As a former secondary school teacher, Ronan has a keen interest in science communication and engagement in science outreach, and is open to speaking, writing, and media enquiries. For examples of previous outreach and media activities see below! You can always follow Ronan on twitter using the handle @el_ronan to stay up to date with the latest developments in the worlds of nutrition, inflammation, and circadian biology.
Pint of Science Philadelphia City Coordinator:
- Ronan was the city coordinator for the Philadelphia Pint of Science Festival 2024. This is an international outreach event occurring May every year in over 400 cities in 25 countries.
Previous media engagement:
- Interviewed by Dr Brittany Truong for the Newsletter SPLASH, published by the International Milk Genomics Consortium at the University of California - Davis, which was published in June 2024: (https://www.milkgenomics.org/?splash=new-fda-backed-qualified-claim-yogurt-lowers-diabetes-risk)
- Interviewed by Tony Lapp for the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Department of Biomedical Informatics Newsletter. The article titled “How CU Data Scientists Are Debunking COVID-19 Misinformation” was published January 12th, 2024. (https://news.cuanschutz.edu/dbmi/how-cu-data-scientists-are-debunking-covid-19-misinformation)
- Interviewed by Ali Mcpherson, Health and Science Multimedia Reporter at WHYY produced by PBS and NPR for radio and an article “A new study shows vitamin D can lower COVID-19 risk, especially for Black people”, which was published March 28th 2021 with coverage in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York (https://whyy.org/articles/a-new-study-shows-vitamin-d-can-lower-covid-19-risk-especially-for-black-people/).
- Interviewed by Erin Philips, the National Health Reporter at Spectrum News USA for television and an article “Can Vitamin D Help Fight COVID-19?”, which was published nationally in the U.S. 22 October 2020 (https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2020/10/22/vitamin-d-supplements-coronavirus-covid-19).
Articles in the media:
· Contributor to a MDPI Encyclopaedia entry in the section ‘Pathology & Pathobiology’ entitled ‘Current Knowledge of COVID-19 Treatment and Anti-Inflammatory Approaches’ (https://encyclopedia.pub/1472).
· Contributor to a feature article on the American Oil Chemist’s Society Inform magazine for industry (February 2020) on the antithrombotic properties of lipids in beer (https://www.aocs.org/stay-informed/inform-magazine/inform-archives)
· Speaker at Pint of Science Ireland (May 2018) (https://www.limerickpost.ie/2018/05/16/pint-of-science-at-jj-bowles/)
· Contributor to the Irish national broadcaster ‘RTÉ Brainstorm Initiative’:
Can yoghurts and cheese reduce the risk of heart disease?
Why inflammation rather than cholesterol causes chronic disease
· Contributor to the DSM Yoghurt in Nutrition Initiative:
Dairy fats and cardiovascular disease: Do we really need to be concerned? (https://www.yogurtinnutrition.com/dairy-fats-cardiovascular-disease/)
· Author of the Aquafeed Magazine ‘Innovation and Aquaculture’ column (January 2019) (https://issuu.com/international_aquafeed/docs/iaf1901_w1/34)
Academic Awards and Commendations:
Recent Awards:
· Awarded the Highlighted Author Award for August 2023 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) for the paper "Modulation of the immune response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccination by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs" in The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
· Ranked 7th in the world for platelet-activating factor (PAF) research by Expertscape Daily Experts in 2021 and 2022. Ranked 13th in 2023.
Funding Awards:
· Awarded an Ocean Frontiers Institute (OFI) Canada Seed Fund Visiting Research FellowshipOcean Frontiers Institute (OFI) Canada Seed Fund Visiting Research Fellowship to develop and characterize marine polar lipid nutraceuticals for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Received $8,000 Ca, June 10th 2019.
· Recipient of PhD Scholarship awarded by the Faculty of Science & Engineering, University of Limerick. Received Fee waivers valued at €22,000 and a €8400 - €12,000 stipend per annum. Total value €44,400. August 2017.
· Recipient of PhD Scholarship awarded by the Faculty of Science & Engineering, University of Limerick. Received Fee waivers valued at €22,000 and a €8400 - €12,000 stipend per annum. Total value €44,400. August 2017.
Conference Awards:
· Aurora Scientific Outstanding Poster Award overall winner at the Advances in Skeletal Muscle Conference at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. March 18th, 2023.
· Dr Sanjeev Kumar Memorial Lecture Finalist, Perelman School of Medicine Postdoctoral Symposium 2021, University of Pennsylvania. ‘Exercise training rescues exercise tolerance and attenuates features of ageing in skeletal muscle of Bmal1 KO mice’. January 2021.
· Overall poster runner-up at the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) Workshop, Received $400, St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, Nov 14th, 2019.
· Winner of the 2018 Department of Biological Sciences University of Limerick Postgraduate Research Day Researcher of the Year: Lordan, R. (2018) ‘The effect of milk fermentation on the antithrombotic properties of polar lipids’, presented at the Department of Biological Sciences Postgraduate Research Day, Limerick, Ireland, 14th Dec.
· Dr Sanjeev Kumar Memorial Lecture Finalist, Perelman School of Medicine Postdoctoral Symposium 2021, University of Pennsylvania. ‘Exercise training rescues exercise tolerance and attenuates features of ageing in skeletal muscle of Bmal1 KO mice’. January 2021.
· Overall poster runner-up at the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) Workshop, Received $400, St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, Nov 14th, 2019.
· Winner of the 2018 Department of Biological Sciences University of Limerick Postgraduate Research Day Researcher of the Year: Lordan, R. (2018) ‘The effect of milk fermentation on the antithrombotic properties of polar lipids’, presented at the Department of Biological Sciences Postgraduate Research Day, Limerick, Ireland, 14th Dec.
Paper Awards:
· Nutrients MDPI ‘Notable Developments for Vitamin D Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, but Caution Warranted Overall: A Narrative Review’, Selected as a ‘Feature Paper’. April 2021.
· Nutrients MDPI ‘COVID-19: The Inflammation Link and the Role of Nutrition in Potential Mitigation’. Selected as an ‘Editor’s Choice’ paper. January 2021.
· Foods MDPI, ‘Dairy Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: Do We Really Need to Be Concerned?’. Selected as a ‘Feature Paper’ and ‘Editor’s Choice’ paper. November 2020.
· Foods MDPI, ‘Dairy Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: Do We Really Need to Be Concerned?’. Selected as the Volume 7 Issue 3 2018 cover photo for Foods.
· Nutrients MDPI, Inflammation, not Cholesterol, Is a Cause of Chronic Disease’. Selected as an ‘Editor’s Choice’ paper. September 2020.
· Foods MDPI, ‘Total, Neutral, and Polar Lipids of Brewing Ingredients, By-Products and Beer: Evaluation of Antithrombotic Activities’. Selected as an ‘Editor’s Choice’ paper. February 2020.
· Marine Drugs MDPI ‘Highly Cited Paper Award’ for 'Structural elucidation of Irish organic farmed salmon (Salmo salar) polar lipids with antithrombotic activities'. Received 1 free publication in Marine Drugs. January 27th 2020.
· Foods MDPI, ‘Best Paper Award’, for ‘Dairy Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: Do We Really Need to Be Concerned?’. Received 800 CHF and 1 free publication in Foods. January 16th 2020. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/foods/awards
· Nutrients MDPI, ‘Best Paper Award’, for ‘Inflammation, not Cholesterol, Is a Cause of Chronic Disease’. Received 700 CHF and 1 free publication in Nutrients. July 23rd 2019.
· Molecules MDPI, ‘Highly Cited Paper Award’ for ‘Phospholipids of Animal and Marine Origin: Structure, Function, and Anti-Inflammatory Properties’. Received 1 free publication in Molecules. July 12th 2019.
Outreach activities:
Philadelphia Beer Week 2024 - Science of Beer Coordinator
The coordinator and a speaker for the Philadelphia Beer Week 2024, Science of Beer event at the Two Locals Brewing Company.
The Science of Beer Poster
Dr Chris Large presenting on the genetics of yeasts!
The Science of Beer Poster
Dr Chris Large presenting on the genetics of yeasts!
I'm a Scientist USA
A volunteer Scientist for the I'm a Scientist USA outreach program. Took part in the Healthy World Zone (2022):
· Visiting scientist to AP Biology students at Friend's Select School to discuss science as a career, March (2022).
· Volunteer with Sparks Philadelphia: Working as a mentor to middle school students in West Philadelphia, PA, USA. (2021).
· Volunteer with Access Campus at the University of Limerick, who provide free tuition to students from poor socioeconomic backgrounds (2012-2018)
· Exhibitor and representative for the University of Limerick at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, Dublin (2016-2019)
· Volunteer with Cell Explorers science in primary school promotion initiative, University of Limerick (2017-2019).
Twitter:
@el_ronan
Twitter
https://twitter.com/el_ronan
https://twitter.com/el_ronan