Dr Catherine Hughes is currently a lecturer in Public Health Nutrition within the Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health at Ulster University. She was awarded her PhD in Human Nutrition from Ulster University in 2010 having previously graduated from Liverpool John Moores Unviersity with a degree in Biomedical Science and PGCE in Secondary Teaching (Science). 

Dr Hughes’s research is focused on B-vitamins involved in one-carbon metabolism, cognition, mental health and other age-related diseases. She has extensive experience of research study design and conducting highly controlled nutrition studies in different population and clinical groups. Dr Hughes is involved in the coordination of the Trinity Ulster and Department of Agriculture (TUDA) Ageing Cohort Study which is designed to investigate nutritional factors in ageing and is one of the largest and most comprehensively characterised cohorts for ageing research internationally. She is also interested in the interaction between B-vitamins and a common polymorphism in the folate metabolising enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and currently coordinates the RIBOGENE project, a large industry funded project investigating a novel gene-nutrient interaction between B-vitamins and blood pressure. Dr Hughes has also supervised a number of PhDs in the to successful completion.  She has published in the area on B-vitamins in health and disease and has attracted considerable external grant income. 

Teaching Interests

Human nutrition across the Lifecycle; Biochemistry; Research Design and Biostatistics; Food Regulatory Affairs; Consumer Behaviour; Health Inequalities.  

Administrative Roles

Assistant Research Group Leader Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health