered dietitiananda Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Ulster University, with over 27 years’ experience.

She is an internationally recognised scientist who leads an active research programme at Ulster University, where she heads up the Nutrition and Vascular Unit. Her work is primarily focused on the role of nutrition in disease prevention.

She has a specific interest in micronutrients and their role in maintaining health from early life through to older age; underpinning mechanisms linking nutrition with health outcomes, and the role of personalised nutrition strategies in optimising health across the life course.

This work has led to a highly successful collaboration with colleagues from Genomics Medicine at Ulster University investigating the role of B-vitamins in the epigenetic modulation of hypertension.

Mary is also interested in the health impacts of transitioning to healthy diets from sustainable sources and co-leads the Nutrition and Health platform on a £32M North-South (Ireland) multi-partner Centre aimed at developing a robust sustainable food system across the Island of Ireland over the next 6 years (2024-30).

She publishes widely in top-ranked international journals across several disciplines and has attracted significant external funding from government agencies in the UK and Ireland, the EU, Charities and Industry.

Mary has a track record of PhD supervision, having supervised 25 to successful completion. She is a regular speaker at national and international conferences and sits on the organising committees of a number of international meetings, including the 2026 US FASEB summer research conference on B-vitamins.

She is a member of the Life and Health sciences committee of the Royal Irish Academy and is the current President of the Nutrition Society (UK & Ireland; 2023-26).

Her leadership extends into regulatory and policy engagement, including serving on the Scientific Committee of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.