Paul  conducts interdisciplinary research in the area of risks to the food system including those related to food safety, quality, and sustainability as well as the impact of the food system on human and planetary health.

As well as leading numerous national activities, Paul has co-ordinated two of the world’s largest research projects in the area of food authenticity and traceability: the €20M TRACE project (tracing the origin of food) and, FOODINTEGRITY, a €12M EU-sponsored research project that aimed to address at a European level many of the gaps identified during the horsemeat incident. 

Paul leads QUB's input into the Sus-Health project, part of the UKRI Transforming the UK Food System programme, and sits on the executive board of the €11M TITAN Horizon Europe project on food transparency where he leads a Work Package on Improving food choices.

He is co-Director of the UKRI Integrating Finance and Biodiversity Programme where he leads the research theme on Financing Green sector Transitions. He is a WPL and sits on the Executive Board of BIOFIN, a Horizon Europe project that aims to mobilise mainstream finance for biodiversity.

Paul has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers and articles and edited 1 book. He has close links with the UK Public sector, academia, food sector and the European Commission. He currently chairs the European Commission PRIMA Foundation evaluation panel and reviews DG Research Framework strategy e.g. Food 2030.