Gerard Downey's Biography

Gerard Downey, Professor, Teagasc Food Research Centre

Gerard Downey is a member of the Food Chemistry and Technology Department located at the Ashtown Food Research Centre of Teagasc, Ireland’s Agriculture and Food Development Agency. He also holds the post of Adjunct Full Professor in the School of Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Science at University College Dublin, is a Fellow of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the holder of the Tomas Hirschfeld Award for Outstanding Achievements in Near Infrared Spectroscopy (awarded 2006). Downey is a founding co-member of the Irish Chemometrics Group. His main research interests lie in the application of fingerprint spectroscopic techniques (near infrared, mid-infrared and Raman) and multivariate data analysis to the rapid and non-destructive measurement of quality and authenticity of food and food ingredients. Downey has authored or co-authored ~120 peer-reviewed publications. Currently a member of the Board of Cereals & Europe, Downey is President-Elect of the American Association of Cereal Chemistry International (AACCI) and has been invited to serve on the 2010-2015 Skim Milk Powder Advisory Group of the United States Pharmacopiea . He has participated widely in large, multi-national EU research projects at both research and overall project management levels and has coordinated or participated in many nationally-funded R&D projects. Between 2001 and 2005, Downey was the elected Chairman of the International Council for Near Infrared Spectroscopy (ICNIRS).