DCU Voices

DCU VOICES 46 Coming full circle Dr Sarah Kelly has drawn on her extensive experience in sports science and health research to launch the cutting edge ‘Circle of Light’ range of nutritional products , writes Ciara Hughes. Dr. Sarah Kelly (BSc, MSc, PhD) was a DCU fixture for almost two decades before branching out as entrepreneur in recent years. Starting as an undergraduate in the Sport Science and Health programme in 2001, Sarah’s DCU journey spanned all aspects of campus culture from her sporting career (she captained Superleague Basketball team DCU Mercy to numerous national titles) to her postgraduate and academic research (MSc and PhD in Clinical Exercise Physiology). This research saw her appointed as Assistant Professor and Chair of the undergraduate Sport Science and Health degree in the School of Health and Human Performance in 2017. In her academic career, she specialised in exercise and cardiovascular health across the lifespan, from childhood to old age, and worked closely with some of Ireland’s elite sports teams and athletes. As part of her mission to bring a love of sport and healthy living to young people she served as sports correspondent for RTE’s TwoTube , and helped establish the ongoing Irish Life Health School Fitness Challenge. Her underlying focus is on preventive health strategies, and in that vein she worked alongside Professor Niall Moyna in the Centre for Preventive Medicine on campus, as well as collaborating with the ExWell Medical team on ‘HeartSmart’ – a community exercise rehab programme designed for people who have experienced cardiac events. It was her formative years in DCU’s academic and sporting culture that inspired her to make the leap into her start-up venture, Circle of Light - a health drinks company launched in 2020. She drew on years of research to address what she believed to be a gap between nutrition, education and preventable lifestyle-mediated illness. She worked with nutrition experts to mine research on wholefoods that could offer genuine natural benefits without ‘fad’ based rhetoric. The result is a range of Inulin- based (prebiotic fibre) granulated drinks - the first to use a bespoke extraction/granulation process to preserve the natural efficacy of its ingredients without artificial preservatives or additives. The range includes three blends of Green Coffee which support heart, gut and skin health; two blends of FIBRE89, which focuses on gut health and digestion; and Triple Z - a natural herbal-based night drink that includes a multivitamin complex to help ease the nervous system and nightly wind-down. ‘Circle of Light’ products are now stocked by local and national retailers, including SuperValu and Dunnes Stores, pharmacies and independent health food stores. The range is now available in over 400 stockists nationwide and expanding. Read more www.circleoflight.ie She worked with nutrition experts to mine research on wholefoods that could offer genuine natural benefits without ‘fad’ based rhetoric. Dr Sarah Kelly (BSc, MSc, PhD) of Circle of Light