Paula Bourke

Professor Paula Bourke is a faculty member at the UCD School of Biosystems & Food Engineering within the University College Dublin College of Engineering and Architecture. She specializes in cold plasma technology with dual applications in food safety and biomedical fields.

• Co-leader of tripartite project (UCD, QUB, Jefferson University) for plasma-based bone infection therapies
• Develops plasma-activated liquids for antimicrobial applications
• Advocate of the One Health agenda connecting human, animal, and environmental health

Her research spans food safety, antimicrobial resistance, and medical implant infection control. The work explores both gaseous plasma and plasma-activated liquid approaches, with potential applications in cancer therapy and surgical infection prevention.

Scientific recognition includes:

• 2020 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher (top 1%)
• SFI US-Ireland Research Partnership Programme award (2020)
• SFI-BBSRC Programme award for EnvironSafe project