Patrycja Puchalska

Patrycja Puchalska, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine specializing in Molecular Medicine. Her research focuses on metabolic pathways, particularly ketone body metabolism, mitochondrial function, and interorgan metabolic crosstalk in health and disease.

• Department: Department of Medicine
• Lab: Puchalska-Crawford Lab

Dr. Puchalska's work explores how ketogenesis and ketolysis influence conditions such as metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease, cognitive impairment, and cancer progression. She investigates lipid remodeling, mitochondrial adaptations to fasting, and the role of metabolic signaling in cellular senescence and inflammation.

Recent publications highlight her interdisciplinary approach, combining proteomics, metabolomics, and mitochondrial bioenergetics to uncover mechanisms linking ketone bodies to:

• Neuroprotection in hepatic insufficiency
• Thermogenic adaptations during fasting
• Insulin resistance modulation
• Tumor microenvironment reprogramming
• Epigenetic changes in offspring from maternal ketone exposure

Her team develops advanced analytical methodologies, including stable isotope tracing and LC-MS pipelines, to study metabolic dynamics in complex diseases.