Oonagh graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Sport and Exercise Sciences from the University of Limerick, Ireland, in 2007. She was awarded her PhD in Nutrition and Physiology from the same university in 2012. Shortly after completion of her PhD, Oonagh was appointed as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Reading’s Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition (2012-2016). She has been a UKVRN Registered Nutritionist (Nutrition Science) with the Association for Nutrition since 2014.
Oonagh joined the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences as a Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellow in October 2016 and was appointed to her current position as Senior Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences in February 2021. She is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Reading. Her research focuses primarily on dietary strategies for promotion of cardiometabolic health across the lifecourse, with emphasis on vascular function, lipid metabolism, and inflammation.
Oonagh was appointed to the role of The Nutrition Society’s Nutrition in the Treatment, Management and Prevention of Disease Theme Lead in May 2022. She currently sits on the Editorial Board for the American Society for Nutrition’s Journal of Nutrition.
Oonagh is building a research portfolio primarily focused on dietary strategies to support cardiometabolic health across the lifecourse. She investigates how whole foods and dietary components influence cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk markers, including blood lipids, lipoproteins, vascular function, and inflammation. Through randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews, her research contributes to scientific evidence that informs cardiovascular disease prevention policy and supports food industry innovation to promote healthy ageing.
Selected External Funding
- Principal Investigator: Arla Foods Ingredients (2024-2026).
- Principal Investigator: Scottish Alliance for Food pump-priming award via Scottish Funding Council grant H23050 (April-Oct 2024).
- Principal Investigator: Society for the Study of Human Biology Research Grant (2020-2021).
- Named Researcher: Medical Research Council UK-Peru: Relationship between Food, Nutrition & Health (2019-2022). MR/S024921/1. PI: Dr Emily Rousham.
- Co-Investigator: Medical Research Council ‘Confidence in Global Nutrition and Health Research’ Pump Priming Award (2018-2018). MR/R0196557/1. PI: Prof Paula Griffiths.
- Principal Investigator: Society for Endocrinology Early Career Grant (2018-2019).
- Principal Investigator: British Nutrition Foundation Drummond Pump-Priming Award (2018-2019).
Professional Activities
- Feb 2024 – Present: Member of the World Health Organization’s Guideline Development Group on consumption of tropical oils
- June 2023 – June 2024: Associate Member of the Food Standard Agency’s Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs (1-year appointment)
- May 2022 – Present: Theme Lead for The Nutrition Society’s 'Nutrition in the Treatment, Management and Prevention of Disease' Theme (Deputy Theme Lead: May 2021 – May 2022)
- Sept 2021 – Present: Editorial Board Member for the American Society for Nutrition’s Journal of Nutrition
- 2020 – Present: Early Career UKRI International Development Peer Review College Member
- 2019 – Present: Food Standards Agency Register of Specialists Member
- 2018 – 2021: Endocrine Ambassador for The Society for Endocrinology
- 2017 – Present: Grant reviewer: British Heart Foundation; Medical Research Council; Newton Fund Institutional Links (Biological and Medical Sciences panel)
- 2017 – 2021: Portfolio Registration Assessor: Association for Nutrition
Professional Memberships
- 2014 – Present NCD Risk Factor Collaboration
- 2014 – Present European Nutrition Leadership Platform Alumni Member
- 2014 – Present American Society for Nutrition
- 2014 – Present Association for Nutrition: Registered Nutritionist (Nutrition Science)
- 2007 – Present The Nutrition Society
Ad hoc Journal Reviewer (selected)
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- Clinical Epidemiology
- European Journal of Nutrition
- Hypertension
- Journal of the American Heart Association
- Journal of Nutrition
- Nutrition Reviews
- Scientific Reports
Featured publications
Recent journal articles (selected)
- Pradeilles, R, Norris, T, Sellem, L, Markey, O (2023) Effect of Isoenergetic Substitution of Cheese with Other Dairy Products on Blood Lipid Markers in the Fasted and Postprandial State: An Updated and Extended Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials in Adults, Advances in Nutrition, ISSN: 2161-8313. DOI: 10.1016/j.advnut.2023.09.003
- Rousham, EK, Goudet, S, Markey, O, Griffiths, P, Boxer, B, Carroll, C, Petherick, ES, Pradeilles, R (2022) Unhealthy Food and Beverage Consumption in Children and Risk of Overweight and Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Advances in Nutrition, ISSN: 2161-8313. DOI: 10.1093/advances/nmac032.
- Markey, O, Vasilopoulou, D, Kliem, K, Fagan, C, Grandison, A, Sutton, R, Humphries, D, Todd, S, Jackson, K, Givens, DI, Lovegrove, J (2022) Effect of fat-reformulated dairy food consumption on postprandial flow-mediated dilatation and cardiometabolic risk biomarkers compared with conventional dairy: a randomized controlled trial, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 115(3), pp.679-693, ISSN: 0002-9165. DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab428.
- Markey, O, Vasilopoulou, D, Kliem, K, Fagan, C, Grandison, A, Sutton, R, Humphries, D, Todd, S, Jackson, K, Givens, DI, Lovegrove, J (2021) Postprandial fatty acid profile, but not cardiometabolic risk markers, is modulated by dairy fat manipulation in adults with moderate cardiovascular disease risk: the randomized controlled REplacement of SaturatEd fat in dairy on Total cholesterol (RESET) study, Journal of Nutrition, 151(7), pp.1755-1768, ISSN: 0022-3166. DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxab050.
- Dewhurst-Trigg, R, Wadley, AJ, Woods, R, Sherar, L, Bishop, N, Hulston, C, Markey, O (2020) Short-term high-fat overfeeding does not induce NF-κB inflammatory signaling in subcutaneous white adipose tissue, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 105(7), pp.2162-2176, ISSN: 0021-972X. DOI: 10.1210/clinem/dgaa158.
- Dewhurst-Trigg, R, Hulston, C, Markey, O (2020) The effect of quantity and quality of dietary fat intake on subcutaneous white adipose tissue inflammatory responses, Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 79(4), pp.542-556, ISSN: 0029-6651. DOI: 10.1017/S0029665120000038.
- Vasilopoulou, D, Markey, O, Kliem, K, Fagan, C, Grandison, A, Humphries, D, Todd, S, Jackson, K, Givens, D, Lovegrove, J (2019) Reformulation initiative for partial replacement of saturated with unsaturated fats in dairy foods attenuates the increase in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and improves flow-mediated dilatation compared with conventional dairy: the randomized, controlled RESET study, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, ISSN: 0002-9165. DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz344
Book chapter
- Markey, O and Kliem, K (2020) Does modifying dairy fat composition by changing the diet of the dairy cow provide health benefits?. In Givens, DI (ed) Milk and Dairy Foods: Their Functionality in Human Health and Disease, Elsevier, pp.51-86.