Dr Siobhán Jordan commenced her role as the new head of technology transfer and commercialisation in Teagasc on Tuesday 22 February.

She will have responsibility for leading and developing commercialisation relationships with industry, university partners and other stakeholders.

Jordan, in her new role, will play an important part in the development and leadership of Teagasc’s innovation strategy.

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Congratulating Jordan on her appointment, Teagasc director Professor Frank O’Mara said: “Siobhán brings a wealth of experience to this important role in Teagasc and will lead the transfer of research outputs including intellectual property, capabilities and related information between Teagasc, the business community and other stakeholders."

Background

Jordan holds degrees in biotechnology and process engineering from Dublin City University and a PhD in human genetics from Trinity College, Dublin.

Prior to joining Teagasc, she was the founding director of Interface programme in Scotland, implementing the vision of a central point of access for matching business challenges to world-leading research across all Scottish universities, research institutes and colleges.

The contribution to the Scottish economy by Interface from research and development projects between businesses and academics was estimated in 2021 at £88.9m GVA, supporting 1,595 jobs.

Wealth of experience

A native of Co Westmeath, previous posts include senior researcher at the Medical Research Council, Human Genetics Unit and applications manager for the Proof of Concept Programme, Scottish Enterprise.

Jordan has a wealth of experience in the worlds of business and academia and has been a member of many policy organisations, including Scotland Can Do Business Innovation Forum, industry leadership groups and the board of Colleges Development Network.

Jordan said: “I am delighted to be joining Teagasc to head up the technology transfer and commercialisation team to lead commercial engagement with industry and other client organisations."

With sustainability being a key priority for Jordan, she said she will leverage her track record in industry engagement and networks to explore and develop significant opportunities to enable new partnerships and collaborations.

She added that harnessing the excellence in research to add value to Ireland’s agri-food sector will further enhance Teagasc’s reputation nationally and globally.