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The Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE) performs fundamental research to understand the links between diet and human development.
We aim to solve the chronic diseases of ageing, obesity, cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis and cognitive decline by investigating the potential impact of diet and food quality on the underlying mechanisms leading not only to disease but also to maintaining health.
Human nutrition research at Ulster University is coordinated through the Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), which was initially set up to provide greater understanding of diet-related health issues.
We currently have 22 academic, 3 technical, and 15 research staff, together with 36 postgraduate research students and 9 internships.
REF14 result
We are very proud of our result in the REF14, the Biomedical Sciences submission, which included nutrition research, was ranked within the top five out of 94 universities submitted in terms of research power.
Our research environment was awarded an unprecedented 100% 4* (world-leading), 95% of our research impact (predominantly arising from nutrition research) was scored world leading (4*) and internationally excellent (3*) and 81% of research published papers were judged to be world leading and internationally excellent (4* and 3*).
Professor of Nutritional Science
Professor Helene McNulty
Professor of Nutritional Science
Helene McNulty is Director of the Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), a centre of excellence for nutrition research at Ulster University.
Having graduated from Trinity College Dublin (BSc and PhD in Nutrition) and the Dublin Institute of Technology (Diploma in Dietetics), followed by 2 years in the food industry, Helene joined Ulster University in 1992 and was promoted to her current academic post, Professor of Human Nutrition & Dietetics, in 2001.
Helene’s research programme is aimed at providing greater understanding of nutrition-related health issues and achieving impact through facilitating food and health policy. She has particular expertise in folate and related B vitamins through the lifecycle and has published extensively in this field (to date, over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles and 12 book chapters), building impacts in both early life and ageing research. She frequently delivers keynote presentations at international scientific conferences throughout the world.
Helene has generated grant income for nutrition research at Ulster University to date amounting to over £13 million from 70 grant awards, and as Principal Investigator (PI) for 34 awards. She has supervised a total of 27 PhD students to successful completion to date, and has mentored numerous members of research staff.
Helene is an elected Member of the Royal Irish Academy (since 2008) and Fellow of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (since 2017). She is co-Chair of the Executive Committee, 13th FENS European Nutrition Conference, Dublin [October 2019].
Apart from leading nutrition research at Ulster, Helene is actively involved in teaching at BSc and MSc levels and related programme administration in the area of Food, Nutrition & Dietetics.
Research Interests
- Nutrition
- Folate/folic acid and related B-vitamins
- One-carbon metabolism
- Health impacts through the lifespan
- Food fortification and micronutrient status
Teaching Interests
- Human Nutrition: Nutrition and metabolism; Nutrition through the lifecycle
- Dietetics: Diet therapy; Diet and disease
Administrative Roles
- Research: Director, Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE)
- Teaching: Module Coordinator, MSc Nutrition Research Project
