UCC appoints Dr Sally Cudmore as director of innovation

Cudmore was previously interim director of UCC Innovation, which helps bring university research out of the lab and into industry.

Entrepreneur and scientist Dr Sally Cudmore has been named director of innovation at University College Cork (UCC).

UCC Innovation is responsible for creating economic and societal impact from the university’s research through the commercialisation of ideas and knowledge exchange.

Cudmore brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in academia and industry to the director role.

She is a science graduate of UCC and a co-founder of spin-out company Atlantia Clinical Trials, which provides clinical trial expertise to the food, beverage and supplements sectors. She served as the company’s part-time CEO for its initial years.

After spending several years abroad, Cudmore returned to her Cork alma mater in 2002 to take up the role of general manager of APC Microbiome Ireland, the Science Foundation Ireland research centre based at UCC that explores how to harness and manipulate microbes for the benefit of human and planetary health.

During Cudmore’s management, APC secured €200m in competitive research funding and collaborated with more than 70 companies from the food, pharma and biotech sectors. It also trained more than 600 research graduates, spun out four companies and published more than 3,000 research articles.

Cudmore has held the position of interim director for UCC Innovation since 2021 and is the first woman to be appointed director. She will oversee the UCC research community’s efforts to deliver breakthroughs, expertise and technologies to enhance society and the economy.

“My goal is to grow UCC’s impact even further through an ambitious programme to enhance entrepreneurship amongst students, graduates and staff, resulting in an increased number of new companies created,” said Cudmore.

“We also aim to develop strategic partnerships with industry, through developing a new business engagement unit that will interface with industry and provide access to the breadth of research, innovation and expertise in UCC.”

Prof John Cryan, VP for research and innovation at UCC, congratulated Cudmore on her appointment and said he hopes she “will be a role model to inspire even greater female entrepreneurship participation”.

10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.