News
Ciarán Forde appointed as new Professor of Sensory Science and Eating Behavior group
The Executive Board of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) has appointed Ciarán Forde as the new Professor and Chair-holder of the Sensory Science and Eating Behavior group at Wageningen University & Research, one of the five Chair groups in the Division of Human Nutrition and Health. Dr Forde is currently a Senior Principal Investigator at the Clinical Nutrition Research Centre at the National University of Singapore, as part of the A*Star Singapore Institute for Food and Biotechnology Innovation. He has pioneered research on child and adult eating behaviours and food intake, and developed a highly productive research group that has progressed the field of Sensory-Nutritional Science.
Forde has a BSc in Food Chemistry from the University of Cork and first collaborated with Wageningen during his PhD in the Department of Nutrition in Cork when studying how cross-modal sensory interactions influence food acceptance among older consumers. From 2004 until 2010 he led a Research Team in Sensory, Consumer and Flavour Science at CSIRO in Sydney Australia. In 2010, he moved to the Nestle Research Centre in Switzerland as Senior Research Scientist to lead research on sensory perception and food intake behaviour, before starting his own research group in Singapore in late 2014.
Current Chair holder Kees de Graaf will be retiring and feels the group is in good hands: “I am thrilled that Ciarán comes to Wageningen from August onwards as my successor. I know him as an inspiring, stimulating colleague who has brought the field of sensory nutritional science to an outstanding level.”
Dr Forde is excited about his new challenge and hopes to grow Sensory-Nutrition further in the areas of food innovation, nutrition and health: “Sensory Science is an important bridge between Food science and Nutrition, one that links consumer choice to health and well-being through eating behaviours. The Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour group at WUR are recognised as the leaders in this field, and I look forward to further contributing to the growth of Sensory-Nutrition in the future”.