Jonathan Pasternak

Dr. Pasternak earned his Ph.D. in reproductive physiology from the University of Alberta, where he studied mechanisms of maternal–embryonic communication during cleavage-stage embryo development. His first postdoctoral position was at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, where he worked on the development of mucosal vaccine platforms, with fellowships from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. He then continued his postdoctoral work at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, studying the molecular genetics of fetal resistance and resilience to congenital infection. 

Since its establishment in 2019, the Pasternak Lab has utilized a combination of targeted and high-throughput molecular methodologies to study reproductive physiology and endocrinology in swine, with primary funding from NIFA-AFRI. This includes efforts to understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying vertical transmission of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV), which was last estimated to cost the U.S. swine industry $1.2 billion per year. The Pasternak Lab has also conducted in-depth studies of the cause-and-effect relationship between stress-induced endocrine dysregulation and pre-/post-natal performance. As part of collaborative projects funded by NIFA-APHIS, the Pasternak Lab has also been involved in multidisciplinary projects seeking to develop low-cost, point-of-care diagnostics for African Swine Fever and SARS-CoV-2. 

At the University of Kentucky, the Pasternak Lab will continue to emphasize swine as both a vital agricultural species and a high-value biomedical model. Work here will focus on investigations into the short- and long-term consequences of in utero perturbations, using established models of fetal endocrine disruption, pathogenic challenge, and intrauterine growth restriction, to probe the developmental origin of adult disease.