Enterprise Academy

Dr. Dan McCartney, BSc/Dip Diet, MSc, PhD, MINDI, SRD: Enterprise Academy Fellow

The development of micro-credentials in human nutrition and dietetics for clinicians, educators, the food, pharmaceutical, sports, fitness and wellbeing sectors, and the general public

Dan is a dietitian by profession, with postgraduate training in molecular medicine and public health nutrition. He’s been Director of the Human Nutrition & Dietetics Programme at TU Dublin and Trinity College Dublin since 2015, and is also a former columnist with The Irish Examiner and a former Public Relations Officer with the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute, the professional body for dietitians in Ireland.  

His research on the dietary management of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer has highlighted the important role of nutrition in these disorders, whilst his work in the area of nutrition in pregnancy has also been widely published. More recently, his award-winning research with colleagues in the Covit-D Consortium has investigated the role of vitamin D deficiency in the Covid-19 pandemic. He has sat on statutory expert committees for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and is a longstanding member of the Irish Heart Foundation’s Nutrition Council.  

Enterprise Academy Fellowship Project 

This fellowship will aim to develop fully-featured, flexible, blended learning micro-credentials in human nutrition and dietetics. By developing these accessible educational opportunities for a broad diversity of learners, TU Dublin will harness its substantial domain expertise in the area, transferring this knowledge at scale to build networks and produce a public health and societal dividend which aligns perfectly with TU Dublin’s core mission statements.  

Despite the wealth of research demonstrating the role of nutrition in human health however, and despite growing interest in this topic amongst the public and healthcare professionals alike, there are still very limited educational and training opportunities available to those who wish to develop their knowledge in this area. In this context, the development of micro-credentials in human nutrition and dietetics will have broad appeal to clinicians, educators and those involved in the food, pharmaceutical, sports, fitness and wellbeing sectors, as well as members of general public wishing to know more about how to optimize their own diet and that of their families. 

With over 25 years of experience working in nutrition and dietetics and over 20 years as an educator in this field, Dan is passionate about unlocking the potential of diet and nutrition to enhance the health of the nation. This requires a whole of society approach where many more people including societal leaders are made aware of the role of food and nutrition in health. TU Dublin, originally as the former Vocational Education College (VEC) and then as Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) has been training dietitians since 1949, and remains the foremost education provider in this space in Ireland. During this time, the role of dietitians in the health service and their professional training have both evolved considerably, as has the science of human nutrition. With regard to the latter, the central role of diet and nutrition in human health and disease is now well established.