Nathaniel Vacanti, assistant professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences
Academic focus: My lab will focus on applying proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics methods to study the regulation of nutrient utilization at the molecular level and to identify early markers and potential dietary or pharmaceutical interventions for the development of chronic disease.
Previous positions: Postdoctoral fellow, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, 2015-18
Academic background: B.S., chemical engineering, University of Connecticut, 2008; M.S., chemical engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010; Ph.D. bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, 2015
Last book read: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
What do you do when not working? When I am not working I enjoy hiking, barbequing, woodworking and cooking with my wife.
What gets you out of bed in the morning? To start, a good breakfast and nice cup of coffee. From there, I am excited that every day is different and brings the opportunity to learn or teach something new.
Current research projects: Currently I am laying the groundwork to be a world leader in proteomics (reliably quantifying 10,000 proteins per sample) and developing tools to analyze metabolic pathway utilization. When my laboratory opens this September, my group will be applying these methods to identify dietary or pharmaceutical interventions to forestall development of chronic disease.
What are three adjectives people might use to describe you? I’ll leave this for others to answer.
Course you’re most looking forward to teaching? I hope to develop a course which blends the teaching of quantitative analyses of large data sets and targeted inquiries in molecular nutrition.
If you had unlimited grant funding, what major problem in your field would you want to solve? I would provide Ph.D. students with a rich environment to broadly grow as investigators and develop diverse and applicable skill sets, and postdoctoral scientists with a job security that allows them to take on complex, high-reward projects. I am fortunate that Cornell has provided me with the resources and growth opportunities to hold these ideals as my golden standard.
What most excites you about Cornell CALS? I am very excited to work with such an intellectually diverse group. I look forward to experiencing how their contributions will complement my lab’s endeavors and how my expertise can advance their inquiries.
