Joanna Fiddler, who focuses research on the role of micronutrients in maintaining mitochondrial DNA integrity, function and health, is joining U of A's human nutrition and dietetics program as an assistant professor with a shared appointment in food science.

Human nutrition and dietetics is in the School of Human Environmental Sciences, which is part of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

"Teaching is one of my passions," Fiddler says. "Long term, I look forward to working in academia, where both research and high-quality instruction are valued. My teaching philosophy centers on the development of fundamental knowledge and building the skills to apply that knowledge. Teaching in a health-related field allows me to share information I consider vitally important to everyone. I believe a solid foundation in nutrition science can lead to many job or professional school opportunities and empowers and enables people to make better decisions about their own health."

She will be teaching graduate level nutrition classes: Advanced Nutrition and Research Methods in Nutrition.

"I am very pleased to have Dr. Joanna Fiddler join the faculty," Donna L. Graham, director of HESC, says. "With her passion for teaching and her experience and enthusiasm in nutritional science research, she will be a tremendous asset to the human nutrition program."

Fiddler's joint appointment is with the college's Department of Food Science as well as the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the U of A System Division of Agriculture.

"We are very excited to have Dr. Fiddler join our program here at the University of Arkansas and the U of A System Division of Agriculture," says Dave Caldwell, interim head of food science. "We are confident that she will quickly develop high-impact research, teaching and outreach programs that will bring great benefit to stakeholders in our region and across the state."

Her position is part of ongoing efforts to grow the human nutrition and dietetics program and expand nutritional science research collaboration between the School of Human Environmental Sciences and the Department of Food Science to enrich human health. Fiddler will also contribute to the Center for Human Nutrition, which facilitates and enables interdisciplinary human nutrition research to improve health, productivity and quality of life, and is part of food science and managed by AAES.

"In the time I have been teaching, I have learned the importance of building relationships with students and have seen their efforts improve as a result," Fiddler says. "My proposed research program also provides opportunities for undergraduate, honors and graduate student mentorship. My philosophy as a mentor is to foster intellectual curiosity, critical thought and establish habits of transparency and rigor in research."

Fiddler was most recently at the University of Clemson as a faculty scholar in the School of Health Research and as assistant professor of human nutrition in the Department of Food, Nutrition and Packaging Sciences since January 2023.

She earned her bachelor's degree in nutritional sciences (2005), master's degree in health and human performance (2008) and Ph.D. in nutritional sciences (2016), all from Oklahoma State University. Fiddler conducted post-doc work at Cornell University from 2017-22 in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, where she investigated gene-nutrient interactions related to B vitamins and iron metabolism.

Her research centers on nutrient-gene interactions and the underlying molecular mechanisms influencing mitochondria health and disease. B vitamins and iron play significant roles in cellular and mitochondrial function, yet micronutrient deficiencies are a leading cause of malnutrition impairing growth and development, work capacity and healthy aging.

"My long-term research interest is in nutrition and metabolism, and studying their integration in health and disease," Fiddler says. "My research translates to human health by focusing on the potential of micronutrients or gene-nutrient interactions to influence cellular metabolic pathways that influence health. My research objective is to establish links between dietary exposures, genetics and functional outcomes."

Fiddler has earned multiple awards from the American Society for Nutrition, including the Emerging Leaders in Nutrition Science (Vitamins and Minerals) in 2019, 2021 and 2022, and she was an ASN Postdoctoral Research Award competition finalist in 2021.

She currently has grant funding from the National Institutes of Health ($287,515) for her project "Marginal iron depletion: Micronutrient partitioning and outcomes in the mitochondria."

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About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.