Catherine J. Andersen

Associate Professor

Professional Experience and Training

• Associate Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (2021 – Present)
• Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT (2020 – 2021)
• Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT (2014 – 2020)
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (2014)

Research Projects/Interests

My research employs clinical, nutrigenomic, and translational approaches to investigate the relationship between diet and lifestyle factors, metabolic health, and immune function. The long-term goal of my research program is to identify dietary and lifestyle targets to improve health outcomes in acute and chronic disease, and to elucidate underlying mechanisms of action in relation to traditional clinical biomarkers. Ongoing areas of investigation include:

1. Elucidating mechanisms by which functional foods and lipoproteins modulate immune function in human clinical trials and translational cell culture models
2. Identifying predictors of clinical immune profiles at the population level utilizing epidemiological approaches
3. Investigating the role of environmental/lifestyle factors (e.g., stress, sleep, occupational characteristics) in determining the relationship between dietary patterns, metabolic health, and immune function

Key words: inflammation, immune function, nutrigenomics, HDL/lipoprotein metabolism and function, autoimmunity, obesity, metabolic dysfunction, NHANES