Ken Stark

Taking certain omega-3 fatty acid supplements during pregnancy can reduce the risk of childhood asthma by almost one third

Research interests

I am recognized as a global leader in fatty acid and lipid analysis and in understanding how dietary fatty acid intake impacts blood and tissue fatty acid composition. I am also a pioneer in understanding sex differences in fatty acid metabolism. My research engages academic, industry, and government collaborators to meet the following objectives: 1) developing and applying innovative lipidomic methods; 2) exploring the use of complex fatty acyl lipid species as blood biomarkers of diet and metabolic phenotyping; and 3) enhancing the understanding the metabolic adaptations that occur during pregnancy to meet fetal lipid demands.

Graduate supervision and student opportunities

• Research volunteer
• Undergraduate thesis
• MSc thesis
• PhD thesis
• Postdoctoral fellowship

Please email me to discuss current available opportunities.

Graduate studies application details 

Teaching, expertise, tools and technologies

Content expertise

Nutrition, dietary intake assessment, fatty acid and lipid metabolism, analytical biochemistry

Research models

Human intervention, rodent models and cell culture

Research tools

Gas chromatography w/ mass spectrometry and/or flame ionization detection, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (quadrupole-orbitrap, quadrupole time of flight), gene expression (mRNA and immunoblot)

Courses

KIN 217: Human Biochemistry

KIN 704: Bioactive Lipids

Education

Hons BSc Human Biology, University of Toronto

MSc Human Biology and Nutritional Science, University of Guelph

PhD Human Biology and Nutritional Science, University of Guelph

Postdoctoral Fellow, Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Institutes of Health

​Selected publications

See Google Scholar for full list of publications. 

Bisgaard H, Stokholm J, Chawes BL, Vissing NH, Bjarnadóttir E, Schoos AM, Wolsk HM, Pedersen TM, Vinding RK, Thorsteinsdóttir S, Følsgaard NV, Fink NR, Thorsen J, Pedersen AG, Waage J, Rasmussen MA, Stark KD, Olsen SF, Bønnelykke K. Fish Oil-Derived Fatty Acids in Pregnancy and Wheeze and Asthma in Offspring. N Engl J Med. 2016 Dec 29;375(26):2530-9

Stark KD, Van Elswyk ME, Higgins MR, Weatherford CA, Salem N Jr. Global survey of the omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in the blood stream of healthy adults. Prog Lipid Res. 2016 Jul;63:132-52.