Personal profile

Biography

Dr Mícheál Ó Breasail joined the School of Clinical Sciences as a Research Fellow in the Bone and Muscle Research Group in July 2023.

Mícheál has background in clinical nutrition having received a BSc in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from Trinity College Dublin. During this time he completed a research exchange at the University of Gothenburg as part of the Erasmus Programme which ignited his interest in bone health. In 2019, he was awarded a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Cambridge for research undertaken at MRC Human Nutrition Research Unit investigating whether pregnancy-related changes occur in the maternal skeleton.

Upon completion, he continued as a postdoc with the MRC Nutrition and Bone Health Research Group hosted by the MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge. This involved musculoskeletal research in rural and urban areas of The Gambia, West Africa. Further, collaborations involved projects exploring the impact of HIV and menopause on bone in South African and Zimbabwean women.

Subsequently, he moved to Bristol to join the department of Population Health Sciences at Bristol Medical School. Here he worked with the Ageing and Movement Research Group, incorporating musculoskeletal and nutritional assessments into a large RCT of people living with Parkinson’s. During this time he also received funding to conduct feasibility work into the use of digital technologies such as GPS to monitor mobility in older adults.

Mícheál’s primary research interests are in bone imaging, lifecourse epidemiology, nutrition, and global health.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Education/Academic qualification

Biological Sciences, PhD, The quantification of pregnancy-induced bone mineral mobilisation in the maternal appendicular skeleton with novel peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) techniques., University of Cambridge

Award Date: 26 Oct 2019

Human Nutrition and Dietetics, BSc, Trinity College Dublin

External positions

Honorary Senior Research Fellow , University of Bristol

Jun 2023 → …

Senior Research Associate, University of Bristol

Jan 2021Jun 2023

Investigator Scientist, MRC Elsie Widdowson Laboratory

Jan 2018Dec 2020

Research area keywords

  • Osteoporosis
  • Bone Imaging
  • Bone Health
  • Ageing
  • Parkinson's disease
  • HIV
  • Digital Health
  • Global Health

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or