His research focuses on how conserved mechanisms in RNA metabolism function in both general cellular processes and adaptations to stress. A major research focus is the La antigen, which is an abundant, ubiquitous factor with several roles in RNA metabolism that are conserved between yeast and humans. More recently, his work has expanded into the La-related proteins and how these conserved factors also contribute to gene regulation and challenges to human health. Notably, the new CRISPR-Cas9 based genome editing tools are shaping up to become an important component of Bayfield’s future research. Bayfield received his BSc from McGill University and PhD from Brown University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.