College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition

Degrees

MPH, University of Michigan, 2003
PhD, Michigan State University, 1999
MS, University of Missouri, Columbia, 1995
BS, University of Missouri, Columbia, 1993

Instructional Activities

HNF 250 – Contemporary Issues in Human Nutrition
HNF 840 - Human Nutrition and Chronic Disease Prevention
HNF 475/FSC 475 - Global Food Systems and Health Study Abroad

Research Funding

Current Grant Funding

USDA NIFA (Rowat-UCLA) 01/01/2022 to 21/31/2024. Towards scalable production of palatable and nutritious cultured meat using edible, tunable scaffolds. Role: PI of sub-award for fatty acid work.

North Central Graduate Student Grant. Enhancing the polyphenolic content and demand of Upper Midwestern, locally produced beef for the 202. Role: PI/Advisor for graduate student grant.

NIH/NINDS (1R01NS122510 (Ezeamama)): Identifying adolescents at high risk of neurocognitive disorder: Development and validation of a composite risk index. Role: Co-investigator as nutrition expert

GreenAcres Foundation: Greenacres Grass-Fed Beef Nutritional Database. The major goal of this project is to study how altering the feedstuff composition influences the fatty acid/nutritional composition of beef. Role: Nutrient analysis of the beef.

NIH (R01ES027353 (Pestka)): Dietary Lipids and Silica-Triggered Autoimmunity. Role: Co-investigator. Fatty acid expertise.

Past Grant Funding

NIFA (North Central Region SARE) (Rowntree). Enhancing healthfulness and demand of Upper Midwestern, locally-produced beef. Role: Co-investigator

MI Dept of Agriculture/Rural Development (M1254M) (Rowntree). Enhancing healthfulness and demand of Michigan produced beef.  Role: Co-investigator

Lupus Foundation. Title Prevention of Silica-triggered lupus by lipidome modulation. PI- Pestka Co-I Fenton 

Agency for International Development. Title: Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance - FANTA III.

USAID. Agency for International Development. Title: Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance - FANTA III. Co-I Fenton

USDA Title:  Tandem Mass Spectrometry to Identify Novel Lipid Biomarkers of Obesity.

USAID:US Agency for Intl Development: Title: LEAP proposal.

National Cancer Institute, NIH: Cancer Prevention Research Small Grant Program (R03): Cancer Cause and Prevention. Title: Effect of dietary omega 3 fatty acids on colitis and colon cancer development.

National Cancer Institute, NIH: Cancer Prevention Research Small Grant Program (R03): Cancer Cause and Prevention Research. Title: Biomarkers of Obesity, Inflammation and Colon Cancer.

National Cancer Institute, NIH: Cancer Prevention Research Small Grant Program (R03): Cancer Cause and Prevention Research. Title: Adipokines regulate colon epithelial cell homeostasis.

Research Interests

Role of diet modulating inflammation and diseases of over- and under- nutrition.

The focus of our research is to understand the role of dietary patterns and nutrients in disease risk, in particular fatty acids.  We have three focus areas of research: 1) understand how obesity modulates lipid metabolism and influences colon cancer risk, 2) understand the role of fatty acids in health and disease including the characterization of essential fatty acid deficiency in developing countries and the association with growth stunting and cognition, and 3) quantify the fatty acid profile of food sources. She also teaches the sophomore class at the undergraduate level and teaches a graduate course in nutrition and chronic disease prevention. She has won awards for study abroad service and distinguished contributions to honors college students.

Recent Publications

According to Google Scholars, Dr. Fenton’s peer-reviewed publications (n=93) have been cited a total of 3055 times resulting in a h-index of 32. The h-10 index is 63 (the number of manuscripts with 10+ citations). Students mentored by Dr. Fenton underlined. As a point of reference, it is convention in this field of science for the PI (laboratory that the scholarly works resulted from) of the student to be in the last author (senior author) position.

Publications (25 selected from 95 total):

1. Cardoso V, Goeden T, Yakah W, and Fenton JI. New Perspectives on the association of blood fatty acids and malnutrition growth parameters in children: A Review. Nutrients. 2023. In Press.
2. Amoako M, Amoah-Agyei F, Du C, Fenton JI, Tucker RM. Emotional Eating among Ghanaian University Students: Associations with Physical and Mental Health Measures. Nutrients. 2023. 15 (6), 1526. PMID: 36986256
3. Psaltis CE, Fussner LA, Yaeger M, Aloor JJ, Reece SW, Kilburg-Basnyat BJ, Varikuti S, Luo B, Inks M, Sergin S, Schmidt CA, Neufer PD, Pennington ER, Fisher-Wellman KH, Chowdhury SM, Fessler MB, Fenton JI, Anderson EJ, Shaikh SR, Gowdy KM. The prohibitin complex regulates macrophage fatty acid composition, plasma membrane packing, and lipid raft-mediated inflammatory signaling. PLEFA. 2023. Mar;190:102540. PMID:36706677
4. Krusinski L, Maciel ICF, Sergin S, Jambunathan V, Garg E, Garmyn AJ, Singh S, Bitler CA, Rowntree JE, Fenton JI. Effects of Hay, Baleage, and Soybean Hulls Waste Used as Supplemental Feeds on the Nutritional Profile of Grass-Finished Beef. Foods. 2022 Nov 29;11(23):3856. doi: 10.3390/foods11233856.PMID: 36496663
5. Amoako M, Amoah-Agyei F, Mensah, G, Du C, Fenton JI, Tucker RM. Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Health Behaviors of Higher Education Students in Ghana: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022. 19(24), 16442. PMID: 36554322
6. Becker T, Fenton JI, Nikolai M, Comstock SS, Swada J, Weatherspoon L, and Tucker R. The impact of COVID-19 on student learning during the transition from remote to in-person learning: Using mind mapping to identify and address faculty concerns. Adv Physiol Educ. siol Educ. 2022 Dec 1;46(4):742-751. PMID: 36302137
7. Kruskinski L, Maciel I, Selin S,  Goeden T, Schweihofer J, Singh S, Rowntree J and Fenton JI. Fatty acid and micronutrient profile of longissimus lumborum from Red Angus and Red Angus x Akaushi cattle finished on grass or grain. Foods. 2022. 11 (21), 3451. PMID: 36360064
8. Sergin S, Jambunathan V, Rowntree J, and Fenton JI. Influence of grass-fed beef suet and liver supplementation and a corn- and soy-free diet on the fatty acid profile of pasture-raised eggs. Foods. 2022. 11 (21), 3404. PMID: 36360017.
9. Du C, Adjepong M, Zan MCH, Cho MJ, Fenton JI, Hsiao PY, Keaver L, Lee H, Ludy MJ, Shen W, Swee WCS, Thrivikraman J, Amoah-Agyei F, Kanter E, Wang W, Tucker RM. Reply to Kuo et al. Comment on "Du et al. Gender Differences in the Relationships between Perceived Stress, Eating Behaviors, Sleep, Dietary Risk, and Body Mass Index. Nutrients 2022, 14, 1045". Nutrients. 2022 Sep 20;14(19):3882. PMID: 36235535
10. Kruskinski L, Maciel I, Selin S, Goeden T, Ali H, Kesamneni S, Jambunathan V, Cassida KA, Rowntree J, and Fenton JI. Evaluation of fatty acid and antioxidant variation in a complex pasture system as compared to standard cattle feed. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems: Nutrition and Sustainable Diets. 2022. 405
11. Rafia Virk, Nicole Buddenbaum, Abrar Al-Shaer, Michael Armstrong, Jonathan Manke, Nichole Reisdorph, Selin Sergin, Jenifer I. Fenton, E. Diane Wallace, Brandie M. Ehrmann, Kymberly M. Gowdy, Ryan Smith, and Saame Raza Shaikh. Obesity reprograms the pulmonary polyunsaturated fatty acid-derived lipidome prior to lung injury in a diet-dependent manner. J Lipid Res. 2022. Aug 23;100267. PMID: 36028048
12. Kruskinski L, Selin S, Jambunathan V, Rowntree J and Fenton JI. Attention to the Details: How variations in US Grass-Fed and Cattle-Feed Supplementation and Finishing Date Influence Human Health. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems: Nutrition and Sustainable Diets. Front. Sustain. Food Syst.19 May 2022. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.851494.
13. Al-Shaer AE, Regan J, Buddenbaum N, Tharwani S, Drawdy C, Behee M, Sergin S, Fenton JI, Maddipati KR, Kane S, Butler E, Shaikh SR. Enriched Marine Oil Supplement Increases Specific Plasma Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators in Adults with Obesity. J Nutr. 2022. 152(7):1783–1791. PMID: 35349683
14. Pobee R, Fenton JI, Sikorskii A, Zalwango S, Felzer-Kim I, Medina-Meza I, Giordani B, and Ezeamama AE. Association of serum polyunsaturated fatty acid and linear growth over 12-months among 6-10 years-old Ugandan children with or without HIV? Public Health Nutr. 2022 Apr 4:1-11. PMID: 35369893 
15. Du C, Adjepong M, Zan M, Cho M, Fenton JI, Hsiao P, Keaver L, Lee H, Ludy MJ, Shen W, Swee W, Thrivikraman J, Amoah-Agyei F, de Kanter E, Wang E and Tucker RM. Gender differences in the relationships between perceived stress, eating behaviors, sleep, dietary risk, and body mass index. Nutrients. 2022,14,1045. PMID: 35268020
16. Adjepong M, Amoahagyeib F, Du C, Wang W, Fenton JI and Tucker RM. Limited negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health measures of Ghanaian university students. J of Affect Disord Rep 2022 Jan;7:100306. PMID: 35018355
17. Maciel I, Schweihofer, Hodbod J, McKendree M, Cassida K, Fenton JI and Rowntree J. Influence of beef genotypes on animal performance, carcass traits, meat quality and sensory characteristics in grazing or feedlot-finished steers. Anim Sci. 2021 Sep 21;5(4):txab214.  PMID: 34888490
18. Hawley SR, Thrivikraman JK, Noveck N, St.Romain T, Ludy M-J, Chee W, Cho MJ, Chong M, Du C, Fenton JI, Hsiao PY, Hsiao R, Keaver L, Lai C-C, Lee H, Shen W, Swee WCS, Tseng K-W, Tseng W-C, Zan MCH, Tucker RM. Concerns of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: thematic perspectives from the United States, Asia, and Europe. 2021. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching. 4 (1). https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2021.4.1.10
19. Sergin S, Kesanmeni S, Goeden T, Kruski L, Bilter C, Fenton JI. Influence of feeding system, pasture vs conventional, on fatty acid profile and nutritional content of eggs. In press. January, 2021. ACS Food Science & Technology. 1 (2), 260-267. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.0c00093
20. Du C, Zan M, Cho M, Fenton JI, Hsiao PY, Hsiao R, Keaver L, Lai C-C, Lee H, Ludy MJ, Shen W, Swee WCS, Thrivikraman J, Tseng K-W, Tseng W-C, Doak S, Folk S, Tucker RM. The effects of sleep quality and resilience on perceived stress, dietary behaviors, and alcohol misuse: A mediation-moderation analysis of higher education students from Asia, Europe, and North America during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nutrients. 2021 Jan 29;13(2):442. PMID: 33572863
21. Du C, Zan M, Cho M, Fenton JI, Hsiao PY, Hsiao R, Keaver L, Lai C-C, Lee H, Ludy MJ, Shen W, Swee WCS, Thrivikraman J, Tseng K-W, Tseng W-C, Doak S, Folk S, Tucker RM. Health behaviors of higher education students from 7 countries: Poorer sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic predicts higher dietary risk. Clocks Sleep. 2021 Jan 15;3(1):12-30. PMID: 33467418
22. Snow SJ, Henriquez AR, Fenton JI, Goeden T, Fisher A, Vallanat B, Richards JE, Schladweiler CE, Cheng W, Wood CE, Tong H, Kodavanti UP. Diets Enriched with Coconut, Fish, or Olive Oil Modify Peripheral Metabolic Effects of Ozone in Rats. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2021 Jan 1;410:115337. PMID: 33217375
23. Becker T, Lucas, J, Li W and Fenton, JI. Redesign and Process of Reforming an Existing Nutritional Sciences Program. Adv Physiol Educ. 2020 Dec 1;44(4):570-578. PMID: 32955345
24. Du C, Zan MCH, Cho MJ, Fenton JI, Hsiao PY, Hsiao R, Keaver L, Lai C-C, Lee H, Ludy M-J, Shen W, Swee WCS, Thrivikraman J, Tseng K-W, Tseng W-C, Tucker RM. Increased Resilience Weakens the Relationship between Perceived Stress and Anxiety on Sleep Quality: A Moderated Mediation Analysis of Higher Education Students from 7 Countries. Clocks Sleep. 2020; 2(3):334-353. PMID: 33089208.
25. Jain R, Brokema S, Rowntree J, Schweihofer JP, Bilter C, and Fenton JI. Seasonal differences exist in the PUFA, mineral and antioxidant content of U.S. grass-finished beef. February, 2020. PLoS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229340 PMID: 32101561.