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Expertise

Our Experts

Dr Orla O'Sullivan
Senior Research Officer,
Teagasc Food Research Centre

Dr Orla O’Sullivan

Orla is a senior research officer with Teagasc. She is a Principal Investigator with VistaMilk and a Funded Investigator with APC Microbiome Ireland. She was listed as a Highly cited researcher in 2018 and was awarded Science foundation Ireland early career researcher of 2019. Orla’s research focuses on profiling the microbiome from a variety of environments including, human gut and lung, rumen, cheese and soil. Of particular interest is the role of physical fitness and diet in shaping the gut microbiome both in elite athletes and the general population.
Prof. Sharon Madigan
Head of Performance Nutrition,
Sport Ireland Institute

Prof Sharon Madigan

Professor Sharon Madigan (RD SENR) is Head of Performance Nutrition at Sport Ireland Institute and Adjunct Professor at the University of Limerick. She completed her PhD (2005) in the area of Nutrition Education at Ulster University. She has significant clinical experience as a dietitian within the NHS and took up her current role in 2010. She has worked across team sports, individual sports, and weight-category sports and has supported several Olympic medalists and World champions. She has delivered nutrition support to athletes over six Olympic cycles and other major championships such as European, World, and EU championships. A strong focus of her position within the Institute of Sport is also the engagement in applied high-performance research. Sharon’s main research interest focuses on the interaction between diet and health and diet and sports performance. She is currently involved in the supervision of several research projects.

As well as working with individual athletes has been involved with the science and medical committee of the OFI in the planning and logistics at two camp bases. She was the assistant camp manager for the Tokyo 2021 OG and is the Lead Scientist for the Paris cycle. She was awarded an Hon Fellowship of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine, RSCI in Sept 2016 and in April 2021 was appointed to the Adjunct Professor role at the University of Limerick.

Our Publications

The Athlete Gut Microbiome and its Relevance to Health and Performance: A Review
Sports Med . 2022 Dec;52(Suppl 1):119-128. doi: 10.1007/s40279-022-01785-x.

Investigating the Role of Diet and Exercise in Gut Microbe-Host Cometabolism
mSystems . 2020 Dec 1;5(6):e00677-20.

Exercise and associated dietary extremes impact on gut microbial diversity. Gut. 2014. 63:1913-20.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25021423/ 

Targeting the microbiota to address diet-induced obesity: a time dependent challenge. PLoS One. 2013. 8:e65790 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23762426/

Exercise and the microbiota. Gut Microbes. 2015. 6:131-6.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25800089/

Gut microbiota: implications for sports and exercise medicine. Br J Sports Med. 2017. pii: bjsports-2016-097225. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28077354/

‘Microbes in sport’ -The potential role of the gut microbiota in athlete health and performance.
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/9/698 Br J Sports Med. 2017. 51:698.

The microbiome of professional athletes differs from that of more sedentary subjects in composition and particularly at the functional metabolic level. Gut. 2017 Mar 30. pii: gutjnl-2016-313627
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28360096/

A Prospective Metagenomic and Metabolomic Analysis of the Impact of Exercise and/or Whey Protein Supplementation on the Gut Microbiome of Sedentary Adults. mSystems. 2018 Apr 24;3(3). pii: e00044-18.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29719871/

Moderate-intensity aerobic and resistance exercise is safe and favorably influences body composition in patients with quiescent Inflammatory Bowel Disease: a randomized controlled cross-over trial. BMC Gastroenterol. DOI: 10.1186/s12876-019-0952-x
https://bmcgastroenterol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12876-019-0952-x

The Potential Impact of Probiotics on the Gut Microbiome of Athletes. Nutrients. DOI: 10.3390/nu11102270
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31546638/

Distinct microbiome composition and metabolome exists across subgroups of elite Irish athletes. J Sci Med Sport. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2019.08.290.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31558359/

Instances of altered gut microbiomes among Irish cricketers over periods of travel in the lead up to the 2016 World Cup: A sequencing analysis. Travel Med Infect Dis. DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2020.101553
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31935465/

References

  1. Jäger, R., Purpura, M., Farmer, S., Cash, H. A., & Keller, D. (2017). Probiotic Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086 Improves Protein Absorption and Utilization. Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins, 10(4), 611–615. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12602-017-9354-y
  2. Yang, Y., Shi, Y., Wiklund, P., Tan, X., Wu, N., Zhang, X., Tikkanen, O., Zhang, C., Munukka, E., & Cheng, S. (2017). The Association between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Gut Microbiota Composition in Premenopausal Women. Nutrients, 9(8), 792. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9080792
  3. Salarkia, N., Ghadamli, L., Zaeri, F., & Sabaghian Rad, L. (2013). Effects of probiotic yogurt on performance, respiratory and digestive systems of young adult female endurance swimmers: a randomized controlled trial. Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 27(3), 141–146.
  4. Chen, Y. M., Wei, L., Chiu, Y. S., Hsu, Y. J., Tsai, T. Y., Wang, M. F., & Huang, C. C. (2016). Lactobacillus plantarum TWK10 Supplementation Improves Exercise Performance and Increases Muscle Mass in Mice. Nutrients, 8(4), 205. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8040205
  5. Huang, W. C., Hsu Y. J., Huashuai, Ken N. W., Chen Y. M., Lin J. S., Hsu T. K., Tsai T. Y., Chiu Y. S., Huang C. C. (2018). Effect of Lactobacillus Plantarum TWK10 on Improving Endurance Performance in Humans. The Chinese Journal of Physiology
  6. Huang, W. C., Chen, Y. H., Chuang, H. L., Chiu, C. C., & Huang, C. C. (2019). Investigation of the effects of microbiota on exercise physiological adaption, performance, and energy utilization using a gnotobiotic animal model. Frontiers in microbiology, 10, 1906.
  7. Shing, C.M., Peake, J.M., Lim, C.L. et al. Effects of probiotics supplementation on gastrointestinal permeability, inflammation and exercise performance in the heat. Eur J Appl Physiol 114, 93–103 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-013-2748-y#
  8. Soares ADN, Wanner SP, Morais ESS, Hudson ASR, Martins FS, Cardoso VN. Supplementation with Saccharomyces boulardii Increases the Maximal Oxygen Consumption and Maximal Aerobic Speed Attained by Rats Subjected to an Incremental-Speed Exercise. Nutrients. 2019; 11(10):2352. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11102352
  9. Scheiman, J., Luber, J. M., Chavkin, T. A., MacDonald, T., Tung, A., Pham, L. D., Wibowo, M. C., Wurth, R. C., Punthambaker, S., Tierney, B. T., Yang, Z., Hattab, M. W., Avila-Pacheco, J., Clish, C. B., Lessard, S., Church, G. M., & Kostic, A. D. (2019). Meta-omics analysis of elite athletes identifies a performance-enhancing microbe that functions via lactate metabolism. Nature medicine, 25(7), 1104–1109. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-019-0485-4
  10. Barton, W., Penney, N. C., Cronin, O., Garcia-Perez, I., Molloy, M. G., Holmes, E., Shanahan, F., Cotter, P. D., & O’Sullivan, O. (2018). The microbiome of professional athletes differs from that of more sedentary subjects in composition and particularly at the functional metabolic level. Gut, 67(4), 625–633. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2016-313627
  11. Estaki, M., Pither, J., Baumeister, P., Little, J. P., Gill, S. K., Ghosh, S., Ahmadi-Vand, Z., Marsden, K. R., & Gibson, D. L. (2016). Cardiorespiratory fitness as a predictor of intestinal microbial diversity and distinct metagenomic functions. Microbiome, 4(1), 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-016-0189-7
  12. Petersen, L. M., Bautista, E. J., Nguyen, H., Hanson, B. M., Chen, L., Lek, S. H., Sodergren, E., & Weinstock, G. M. (2017). Community characteristics of the gut microbiomes of competitive cyclists. Microbiome, 5(1), 98. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-017-0320-4
  13. Strasser, B., Geiger, D., Schauer, M., Gostner, J. M., Gatterer, H., Burtscher, M., & Fuchs, D. (2016). Probiotic Supplements Beneficially Affect Tryptophan-Kynurenine Metabolism and Reduce the Incidence of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Trained Athletes: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Nutrients, 8(11), 752. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8110752
  14. Clarke, S. F., Murphy, E. F., O’Sullivan, O., Lucey, A. J., Humphreys, M., Hogan, A., Hayes, P., O’Reilly, M., Jeffery, I. B., Wood-Martin, R., Kerins, D. M., Quigley, E., Ross, R. P., O’Toole, P. W., Molloy, M. G., Falvey, E., Shanahan, F., & Cotter, P. D. (2014). Exercise and associated dietary extremes impact on gut microbial diversity. Gut, 63(12), 1913–1920. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2013-306541
  15. Jang, L. G., Choi, G., Kim, S. W., Kim, B. Y., Lee, S., & Park, H. (2019). The combination of sport and sport-specific diet is associated with characteristics of gut microbiota: an observational study. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 16(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-019-0290-y
  16. O’Donovan, C. M., Madigan, S. M., Garcia-Perez, I., Rankin, A., O’ Sullivan, O., & Cotter, P. D. (2020). Distinct microbiome composition and metabolome exists across subgroups of elite Irish athletes. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 23(1), 63–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2019.08.290
  17. Bycura D, Santos AC, Shiffer A, Kyman S, Winfree K, Sutliffe J, Pearson T, Sonderegger D, Cope E, Caporaso JG. Impact of Different Exercise Modalities on the Human Gut Microbiome. Sports (Basel). 2021 Jan 21;9(2):14. doi: 10.3390/sports9020014. PMID: 33494210; PMCID: PMC7909775.
  18. Fontana, F., Longhi, G., Tarracchini, C. et al. The human gut microbiome of athletes: metagenomic and metabolic insights. Microbiome 11, 27 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-023-01470-9

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The SportGenix™ program is not intended for diagnostic purposes and should not be used as a standalone tool for determining a specific medical condition. The program should be used in conjunction with other relevant athlete assessments, individual history, and professional judgment. The results should be interpreted by a qualified performance nutritionist or dietitian, who will consider them alongside other critical factors to guide nutrition advice and ensure care of the individual.