Students

Student

Naomi Becks

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Francene Steinberg - Research Interests: Assessment of systematic health properties of pecan nut consumption by evaluating the effects on gut microbiome, intestinal permeability, vascular and metabolic function, inflammation and cognitive performance.

Amara Benn

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Carolyn Slupsky - Research Interests: Utilizing multi omics to determine mechanisms through which dietary fiber and bioactives interact with the host and microbiome to promote health.

Sarah Blecksmith

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Danielle Lemay - Research Interests: Microbial fermentation of fiber and the effect on host health.

Madelyn Bradley

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Christine Stewart - Research Interests:

Dawson Budke

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Brian Bennett - Research Interests: Nutrigenomics, gut microbiome, and precision nutrition. Employing a systems genetics/multi-omics integrative approach to assess chronic metabolic disease development.

Alana Chaney

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Lauren Au - Research Interests: How prenatal nutrition, breastfeeding practices, and early childhood feeding behaviors impact long-term health and development. The overall goal of my research is to create evidence-based strategies and targeted interventions that promote health equity and improve nutrition for mothers and children in diverse communities.

Hussain Chharawalla

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Lauren Au & Mary Kable - Research Interests: Intersection of diet quality, food insecurity, and cardiometabolic health in pregnancy. I am particularly interested in how lifestyle factors and participation in nutrition assistance programs like WIC influence risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, and inflammation.

Christabel Domfe

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Lauren Au - Research Interests: Use of novel technology for dietary assessment and addressing food insecurity among low-income populations.

Rosa Fragello

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Gerardo Mackenzie - Research Interests: Curcumin and ascorbic acids effect on cancer cells.

Abigail Galyon

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Carolyn Slupsky - Research Interests: The relationship between maternal metabolism and endocrine function during pregnancy and lactation. I am working to understand how metabolic and/or endocrine dysfunction during this critical period influences breastfeeding outcomes.

Andrea Gil

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Jennifer Falbe - Research Interests: Reducing disparities in cardiometabolic diseases in underserved communities, particularly through the development of interventions and policies that increase health awareness and nutrition literacy.

Genesis Guerra Gaitan

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Roberta Holt - Research Interests: Focuses on bioactive compounds in foods and their impact on cardiometabolic health. I am particularly interested in how these compounds influence metabolic biomarkers, modulate the absorption of essential minerals such as zinc, and affect gut microbiota metabolism

Sasha Holland

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Mary Kable - Research Interests: Fiber affects on the gut microbiome, specifically in plant-based diets.

Mengjiang Huang

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: John Newman - Research Interests: Precision nutrition and nutrimetabolomics. Working on mass spectrometry-based lipidomics and small-molecule quantitative analytical chemistry for dietary biomarker discovery.

Yanshan Jin

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Angela Zivkovic - Research Interests: nutrigenomics and precision nutrition, integrating multi-omics data to explore gene-diet interactions, particularly in the context of inflammation and aging-related health issues. Using bioinformatics and systems biology approaches, I aim to develop personalized nutrition strategies for disease prevention and health optimization.

Akiko Kajiura

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Carolyn Slupsky - Research Interests: Studying the combined effects of breastfeeding and diet on metabolism and gut health during early childhood. Identifying dietary biomarkers to understand their influence on growth and development.

Katherine Kwon

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Elizabeth Prado - Research Interests: Maternal and child health in low-income populations; early nutrition and cognitive development; global nutrition program development and evaluation.

Grace LeBleu

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Fawaz Haj - Research Interests: The effects of protein tyrosine phosphatase activity and inhibition on the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy.

Abigail Lutz

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Francene Steinberg - Research Interests: understanding the mechanisms between food components and cardiovascular disease prevention.

Jazmin Machuca

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Gerardo Mackenzie & Patricia Oteiza - Research Interests: Effects of dietary fat quantity and composition on the intestinal barrier in the context of pancreatic cancer development and progression.

Alissa MacLoon

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Patricia Oteiza & Marie Heffern - Research Interests:

Kari Melander

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Brian Bennett -Research Interests: Utilization of multi-omics analyses and mouse models to explore how diet, the microbiome, and genetic background contribute to metabolic syndrome and other health phenotypes.

Imani Muhammad

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Patricia Oteiza - Research Interests: how compounds found in purple and blue fruits and vegetables influence inflammation and an emerging biomarker of cognition in both mice and humans.

Shya Navazesh

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Peng Ji - Research Interests: The role of iron supplementation on the gut microbiome during early development.

Davrina Rianda

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Christine Stewart - Research Interests: Early life nutrition on child brain development; gut-brain axis; growth trajectory modeling.

Javier Sandoval

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Debbie Fetter - Research Interests: Identifying barriers to behavior change related to healthy eating and physical activity. I aim to understand the psychological, social, and environmental factors that influence these behaviors and explore how certain interventions can help overcome these barriers.

Emily Sklar

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Debbie Fetter - Research Interests: Food insecurity in college student populations and how the long-term effects of nutrition deficits correlate to human health and chronic diseases.

Betty Sun

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Angela Zivkovic - Research Interests: The effects of diets and exercise on lipid structures and functions, and aiming to find personalized approaches for optimizing health through tailored dietary and exercise interventions.

Duncan Sylvestre

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Ameer Taha - Research Interests: Evaluating the effects of dairy components on recall and cognition.

Melissa Teuber

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Debbie Fetter - Research Interests: Nutritional psychology; food insecurity and the development and evaluation of effective nutritional messaging strategies in the college student population.

Ste Traxler

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Mary Kable - Research Interests: The impact of dietary carbohydrates- specifically honey- on human small intestine microbial communities and foodborne pathogen resistance.

Shannon Trinh

Major Professor: Francene Steinberg - Research Interests: Investigating the mechanisms by which dietary nutrients and bioactive compounds influence physiological responses and clinical outcomes

Yirui Tang Villanueva

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Danielle Lemay - Research Interests: Bioinformatics in nutrition, human gut microbiome community in relation with dietary intake and dietary and physical status.

Yige Wang

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Guodong Zhang - Research Interests: My research focuses on the effects and mechanisms of bioactive lipids, as well as food and environmental contaminants, on gut microbiota and gut health.

Hareem Zahid

  • GGNB Student
Major Professor: Roberta Holt - Research Interests: Understanding the impact of dietary components and whole foods on cardiovascular outcomes and physiology. Specific interest in zinc absorption and phytic acid.