Dr. Catherine J. Andersen is a nutritional scientist who studies the role of diet in the prevention and development of chronic disease. She received a B.S. in Nutritional Sciences with a minor in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Connecticut. She went on to earn her M.S. and Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Connecticut, where she investigated the effects of egg intake and carbohydrate restriction on high-density lipoprotein (HDL) composition and immune cell inflammation in men and women with metabolic syndrome – a population at increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. During her graduate studies, Dr. Andersen completed an international research fellowship at McGill University supported by a USDA National Needs Fellowship award. She additionally served as Project Director on a second USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Predoctoral Fellowship grant to conduct her dissertation research. Following her graduate work, Dr. Andersen completed clinical and community-based rotations to earn her Registered Dietitian (R.D.) credential. She then returned to the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Connecticut to complete a Postdoctoral Fellowship, while concurrently teaching nutrition as an Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Biology at Eastern Connecticut State University. Dr. Andersen joined the Biology Department at Fairfield University in the fall of 2014 as an Assistant Professor. Her current research focuses on the relationship between cholesterol metabolism and inflammation, in addition to dietary strategies that mitigate metabolic tissue stress and dysfunction associated with obesity.