Adjunct Academics

Dr. Pamela A. Byrne is a leading expert in food safety and regulatory science and recently completed a decade as Chief Executive Officer of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. During her tenure, she advanced national and EU food safety strategies, strengthened organisational culture, and secured major international funding to support food safety capacity building.

She has held prominent European and global roles, including Vice Chair of the Management Board of the European Food Safety Authority and co‑founder of the International Heads of Food Agencies Forum. She is currently Vice President of the Global Food Regulatory Science Society.

Dr. Byrne previously served as Director of Regulatory Policy & Intelligence at Abbott Nutrition and worked with the Cabinet of EU Commissioner Máire Geoghegan‑Quinn on research and innovation policy. Earlier in her career, she led national food research funding initiatives at the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine.

She holds a PhD in Environmental Ecotoxicology from University College Cork, an MSc Aquatic Resource Management from King’s College London, and a BSc Zoology from UCC, as well as a Higher Diploma in Environmental Law from the University of Aberystwyth in Wales.  Her academic qualifications are complemented by Certificates in Public Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School; Public Policy Analysis from the London School of Economics; and the Advanced Leadership Programme from the Timoney Leadership Institute.

Dr. Byrne serves on several boards, including Chair of Horse Sport Ireland and the Irish Management Institute, and is an Adjunct Full Professor at University College Dublin. In 2024, she received the UCC Alumni Achievement Award in recognition of her contributions to food safety, public health and regulatory science.