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Biography
I am an Assistant Professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. I received a B.S. in chemistry from Butler University in 2000 and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology from Cornell University in 2007.
Research interests
The Field research group uses several in vitro and in vivo model systems to study the mechanisms that underlie physiological outcomes associated with perturbed one-carbon metabolism. Impaired folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism is associated with adverse physiological outcomes that include certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, neurological impairments, and birth defects. More specifically, the Field laboratory is interested in the contributions of folate and vitamin B12 nutrition to supporting mitochondrial DNA precursor synthesis with a focus on understanding how folate and B12 affect mitochondrial DNA integrity and support mitochondrial function, especially as related to development of chronic diseases and age-related decline in mitochondrial function.
The Field research group also works on understanding the metabolism of erythritol, which is a newly discovered product of human glucose metabolism through the pentose phosphate pathway. This is important because elevated plasma erythritol has recently emerged as a predictive biomarker of weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. We have identified key pentose phosphate pathway enzymes that regulate endogenous production of erythritol from glucose. The lab is currently using model systems to understand how obesogenic dietary exposures and common genetic variants interact to affect endogenous erythritol synthesis and whether metabolism of glucose to erythritol is causally related to cardiometabolic disease development.