Joseph McFadden

Research Focus

Our goal is to enhance the health and productive efficiency of dairy cattle. We explore the interactions between nutrition, environment, and food animal production.

Our areas of interest include: (1) defining the role of sphingolipids as mediators of insulin resistance to support milk production and growth, (2) delineating the mechanisms that impair liver and gut health, (3) defining new approaches to enhance nutrient digestibility, (4) identifying nutritional approaches to prevent endotoxemia and enhance resilience during heat stress, (5) exploring the role of lysophospholipids as immunomodulators, (6) reducing the negative environmental impact of dairy production, and (7) educating the public about animal-sourced food production. Collaborative work also explores the effects of diet on human health and disease. He is actively leading the development of climate-controlled respiration chamber system to study enteric methane emissions from dairy cattle at Cornell.