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Biography
Martha Stipanuk was the James Jamison Professor in Nutrition in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, where she was a faculty member since 1977 until her retirement in 2018. She received her B.S. from the University of Kentucky, her M.S. from Cornell University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in nutritional biochemistry.
Dr. Stipanuk's professional career focused on the study of amino acid metabolism, particularly the metabolism of the sulfur-containing amino acid cysteine. Her work has contributed to an understanding of the intermediary pathways of cysteine metabolism in mammalian cells and of the role of various tissues in cysteine metabolism, including glutathione synthesis and taurine production, within the whole body. The Stipanuk laboratory played a major role in elucidating the physiological function, regulation, structure, and protein coenzyme formation of cysteine dioxygenase, an iron-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the first step in the cysteinesulfinate-dependent pathway of cysteine catabolism. Cysteine dioxygenase plays a crucial role in regulating cysteine levels, in promoting taurine biosynthesis, and in restricting the metabolism of cysteine through the intermediate hydrogen sulfide, preventing sulfide toxicity and facilitating hydrogen sulfide signaling. The regulation of cysteine dioxygenase abundance and activity state occurs specifically in response to cysteine levels. The Stipanuk laboratory was also interested in elucidating the mechanism(s) by which the concentrations of other amino acids are sensed by cells and how cells respond to changes in amino acid availability.
Dr. Stipanuk had a long-standing interest in teaching and course development in the area of nutrient metabolism. She developed a multi-authored advanced textbook entitled “Biochemical, Physiological and Molecular Aspects of Human Nutrition” published by Saunders/Elsevier with the 3rd edition released in 2012 and the 4th edition in progress. At Cornell, she taught graduate courses on “Regulation of Macronutrient Metabolism” and “Nutritional Regulation of Mammalian Protein Synthesis and Degradation.”
In 2015, she was elected a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition in recognition of her distinguished career in nutrition science research.
In 2018 she retired and was granted Emerita status.