Natalia Krupenko, PhD
Associate Professor of Nutrition


Natalia Krupenko, PhD, Associate Professor of Nutrition, joined the UNC Nutrition Research Institute in April 2014. Dr. Krupenko’s research is focused on the role of folate (vitamin B9) in promoting health and preventing disease in humans. Folate deficiency has been connected with increased risk for neural tube defects, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Recently, however, concerns have been raised regarding the adverse effects of over-supplementation with the vitamin. Dr. Krupenko’s goal is to determine the best ways to utilize health-protective properties of folate and prevent the possibility of its adverse effects in humans. Dr. Krupenko’s work is covered in 35 peer-reviewed publications in high impact journals and numerous presentations at national and international conferences and meetings. Dr. Krupenko earned her doctorate degree in bioorganic chemistry from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Byelorussian Academy of Sciences, in Minsk, Belarus.  She was a recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in Population Sciences and served on the faculty of the Medical University of South Carolina. Currently, in addition to her role at the NRI, Dr. Krupenko holds her appointment as an Associate Professor with the Department of Nutrition at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill.

Krupenko’s Team

In the News

The Vitamin that Helps–and Hurts–Cancer

The Vitamin that Helps–and Hurts–Cancer

The Vitamin That Helps–and Hurts–CancerMadeline Childress joined the NRI in 2019 and began her docotral studies in the fall of 2020. She completed her undergraduate program at the...

Publications