Payton is a PhD Candidate in Dr. Breslin’s lab. She completed an undergraduate degree in Nutrition (Dietetics) at Rutgers and joined the Nutritional Sciences Graduate Program in 2019 as a Masters student. After learning more about research, she decided to transfer into the PhD program in 2020.
Since becoming a PhD student, she has served as the Nutritional Sciences Graduate Student Organization (GSO) President for two years and is now the Treasurer. She has worked on the Planning Committee for the Graduate Research in Interdisciplinary Biosciences (GRIB) Conference as a subcommittee chair and active member for four years.
Her research focuses on oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhea and dehydration in children. She has developed an alternate formulation of ORT that aims to benefit the gastrointestinal tract and support an immune response as well as maintain hydration for children. She is working as the primary coordinator for a small clinical trial of this formula in children with mild to moderate gastroenteritis.
To this end, she has investigated the bitter taste of amino acids and other bitter stimuli using psychophysical methods while in the Breslin Lab. She has researched bitter taste blocking methods in adults and is now studying bitter taste blocking in children.
Publications
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Bitter taste receptors (T2Rs) are sentinels that coordinate metabolic and immunological defense responses, C. P. Harmon, D. Deng and P. A. S. Breslin, 2021
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The Bidirectional Modulatory Effects of Ribonucleotides on Glutamate Detection Thresholds, C. Harmon, D. Deng and P. Breslin, 2021
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Amino Acid Bitterness: Suppression By Sodium Salts and Individual Differences., Caroline P. Harmon, Paul A.S. Breslin, Osama M. Ahmed, 2023
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Ribonucleotides differentially modulate oral glutamate detection thresholds, N. J. Amado, E. C. Hanselman, C. P. Harmon, D. Deng, S. M. Alarcon, A. A. Sharples, P. A. S. Breslin, 2024
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