Her research focuses on the regulation and role of metabolic switches in cellular transformation, virus infection, and differentiation. By elucidating regulatory mechanisms for metabolic switches in normal and disease states, she hopes to identify diagnostic and treatment strategies for cancer patients. Dr. Christofk received a bachelor’s degree in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from UCLA in 2001, and a doctorate in Cell and Developmental Biology from Harvard University in 2007 under the mentorship of Dr. Lewis Cantley. After a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Frank McCormick at UCSF, she joined the faculty at UCLA in 2008. Dr. Christofk is a Searle Scholar and has been awarded a Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award and a NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.