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.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Associate Professor, Reproductive Biology, 
  University of Kentucky, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, 2025 - Present
• Associate Professor, Reproductive Biology, 
  Purdue University, Department of Animal Science, 2025
• Assistant Professor, Reproductive Biology
  Purdue University, Department of Animal Science, 2019 - 2025

PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS (Selected out of 51)

Jeon D, Smith AA, Innis S, Cabot B, Cabot R, Pasternak JA. Surgical alteration of uterine space influences embryonic loss and fetal growth in the contemporary pig. BMC Vet Res 21, 360 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04820-x  

Alagbe EO, Sung JY, Lindsey K, Pasternak JA, Adeola O. Technical note: Optimizing sample size for broiler chicken and pig intestinal histomorphometry and prediction equations, Journal of Animal Science, 2025;, skaf160, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf160 

Smith AA, Vesey A, Helfrich C, Pasternak JA. “Late gestation fetal hypothyroidism results in widespread cell cycle dysregulation” BMC Vet Res 2024 20:268 DOI: 10.1186/s12917-024-04102-y 

Rudy K, Jeon D, Smith AA, Harding J.C.S. and Pasternak JA. PRRSV-2 Viral Load in Critical Non-lymphoid Tissues is Associated with Late Gestation Fetal Compromise. Front. Microbiol., 07 February 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1352315 

Ison EK, Kent-Dennis CE, Fazioli JC, Mulligan MK, Pham AH, Pasternak JA. “Compensatory mechanisms in response to hypothyroidism in the late gestation pig fetus”. Biol. Reprod. 2023 108(5):731-743 doi:10.1093/biolre/ioad024

Ison EK, Hopf-Jannasch A, Harding JCS and Pasternak JA. “Effects of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) on thyroid hormone metabolism in the late gestation fetus. Vet Res 2022 53(74) 

 
INVITED TALKS AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

1. Pasternak JA. Elevated PRRSV Viral Load in Critical Non-lymphoid Tissues is Associated with Late Gestation Fetal Compromise. NC229 Annual meeting. Dec 1, 2023
2. Pasternak JA. Factors influencing fetal susceptibility to PRRSV. NC229 Annual meeting. Dec 3, 2022
3. Pasternak JA. Understanding the impact of PRRSV infection on the Fetus. NC229 Annual meeting. Dec 5, 2020
4. Pasternak JA. Fetal Response to late gestation infection with Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Virus. One Reproductive Health Seminar. Jan 22, 2019
5. Pasternak JA, MacPhee DJ, Harding JCS. Maternal and fetal thyroid hormone disruption following late gestation PRRSV2 challenge. 2019 North American PRRS Symposium. Nov 2, 2019. Chicago, IL.
6. Pasternak JA, MacPhee DJ, Harding JCS. The Fetal immune response following PRRSV2 challenge of third-trimester gestating gilts. 2019 North American PRRS Symposium. Nov 2, 2019. Chicago, IL
7. Pasternak JA. & Harding JCS. “Thyroid hormone disruption following PRRSV infection in dams and fetuses”, PigGen Canada Annual meeting 2019 (Banff Pork Seminar satellite). Banff, AB.
8. Pasternak JA. Intrauterine vaccination as a method to induce local and systemic immunity. Invited talk, One Reproductive Health Group, Western college of Veterinary Medicine University of Saskatchewan. 2018. Saskatoon SK.
9. Pasternak JA, Hamonic G, Forsberg N, Dyck MK, Wilson HL. Development of intrauterine vaccination for use in livestock. 97th Annual Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases 2016. Chicago, IL.
10. Pasternak JA, Kaeser T, Meurens F, Wilson HL. Permeability of the neonatal gut to oral vaccine peptides. Prairie Infectious Immunology Network Conference 2014. Edmonton, AB.
11. Pasternak JA, Paradis F, Zhou C, Dixon WT, Dyck MK. Temporal and spatial variation in uterine gene expression involves factors associated with embryonic-uterine communication. Symposium on Functional Genomics of Early Livestock Development (ICAR 2012 satellite). Banff, AB.
12. Pasternak JA, O’Donoghue R, Patterson J, Uwiera RRE, Foxcroft GR, Dyck MK. Hyaluronic acid in the female reproductive tract of the pig. Banff Pork Seminar 2009. Banff, AB.  

 
MEMBERSHIPS

• Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR)
  Dates:  2021 - present
• American Society of Animal Science (ASAS)
  Dates:  2021 - present