Ciarán leads research on how the sensory properties of foods influence calorie selection, eating behaviour and energy intake and metabolism in adults and children.
In 2015, he established and led the ‘Sensory and Ingestive Behaviour’ at the Clinical Nutrition Research Centre in Singapore.
From mid-2021 he joined Wageningen University and Reserach as a Professor and Chair in Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour in the Division of Nutrition and Health.
Ciarán has published over 100 scientific articles and book chapters and presented his research at over 180 national and international scientific meetings.
He is currently Executive Editor for the journal Appetite, a Section Editor in ‘Nutrition Behaviour and Food Intake Regulation’ for the European Journal of Nutrition, and an Editorial Board member for Nutrition Bulletin, Journal of Future Food and Journal of Texture Studies.
Ciarán has previously spent over 11 years in food research roles in the UK (GSK), Australia (CSIRO) and Switzerland (Nestlé Research).
He holds a BSc in Food Chemistry and PhD in Sensory Science from University College Cork in Ireland.
Read a webinar summary in the article “Calorie reduction to become a “critical component” of future food design“. Consumers are often unaware of the energy density of the foods they consume, making them vulnerable to excess calorie consumption. As a result, initiatives to reduce the number of calories in foods and beverages are emerging globally,…
Big data and the Quest for New Consumer Insights The theme of Pangborn 2019, a conference on sensory science and food preference held every 2 years, was ‘Engage with the future’. There was a broad acknowledgement among researchers and food industry leaders that the future is now, and for many this meant a move towards…
Sensory science could be seen as a traditional way to validate the sensory aspects of a food, or it could be seen as a way to strategically link nutrition to food choice.
