sergey_krupenko@unc.edu
704-250-5053
Sergey A. Krupenko, PhD
Professor of Nutrition
Sergey A. Krupenko, PhD, joined the UNC Nutrition Research Institute in 2014. Dr. Krupenko’s research focuses on vitamin folate and its role in liver function and cancer disease. His goal is to understand how we can fight cancer by controlling the diet and nutrient supplements. “There are molecular strings in the human organism, which can be pulled by the right combinations of nutrients to activate resistance to tumor formation or to slow down cancer development. We have to identify these links and make them work,” he said. Dr. Krupenko has received his Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry from Byelorussian State University and a PhD in Biochemistry at the Byelorussian Academy of Sciences. Before joining the NRI, he was a faculty member in the Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina. He has a joint appointment as a Professor of Nutrition at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill.
Sergey A. Krupenko, PhD, joined the UNC Nutrition Research Institute in 2014. Dr. Krupenko’s research focuses on vitamin folate and its role in liver function and cancer disease. His goal is to understand how we can fight cancer by controlling the diet and nutrient supplements.
Show MoreKrupenko’s Team
In the News
Every Discovery Begins with a Participant
Every discovery begins with a question. But at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute, many discoveries also begin with a participant willing to say yes.
In this personal essay, Brooke Giles reflects on what it is like to experience NRI research from the participant side — and why taking part in a study can help advance science, support better health and contribute to discoveries that may benefit families, communities and future generations. Continue Reading Every Discovery Begins with a Participant
The Invisible Middle of Research
At the UNC Nutrition Research Institute, discovery does not happen in a single moment. Between the first research question and the final publication is the careful, often unseen work of planning, recruiting participants, gathering data, building teams, and refining ideas. This invisible middle is where science takes shape. Continue Reading The Invisible Middle of Research
The Making of a Scientist: Halle Meyers’s NRI Experience
Halle Meyer’s journey at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute began in 2020, when she joined the institute as a 21-year-old research technician in the lab of Sergey Krupenko, MD, PhD. Nearly six years later, she successfully defended her dissertation, earned her PhD in Nutrition from UNC-Chapel Hill, and leaves the NRI with not only scientific expertise, but a deep appreciation for the community and mentorship that shaped her along the way. Continue Reading The Making of a Scientist: Halle Meyers’s NRI Experience
Don’t Miss Your Seat at NGx
NGx brings together forward-thinking minds at the intersection of nutrition, genetics, and health to explore where science is going next—and how it’s already shaping the way we understand and apply precision nutrition. This is more than a conference; it is a chance to engage directly with the research, the people behind it, and the ideas that are redefining the field. Continue Reading Don’t Miss Your Seat at NGx
Publications
2025
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
The Role of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the Function of Candidate Tumor Suppressor ALDH1L1.
Cytosolic 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase regulates glycine metabolism in mouse liver.
Deleterious mutations in ALDH1L2 suggest a novel cause for neuro-ichthyotic syndrome.
Loss of ALDH1L1 folate enzyme confers a selective metabolic advantage for tumor progression.