Natalia Krupenko, PhD, has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) Director Steven Zeisel, MD, PhD, announced the promotion with great pleasure, acknowledging the significance of this accomplishment. “This is an important milestone in a scientific career, and Dr. Krupenko deserves the honor,” he said emphasizing the impact of Krupenko’s research. “She has discovered that a gene involved in the production of a small lipid molecule (made from sphingomyelin, a common component of our diets) is an important messenger in a pathway that tells cells to commit suicide.” Such pathways driving cell suicide are critically important in our understanding of how cells fight cancer, in our understanding of how aging occurs, and in our understanding of how we remodel our tissues.
Krupenko joined the faculty and became a principal investigator at the NRI in 2014. “Her excellent research and teaching, and her citizenship at the NRI and the Nutrtion department have made us all proud of her,” said Zeisel.
The entire team at the NRI offers warm congratulations to Dr. Natalia Krupenko.
Read more about Natalia Krupenko’s career path to the NRI, and about her research and publications.
